18. Fencing, Part 1

Are you a Princess Bride fan? If so, you’ll recognize the sword fight between Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) and Westley (at that point in the movie, The Man In Black, played by Cary Elwes) as one of the greatest demonstrations of fencing on film.

Anyone watching wants to do what Patinkin and Elwes can do: dance around, swords clicking in time; feint and thrust; throw their swords in the air and catch them; leap over rocks and up steps; flip in the air over their opponent. The duel is a classic, beautiful work of art.

So can I learn to spar like that, at least a little?

Ha!

Like anything else, learning to fence requires commitment, hard work, and a lot of skill.

I’m taking four intro to fencing classes at Bay State Fencers in Somerville. Located in a converted industrial building near Union Square (also home to Taza Chocolate), the club/academy will soon move to Watertown to avoid Somerville’s rising rents.

The founder and director of the club, Stacy, started us off by introducing the three kinds of weapons fencers use: foil, sabre, and epee. Bay State, a single-weapon club/academy, offers epee training only. We did warm-up exercises and stretches, then learned some basic footwork and lunges.

Stacy then had us suit up. Fencing clothes are, um … interesting. Women start with a hard, plastic bra-like thing that protects the chest. Then an underarm protector, a jacket with a strap that goes between your legs, gloves, and a helmet.

Once we had all our gear on, it was time to spar. En garde … ready … fence!

I bombed.

My sparring partner, Sherry, was much better at it than I, and she kept scoring points. Despite my best efforts, she managed to get that epee past me every time and score by touching me with the tip of her epee. An electronic sensor recognizes the touch and scores it automatically; the wire for the sensor loops through your sleeve and attaches from behind - a very weird feeling, as if it’s pulling you back.

Here we are; I’m on the left, losing, even though I did eventually manage to score a few points:

I guess I need to work on being more aggressive …

It was a good work out, but left my knees aching a bit. I’m going back, and will post again once I complete my four lessons, but I think it will take a lot more training before I can say, “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

Bay State Fencers: Intro to Fencing Class for Adults, $80/month for two months (I bought a Groupon, so paid $43 for four one-hour classes)