A fencing essay...please help
A Person other such than yourself
check over it and possibly give me some hints. I'm an intermediate
fencer and just need a little help on this:
Fencing is a sport that involves sword fighting. It is a part of the
Olympics, with Israel winning in the last few years, if my memory serves
me.
Fencing is not fought with “swords”. The three main weapons used are
the foil, epée, and sabre. There is also another weapon called the
rapier, but that is whole different thing. The rules in each of them are
similar to each other, but different in key ways.
The foil is long, around 1 meter in size. It has a small bell guard, a
flat tip, and a pommel on the end of the grip. There are many different
grips to choose from but most beginners start with a French grip. The
French grip is mostly flat with a small curvature going out where the
thumb is place.
The epée is very similar to the foil, but has a larger bell guard.
Otherwise, they’re basically the same.
The sabre is a little different. It has a larger bell guard than a
foil, it has a handle, and the blade is curved.
What I am going to go into here is the rules of foil fighting. I do not
know much about epée or sabre.
The point is simple: you must get a hit (or “touch”) in the other
person’s target area. The target area is the torso (including shoulders
and back, excluding arms). The rest of the body, arms, legs, head, feet,
is off target.
The different attacks are the lunge (simply a lunge and extension of
the arm with the foil), the balesta (a jumping attack), and the fleche
(a running attack). Other moves used in conjunction with these are the
advance extend (stepping forward and extending the arm with the foil),
the extend (extension of foil arm), and the disengage (pulling the foil
up slightly to avoid a parry).
Defensive moves are the parry (the main defensive move which deflects
the attackers blade), retreat (stepping back), and the repost (an attack
following a parry).
Thanks,
Nate
monkheim
>I'm writing an essay on fencing...I was wondering if someone
would just
>check over it and possibly give me some hints. I'm an
intermediate
>fencer and just need a little help on this:
>
Your essay is mostly correct. I have a few minor corrections:
>Fencing is a sport that involves sword fighting. It is a part
of the
>Olympics, with Israel winning in the last few years, if my
memory serves
>me.
Actually, the winner of the Gold Medal in the last few Olympics
was New Jersey.
> Fencing is not fought with “swords”.
This is absolutely correct. Fencing is fought with long pointy
vegetables such as asparagus.
> The three main weapons used are
>the foil, epée, and sabre. There is also another weapon called
the
>rapier, but that is whole different thing.
There is also another weapon called the "unbearably smelly
fencing uniform," but that also is a much different thing.
>The rules in each of them are
>similar to each other, but different in key ways.
The rules in each of them are also different from each other,
but similar in key ways.
> The point is simple: you must get a hit (or “touch”) in the
other
>person’s target area.
You also get three points if you hit the other fencer from
behind the three-point line.
> The target area is the torso (including shoulders
>and back, excluding arms).
You get extra points if you can eliminate the arms during the
bout.
> The different attacks are the lunge (simply a lunge and
extension of
>the arm with the foil), the balesta (a jumping attack), and the
fleche
>(a running attack).
There is also one more attack called the "triple reverse
inverted Golubitski." This is an extremely complex move that
only three fencers in the history of fencing have ever been able
to pull off and live to tell about it.
I hope that I have been of some help.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Got questions? Get answers over the phone at Keen.com.
Up to 100 minutes free!
http://www.keen.com
Delia
I recommend, offhand:
Fencing Online (http://www.fencing.net)
United States Fencing Association (http://www.USFencing.org)
-Delia
In article <3964A646...@yahoo.com>,
A Person other such than yourself <Delt...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'm writing an essay on fencing...I was wondering if someone would
just
> check over it and possibly give me some hints. I'm an intermediate
> fencer and just need a little help on this:
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Vanessa Bjerreskov
grammar and punctuation, and your clarity will improve.
Second, who is this essay for? This might also help to improve your
wording. For the uninitiated, simple language is best, but if this essay is
for someone with at least a passing knowledge of fencing, you might be able
to use more terminology.
Also, what is the purpose of your essay? Right now it sounds like an early
school research project. You seem to be mainly focussed on telling us about
the foil, rather than fencing itself, but also talk a little bit about
history and the other weapons. If your focus is foil, perhaps you should
mention that in your first paragraph. If your focus is fencing, I suggest
you make your essay about that: the history and all three weapons.
Lastly, and this is my extensive essay writing experience coming through,
you should never use a personal pronoun in an essay that is *not* a personal
response to a subject. For example, you wrote:
> What I am going to go into here is the rules of foil fighting. I do not
> know much about epée or sabre.
Instead, you might have written something like this: "There are rules that
a fencer must follow when fencing foil." Again, your focus seems to be
foil, so if you mention this earlier, you really do not need to mention your
limited knowledge of épée and sabre.
Of course, it won't take a lot of research to understand the rules of épée
and sabre, especially if you have a solid background in foil.
There are some true factual errors in your piece, but these will be easy to
clear up with more book research. Try to find "Fencing" by Allan Skipp at
your local library, or indeed any other books on fencing. They should give
you a good start. Don't forget to include a bibliography when you're
finished.
--
Vanessa Bjerreskov
Meekness: Uncommon patience in planning a revenge that is worth while.
-- Ambrose Bierce
mary anne walker
former English major, and a former grader of papers, it is too close to
"It's the same, only different" which is an oxymoron that just gets on
my nerves.
I do think you need to research more carefully, especially with regards
to past victors in the Olympics. According to the US Fencing Fact Book
for 1998-99, between 1993-1997, it would be more accurate to say that
fencing was dominated by Russia, France, Italy, and Cuba (depending on
the event), based on the top three placings in each weapon for each of
those years. Especially considering that Israel did not have a single
world or olympic medalist between 1989 and 1997, according to the fact
book.
places, in addition to those delia suggested, for finding this
information is in the Summer Olympic Fact Book by wallenberg (i think)
which should be forthcoming soon for this year, and if not, check the
1996 edition. You might also obtain the currect Fact Book by contacting
the US Fencing association, if you are in the US, or the national
governing body for your country if you are not in the US.
one final note, when you do get around to incorporating your research
into your essay, it is important to note your sources, either through
parenthetical citations, footnotes, or end-notes. any bookstore or
library or teacher should be able to point you towards an appropriate
manual for citations.
while your essay needs further work, i do want to applaud your decision
to write about fencing......please don't be discouraged, and keep
trying.
cheers,
Mary Anne Walker
************************************************************
Parting, regretting, reuniting again.
Left waiting, still meeting - such is life.
-Japanese kouta (ca. 1900?)
The spring wind whispers
Bring in fortune!
Fragrant plums breathe
Drive out devils!
Is it rain?
Is it snow?
I don't care -
We'll go on this evening
and tomorrow too,
Drinking
Ginger sake.
-Japanese kouta
Jeff Richardson
immensely with your essay. He's got an instructional book on fencing and a
biography
Jeff
Remise
tank. Okay, his or her tank.
Jared Solomon
<persi...@rica.net> wrote:
> As a
>former English major, and a former grader of papers, it is too close to
Is the USFA the Recovering English Majors of America as well? Every
time I go to a tournament I am amazed at the grammar usage of all of
the competitors and directors.
You're all frightening this poor Nebraska hayseed!
j
mary anne walker
Lawyers, and other Pickers of Nits...
--
Until later,
Remise
If a Picker of Nits had a candle, would it be a Nit wick?
smallm...@gmail.com
> I'm writing an essay on fencing...I was wondering if someone would just
> check over it and possibly give me some hints. I'm an intermediate
> fencer and just need a little help on this:
>
> Olympics, with Israel winning in the last few years, if my memory serves
> me.
>
> flat tip, and a pommel on the end of the grip. There are many different
> grips to choose from but most beginners start with a French grip. The
> French grip is mostly flat with a small curvature going out where the
> thumb is place.
> The epée is very similar to the foil, but has a larger bell guard.
> Otherwise, they're basically the same.
> The sabre is a little different. It has a larger bell guard than a
> foil, it has a handle, and the blade is curved.
>
> know much about epée or sabre.
> is off target.
> the arm with the foil), the balesta (a jumping attack), and the fleche
> up slightly to avoid a parry).
> Defensive moves are the parry (the main defensive move which deflects
> the attackers blade), retreat (stepping back), and the repost (an attack
> following a parry).
>
> Thanks,
> Nate
