I’ve been fencing for about 6 months now, and it’s still something I’m yet to properly post about, (but it’s coming). So for now, here’s an excellent video that Liam just sent me.
For a sport that, in essence, has a very simple premise, fencing is actually very, every complicated in its execution (there’s a reason it’s called chess with knives). This complication is then compounded by the fact that it’s quite a fast sport - so as a beginner, in the unlikely event you actually know what’s happening, chances are it’ll be happening too fast for you to react to it properly. This speed also makes watching the sport difficult, and is perhaps why compared to the much more mundane running and swimming sports, barely gets shown during the Olympics.
That’s why the above video is so good: You can actually see what’s going on, and there’s some pretty good moves there (the over the shoulder effort, at about 2:00 is interesting…) - So here’s hoping London per-records all their fencing and plays it at half speed later this year.
