Augustana Fencing More Than Duel-ly Entertaining
What drew you into movies the most? Was it the storyline? The romance? The characters? The costumes? Or was it the action scenes: the brawling, the pistol duels, the sword fights?
For as long as I can remember, movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Princess Bride, and Robin Hood all drew me in with their epic sword fights and swashbuckling heroics. Now that I’m in college I have been given the opportunity to learn this wonderful sport and mimic the amazing combat I witnessed on screen.
Of course, there is more to this sport than what meets the eye, it’s not all slashing and hacking at your opponent while trying to do cool maneuvers; its point control, timing attacks, parrying, advancing, retreating, balance and so many other skills and techniques that help you to become a great fencer.
What I love about fencing is the energy that is put into a bout: how you must use your height and strengths to your advantage, how the two fencers must defend themselves while also attacking the other. The tension and suspense that is placed into a bout are what make it exciting. When you watched Jack Sparrow battle Davy Jones or Barbossa, did you catch yourself on the edge of your seat, sucked in and absorbed with every move the characters made? That’s what a fencing bout is like.
The sword, whether it’s a foil, epee, or saber, acts as an extension of yourself. Each sword has a different set of rules to gain a point and win, as well as certain maneuvers for that particular sword: with foil you can only hit your opponent’s torso excluding the shoulders, with epee you can hit any point on the body, and with saber you can hit from the waist up including the shoulders, arms, and head.
Right of way is in play with foil and saber and it is the idea that if you hit your opponent then you can get a point, but if you extend and miss your opponent or you land flat, which is when the side of your blade has hit as opposed to the tip, then the other person now has right of way.
Fencing is a great sport that involves strategizing, speed and endurance and I am so fortunate to have found a school that offers such an amazing club with a wonderful group of people.
