Forums > Social Chat > Fencing

Posted: 8th Dec 2002
Raph96 does, and I have it on authority that he is really good.

It was a day for screaming at inanimate objects.

What this calls for is a special mix of psychology and extreme violence...

Posted: 8th Dec 2002
schlager,

however , if you want to try something fun with the blades look into the SCA
www.Sca.org

they do many different styles of fencing .. and it's freeeee ( for the most part )

thats right i look like an albino ape that has had a bad day.. go ahead say something stupid... i dare ya !

Posted: 9th Dec 2002

SABER!!!!!!
HACK THOSE MEATPIES TA PIECES!!!!!


i used to fence a little bit...

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.

Posted: 9th Dec 2002
hehe, the SCA is a good place for some fun, though I wouldnt advise being a card carrying member, unless you want both a CIA and an FBI folder opend on you. Something about the worlds largest unified army kinda scares the suits.

Other than that, it is great fun and I recomend it to anyone!

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"

Posted: 10th Dec 2002
hey their shaun.
Try the EHCG.com
Im a member of the European Historical Combaters Guild, Leeds chapter house.
Though we dont do Foil, we learn all styles from vague 11th century to 18th centurty or so, 2 handed, single handed, sword and dagger etc, check out the site.

If Phyciatrist ever found out i still played with sharp objects... ... not to mention fire

*manic giggling*

Posted: 10th Dec 2002
I do quite a bit of fencing. Mostly I do Olympic style epee, but I do some SCA style rapier and schlager work too.

I am hooked on the game..

Raphael

Posted: 10th Dec 2002
I do a lot of sword play, but not euoropian fencing. I trained in the Japanese style, so I prefer katanas, boakens, and shinais to foils and rapiers. Like kendo with out all the bull shite rules.

Jesus helps me trick people.

Posted: 10th Dec 2002
ok sick puppy you now officially are on my list of dope people i want to hang out with. i've been wanting to do that stuff for years. i'm comin ta get ya. yo issown. sorry i'm listening to hip-hop.

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.

Posted: 10th Dec 2002
Should I quake with fear?

Jesus helps me trick people.

Posted: 11th Dec 2002
Bo-ken work is fun too..

Raphael

Posted: 11th Dec 2002
Epee? OUCH! Those things hurt.
I've studied swords quite a bit. Primarily, I was trained in the Japanese arts with a heavy dose of wu shu. In college I did some western style fencing, as well as escrima, which has a sword and dagger style.
Currentl I am in a pirate re-enactment group (the Brethern of the Coast) and I am learning how to fight with a cutlass and a tomahawk.
My favorite sword is still the katana.
I have constructed a few fireswords and I find that the best shape is a double-handed saber and the best style to use it is the long sweeping continuous flowing movements of wu shu.
You might find a class in stage combat offered by your school's drama department. I think that would be good to know, too.
If all you've got is the fencing club, I'd say go saber.

Good luck. Don't put out your eye.
Maximus

Posted: 11th Dec 2002
I'd like to try fire sword sometime...perhaps some fencing moves I already know could be incorporated into the spinning then.

Raphael

Posted: 11th Dec 2002
i like one handed longish sword ( over 24 inches ), on fire or not its still a cool weapon

the sca is classified as the largest free standing militia in the world by most major government corperations in north america, and the minute you cross the border they make notes, i've seen my file, most of it anyway ... it's fairly harmless, if you have nuthin to hide

pax,
ivan

thats right i look like an albino ape that has had a bad day.. go ahead say something stupid... i dare ya !

Posted: 12th Dec 2002
perfect to see you post this thread Sean, when i was about to ask around for firefoil ideas. i will post a separate one in technical asking about threading rods through kev rope.

here's what i just wrote to Raph in the SoCal thread. he can respond to the fencing art issues here, & any about his visit & experimenting together there. in fact, Raph, do you have such a thing as "old used decommissioned foils" which are not prized keepsakes?

my approach is a lil homespun at first, but quite seriuos about getting it working. would at worst take me a scratch of months to use more standard equipment in the design:

"i tried an entirely rough alpha-test of longer-than-standard fencing foil slightly flexy iron rod in a drilled dowel hole, then good thick poi-type kev ribbon just kludged on temporarily for a trial. liked very thin hardware store white "hardwood" thinness for finger twirling (not whole hand like staff) but they broke off the rods (too thin) in about 12 seconds for my opponent, then without using them much again, next morning for me before Kyri took the photo of it in my hand vs. Maximus' heavy wide single-edged blade wrapped in kev.

Ran into Roger, friend of The Strand Pad household, who had a fencing scholarshipo, remind me of the few most basic postures & moves from my dark ages rudimentary class. he felt a pair of standard foils wrapped in kev would work, and be stunning.

not yet being able to afford a pair unless i luck into them unexpectedly 2nd hand (& not looking in those places much now), i'll just try to find a firm-gripping pair of handles - thin gives more spinning options besides fencing - but i wonder how non-spinnable, thicker & heavier than otherwise wanted screwdriver handles might serve the next test? & it seems natural to try rope kev instead of ribbon, which can be folded over and sewn but which bunches too irregularly when spiralled around the rod, can't get that tight. if the rod can be shoved through the center of several feet of kev rope."

what i'm really flamestoked about is that you can pretty safely (vs. spinning toys), in clear safe ground space, give one foil to a virgin, even, and have a spirited duel. so great for person to person fire play which is all too rare except partner moves which i am the first to agree must be highly rehearsed.

the first person i tried this with at the PozeeFire party was a dj! besides some initial hesitation at the flames, since the handle holds them away from your hands, he was able to step into the play right away. classical sword training of any kind being icing in the fun, and a future kewlness to add as full-featured hybrid to the fire sword art.

especially forms where grace in battle will no doubt synergize big time with the grace of fireflow and flare.

without fitting standard foil design, a slightly springy iron rod, superlong if it were a foil, is already a terrific grin.

so who's gonna actually work on firefoil, or gimme ideas?

with all my love, y'all better fencers than i,

~ Mikie

molten cheers,

~ FireMike

FireMikeZ@yahoo.com (personal messages welcome, no promo spam, please!)
Laguna, California, US

Posted: 12th Dec 2002
fencin is fun me and devon are awesome at it we got the practice kendo sticks they are fun we busted one when devon got mad and the broken one was sharp when it broke and i almost got stabbed

¿

Posted: 12th Dec 2002
*painted up and half naked like a diehard football fan"

yaaay maximus! go saber!!! owowowow(dog bark)

hack those meatpies, chop those meatpies, cleave em, cleave em, right between the eyes!

sorry i just woke up. and no, sick puppy that wasn't a threat. i couldn't fence my way out of a wet torn paper bag. i just think you're cool. maybe, possibly, even as cool as maximus.

-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.

Posted: 12th Dec 2002
I've done a bit of study on Japanese style swordplay as well. Me and my friends bokken spar. I just finished reading Hagakure for the third time. Good stuff. I've also studied Hsing I Chuan for two years, and have played around with butterfly swords and other chinese weapons. I hope to eventually dedicate more time to a specific school in Japanese swordsmanship, but I like to be a jack of all trades. If any of you guys are ever in the St. Louis, Missouri, USA area, e-mail me; I'm always looking to learn new stuff.

Amateurs practice something until they get it right; professionals practice until they can't get it wrong.

Posted: 13th Dec 2002
I've done some fencing at school, both epee and foil, great fun!!! am now intrested in more medievail weponry, and anything with a blade. but for the fire am working on a fire sword! yes i know they exsist, but mine is desigened to be used as a sword that just happens to be alight.
2inc wick detwine 2mm steal on either side bolted together to seal the wick in place. the blades godown into the handel made of wood with leather handal which is designed at a length of a hand and a half. designed to stop heat passing through to the hand. the cross guard is made of metal on top with a wooden base, again to reduce heat. the whole thing is balanced corectly, and you can really slam two together with big flames as well (proctective glasses very needed)

What you don't know won't hurt you? well i intend to get to know as much as possible so that i can make sure no one else has to so they carn't get hurt.

Posted: 13th Dec 2002
*blush*

Posted: 14th Dec 2002
FireMike,

I have some used epee blades that you could experiment with. We will certainly chat about this more before I come out to San Diego in january.

Raph

Posted: 14th Dec 2002
I've been fencing on n off for a while now, kendo and traditional western fencing, though I always found Olympic fencing too limited after hooking up with the SCA, esp since I could fence w sword n tessen , tho foil n dagger are still my all time fav.

o, n tiamat, if you want something that works for full contact and doesnt break quite as quikly as shinai, try running down to your lokal hardware store n pik up some pvc, plumbing foam(pipe insulation? basically foam that fits around the pvc), n duct tape. You can also get connectors for say a t joint if you want to have a guard. I started using these after a few busted eyebrows n knuckles using shinai w no armor(my fault anyways eh)

Also been doin alot of practice lately w firesword, since I just completed my 1st pair. I started off trying to use kenjutsu forms but changed over to some shaolin styles for the long sword just because it looks better on fire(more spins, flourishes, etc). I still want to hook up some actual light sparring with the new swords, but I can't seem to find anyone around here willing to do that ..hmm, imagine that

FireMike, I had alot of sucess wrapping kev(widest I could get) around a schlager, and tying off with extra kevlar thread. Also, cuz I was still using the blades for practice every week, I wrapped the blade itself with aluminum foil first to save any nasty burn marks. And it worked with real sparring too! But that was back n Seattle where I could find ppl crazy enough to do it

First intention, then enlightenment..
Ars Pyronomica

" Life is programmed. Whether death is programmed or not is yet to be determined."