Lesson #6- Sporting: Part 1

Choosing which sport to indulge in can be very difficult. There are so many which require a certain amount of respectability to be able to participate. Polo, for instance must be played on horseback, and certainly not in a pool dirtied by your cousin's urine and that old guy who sits in the corner constantly applying SPF 65 to his leathery skin. Fencing ought to be considered in the top tiers of respectable sporting, given the historical amount of mustachioed fencers, and it is a lot, trust me. I myself have dabbled in fencing for several years and I am quite handy with an epee. Now that we are on the subject, there are 3 types of blades in fencing.
-Foil -– Usually has an ornate handle that is held like a pistol, called the pistol grip. A French grip is often just a straight handle under the bell guard. With the foil, the hit zone is the mid-body, with everything above the waist and below the neck, excluding arms.
-Epee -– The epee has a hit zone of every spot on the body, including the back, and the head. This is one reason it is my favourite. The epee is slightly more flexible of a blade, which can allow for whipping the tip upon an opponents hand over and under the bell guard.
-Sabre -– The sabre would be my least favorite and efficient mode of fencing. The hit zone includes everything above the waist. I dislike this weapon because of the style of attack. The sabre is a curved weapon, which is not conducive to thrust-stab, attacks like the foil and epee. With the sabre, slashing and cutting motions are preferred, creating entirely different styles of defense.