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NatesLog's Fencing (epee) (Other)
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| [March 28, 2012 09:44:54 PM]
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As mentioned in the last gamelog, this gamelog is about a fencing tournament that I attended recently.
In most fencing tournaments, there are two distinct stages. In the first stage, fencers are randomly assigned to groups called “pools.” Each fencer within a pool will fence every other fencer in the pool to five points or until three minutes elapses. The second stage of the tournament is the direct elimination stage. This stage of the tournament is made up of a series of single-elimination matches, each to fifteen points or until nine minutes worth of fencing is up. Based on how well they do in the pools, fencers are assigned a position on the bracket. The bracket is constructed so that, initially, the fencers who did worst in the pools will end up fencing the fencers who did best in the pools.
When I arrived at the tournament, the foil event was already in progress. The tournament was being held in a gym containing roughly eight fencing strips constructed from tape. The tournament was also slightly behind schedule, so once I paid the entry fee, I got a chance to stretch and warm up a bit before the epee event started.
Eventually, the organizers posted the pools, and the tournament began. Fencing in the pools occurs at a relatively quick pace. The challenge, in pools, is for fencers to quickly adapt to their opponent’s style. I did reasonably well in my pool, but not as well as I would have liked. I ended up winning three of the five bouts.
Once our pool was done, we milled about and waited for the rest of the pools to finish. This took some time, as several of the other pools had fencers who were participating in the foil event. In the end, though, all of the pools successfully concluded, and we all waited for the direct elimination bracket to be revealed.
Of course, we were not waiting in a complete vacuum. As time passed, most of the fencers would wander around and take a look at the bouts currently in progress. Often, groups from specific clubs would form up and talk about how The Club was doing in the tournament. This significantly helps to keep the edge off of any boredom and to make the tournament more interesting overall. It also provides another level of motivation for winning; knowing that you’ll have significant bragging rights is always a nice motivator.
Finally, the tournament organizers revealed the direct elimination bracket. This was accompanied by a throng of people investigating the bracket to see who they were fencing. I was paired with a younger chap who hadn’t done as well in the pools. For the sake of brevity, I’ll skip over that bout, which I did end up winning, and move on to the next bout I fenced, against Abigail.
Since direct elimination bouts are rather long, they are usually split up into three different periods. Each period of fencing lasts three minutes and in between each period is a one minute break for both fencers. During the first period, Abigail was caught off-guard by my style and lost quite a few points to some of my more aggressive attacks. The first period ended with me ahead, 10 to 5. I was feeling pretty confident and, once the break ended, I went back to attacking relentlessly.
Only this time, Abigail was more prepared for my attacks. She had adapted a much more defensive style of fencing to counter my aggressiveness. Because I thought I had things well under control, it took me a while to notice that I was losing rather a lot of points. By the time I took proper notice of the situation, the score was 11 to 9, my favor. Immediately, then, I adapted a more defensive strategy myself. Instead of regularly attacking, I waited for Abigail to attack. We spent most of the rest of the period like that, waiting for the other person to make a move. I was entirely comfortable not attacking, because, if worst came to worst and we exhausted the remaining five-odd minutes of the bout, I would still end up winning, as I was ahead.
Near the end of the second period, I did launch one attack, mostly to see if Abigail had dropped her defense. We both hit simultaneously, so we both scored a point, leaving the score at 12 to 10. During the break between the first and second quarters, I resolved to continue to wait Abigail out. As I mentioned before, I didn’t risk anything by not attacking. Also, in forcing Abigail to attack, I was effectively forcing her out of her comfort zone. During the third period, Abigail became significantly more aggressive. However, this mostly served to give me some openings where I could safely attack. The bout ended soon after that, 15 to 10.
The next person I fenced, surprisingly, also had a super-defensive style. All I had to do was to repeat my previous strategy and force my opponent to attack, and he began to lose points quickly. The bout ended in the second period, 15 to 3, my favor.
Finally, by this point, I’ve made it to the finals, where I get to fence the #1 seed, Peter. Peter and I are both very familiar with each other’s styles, since we regularly attend the same fencing club. As such, when fencing Peter, it is very hard for me to trick him. It also doesn’t help that he is exceptionally good at fencing. However, Peter has been having something of a rough day, and, so, perhaps I shall triumph. Either way, I’m going to make sure that he earns any points he scores on me.
We start off fencing rather cautiously. We both keep just out of reach, as much as possible. As such, most of our early points came from quick, precise attacks to the hand, which is the best target to hit in epee, as it’s the closest to the opponent’s blade. Of course, it also requires a lot of precision to hit the hand in epee, as it is covered by the sword’s bell guard, a rounded plate of metal directly in front of the hand. Fencing out at full distance, with only the occasional aggressive attack, allows me to do relatively well. By the end of the first period, Peter is ahead by 8 to 5, but I’m still in the running.
Toward the middle of the second period, Peter begins to fence rather more aggressively. Unfortunately for me, his attacks are well-timed, so that I don’t have much of any opportunity to defend or launch my own attack. I make a few more points during this period, but, in the end, Peter triumphs handily, 15 to 8.
As you can see, fencing can be quite an intense sport. Determining why fencing is such a compelling sport, however, is something of a difficult question. Certainly, its emergent complexity and the mental discipline it requires make it a highly strategic sport. On the other hand, its physical nature can be appealing in an era in which many strategy-heavy games are completely divorced from physical exertion. And, of course, the thrill of competition is another significant factor. However, I suspect that one of fencing’s most compelling components is its sense of flow. When you’re fencing an intense bout, you become lost in the bout. As part of the process of becoming good at fencing, many of your fencing reactions become almost subconscious. While you still may maintain a conscious strategic idea of the bout, most of the action of the bout is second nature and doesn’t require conscious thought. As a result, fencing produces an impressive sense of flow, one of the best of any sport or game that I have played.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Mar 28th, 2012 at 21:48:29.
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| [March 27, 2012 01:16:01 PM]
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So, this gamelog will be about modern fencing. Fencing, if you do not know, is a sport where two competitors “fight” using swords. To do this safely, fencers are required to wear certain protective gear: a plastron (a padded garment that looks a little like a half-vest), a fencing jacket, a glove, and a mask. Of course, even with these precautions, it would be foolish to fence with actual, sharpened weapons. In fencing, each weapon is blunted and not sharp; generally, this keeps serious accidents from occurring. (In fencing, most serious accidents are caused by broken blades. When a blade breaks, the broken edge is sharp and significantly more dangerous than a whole blade. This is why fencing requires a plastron to protect the chest-so that any broken blades will not be able to pierce the skin.)
Enough about that. The sport of fencing is broken up into three distinct weapon types: foil, epee, and saber. This gamelog will mostly discuss epee, as it is the simplest weapon to quickly understand. In epee, the object of the game is to score a touch on your opponent before they manage to score a touch on you. The entire body of the fencer is target area, which means that touches can be scored on an opponent’s foot, hand, chest, or even their back. If two fencers both manage to score a touch within a small window of time, they both receive a point for the touch. Finally, a director regulates and controls the action of the bout, ensuring that all the rules are followed.
In a typical match, both fencers will salute their opponent and the director. The director will then start the bout, and the competitors will fence. After a touch is scored, the director will state what happened and what the score is, and the fencers will return to their original positions. At the end of the bout, both fencers will again salute their opponent and shake hands before leaving the strip.
The strip is where the action of the bout takes place. It is a long, rectangular area, roughly 2 meters wide by 14 meters long. Both fencers must remain on the strip when fencing, and, if a fencer steps off the strip with both feet, he or she is penalized. The dimensions of the strip are designed so that fencers can move back and forth with ease, but fencers who consistently lose ground to their opponents are at a disadvantage. Also, while the strip allows some lateral movement, it doesn’t allow fencers to circle an opponent. Fencers can end up running past each other without actually scoring a touch, but, when that happens, the director calls a halt, and the fencers return to their appropriate sides. There are some other situations, too, for which directors will call halts. If fencers run into/ram each other, if a fencer drops his or her weapon, if a fencer falls down, if a fencer turns his or her back to an opponent, or if a fencer engages in some sort of unsportsmanlike conduct, the director will halt the action and, depending on the violation, penalize the appropriate fencer.
To examine some of the more important gameplay elements of fencing, I’ll analyze one of the bouts I fought. In this bout, I fought a fencer named Hannah who has exceptionally long reach. For me, this means that I have to stay farther away from her to avoid getting hit. If I get too close she can, and will, lunge forward and hit me. On the other hand, if I want to get a point, I have to move in so that she’s within my range and attack. Of course, if I miss or fall short, this gives her the opportunity to hit my arm and score a point. On the other hand, if I let her attack, and she falls short, then I get a nice opportunity for my own attack.
This brings up another important aspect of fencing: timing. Timing is the difference between a well-placed touch and a wildly errant attack. If you can catch your opponent in a moment of indecisiveness or while they are off-balance, you can often score a point before they can react properly. On the other hand, if you attack at just the wrong time, you can sometimes manage the neat trick of throwing yourself onto the other person’s blade. In my bout with Hannah, timing and distance were both critical. As we were both familiar with the other’s style, strategic considerations were notably less important.
While at practice, I learned that a fencing tournament was going to be held nearby, on the next day. I thought that this would be an excellent opportunity to examine fencing from a more complete standpoint; since the tournament will include quite a few people who I don’t often fence, it will give me a chance to delve into the more strategic aspects of fencing.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Mar 28th, 2012 at 21:46:12.
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NatesLog's Fencing (epee) (Other)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 15 July, 2005
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This is the only GameLog for Fencing (epee). |
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