Biggest Olympic Fencing Misconceptions 🤺 

Thanks, I've not been uploading as much because these kind of videos take a lot longer to make. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Same

was just about to stop the video and go "Aschtually!" and say this but you beat me

It’s weird trying to ref if you’re not experienced though. I’m not a total newb but I still instinctively want to point towards the light first.

foil: an elegant blade with quick play and beautiful parries epee: a weapon of strategy and psychological battle sabre: STICK FIGHT WHACK WHACK

i love that you wrote that you are doin both ! my days of fencing and swordfighting are behind me for roughly 20 years (before it was even called HEMA) - and iam irritated by the modern HEMA enthusiasts often dismiss fencing ! It has still all the core elements in place - and i dont understand why they prefer to mention the few differences more than the many similarities !

I think that many HEMAists including myself don't have a problem with sport fencing itself, rather we have a problem with how its advertised. Just look at the series Wensday. To fix this problem, I think we should make a pretty clear distinction between Martial Fencing and Sport Fencing. Martial Fencing would include HEMA, Kali, some styles of Kenjutsu, etc etc. While sport fencing should include Kendo, Olympic fencing, Canne du Combat, etc etc.

@@Ashorisk The differences we find annoying are not in the technique, but rather in the mindset and rules. Matt Easton has made some fantastic videos on the topic that explain this in depth. Also, the flick.... Please remove that abomination.

@@iantheduellist as soon as Swordfighting got organized ... defined rulesand Hold HEMA tournaments it entered the realm of SPORT - its not the other way around. And while Swordfighting got Sportified over the last 20 years the community around it often shows some animosity vs fencing. way more than the people who did Swordfighing before it was called HEMA.

MMA also has rules, a referee, and medical staff present.

Fencing is desended from the practise version of small sword not trial by combat as it was illegal in almost all nations of europe in the 18th century. Dueling was common in the 18th century yes but it was not a trial by combat as that is somting the king or a judge has to call.

@@penttikoivuniemi2146 then I guess it's not practical in a "real" fight either?

@@martinhg98 give me a break. Modern Epee fencing is descended from 1850s-1920s dueling, you can find film of it here on RU-vid. The weapons they used at the Olympics and those duels were essentially the same, aside from the blunt tips. Instead of "trial by combat" let's say "affair of honor" - it wasn't a "real" life or death street fight.

@@noahzsaber on the other hand was an Infantry Officer's sword, (which is why some countries had a much heavier saber for far longer before everything was standardized) but what you've said is just about spot on.

This was attempted with an experiment with visor masks. Didn't last long...

Sure, but in scoring that they should probably both be discounted as not doing a good job no?

I do in fact have tape that glows under blacklight for my foil, it's never come up in a fencing scenario but you never know

@@lucyicanel Very cool, would love to see that implemented!

We armorers look for those in epees....they don't really work for foil or sabre.

Better for what ? Weapons ? Yea HEMA weapons are cooler Techniques that you can use ? Yea HEMA is cooler But the rest ? It really depends on personal flavor

Not really…. Most hema is as much a sport, but with heavier blades and a slightly different rule set. There’s more focus on blade alignment and different weapons, obviously, do different things.

But the goal is HEMA was always to simulate live armed combat. Competition is one thing, there are rules to keep people safe since they are more aggressive in competition, but that's just a training tool to make you better through cross training and pressure, not the end goal of HEMA.

The cost wou'd be prohibitive, if possible.

Making the blade more visible to the players would change the dynamics of the game. Could be interesting. Making the blade more visible to the video audience but not the players could be done with a light coat of retro reflective paint. Then a light next to the camera reflects back to the camera. Like the Jedi light sabre works. The paint wouldn't cover the whole blade so the electric would still work.

tbf Ive found hema people to be way less like that these days. They've largely kind of gone full circle and realised the rules to any game are inherently arbitrary and that multiple ways to attempt to achieve the same subjective thing (eg rules about double hits/afterblows and so on) are equally valid.

The sport fencers with superiority complex are also annoying lol This goes to both sides, my friend. There will always be the person who thinks what they are doing is the best version of what they do. I practiced sport fencing for many years, that’s the way I started, and today I practice HEMA. I LOVE both disciplines, but I generally tend to go more towards the historical point of view of fencing. To give you some examples of why I say this, when I moved to the US I couldn’t find any HEMA club, so I opted to join a sport fencing one again and found myself in the uncomfortable situation of a coach rejecting me because of my HEMA protective gear, saying I was one of “those historical guys” and that he didn’t want any of my “dumb methods” in his class. That I should come back when I learn what “real fencing” is. I briefly explained to him that I practiced epee for about 8 years and foil for one and went to the National Olympics in Mexico and that I perfectly know how SPORT fencing works. He tried to apologise, but I decided to leave anyway. I also had a similar story with HEMA, having one instructor tell me that I shouldn’t do any of what I learned in sport fencing since it doesn’t have any martial value. With him I just ignored his comment and now I mainly do smallsword, which is the most closely related weapon to the modern epee and foil, I mean… they were developed from it to put it in very general terms, and I’ve had a few HEMAist praise me for my good skill and martial thinking. Even though I tell them I don’t believe I’m that good.

@@CourtDuellist I'm sorry you had those experiences. There are definitely a lot of assholes in sport fencing and I'm disappointed but not surprised. In general, if people are having fun, staying active, bettering themselves, and being respectful I don't see a reason to yuck someone else's yum.

How is this an insult to HEMA? HEMA is great, but it's a fact that FIE fencing is a much bigger sport worldwide. There are many more clubs, facilities, fencers, coaches than there are in HEMA. There is nothing insulting about this, maybe HEMA will grow but for now it is still in its infancy.

​@@SlicerSabreTo say that it is in the fringe of the sport and that its a small community, thats what I don't like. As if there where no international competitions like Combatcon or Sword Fish. Not to mention the companies that manufacture thousands of practice swords per month like regenei or purple heart armory. Also the video you put in that section is not representative of martial fencing, and I'm speaking as a practitioner of british, 18th century, military saber and historical foil of the 18th and 17th century. At least put a sparring bout between Richard Marsden and Lee Smith using polish saber. Thats a great representation of historical fencing.

@@dasmilyshelf7500 Fine then, I'll concede to the matter of HEMA being smaller than olympic fencing. But its not a fringe, its an international comunity with clubs in almost every country and has a the finacial capacity to fuel companies that only sell HEMA products. And yes, seeing as its a small community in comparison to olympic fencing, its insulting to see it represented in such a poor way. Would you like your style of fencing to be portrayed poorly by HEMA practitioners?

@@dasmilyshelf7500 even that is an unfair assesment of parkour! parkour is infinatly more well known then HEMA (if solely by the number of videos of people who fail to do it in a spectacular fashion)

The wires aren't stiff and HEMA is stupid expensive for a sport with no scoring system

There is nothing in the world which Nature, wise mistress and benign mother of the universe, with greater genius, and more diligent regard, provides Man for the conservation of his self (of which, more so than any other noble creature, he shows himself very dear of its safety), than the singular privilege of the hand, with which not only does he go procuring all things necessary for the sustenance of his life, but arming himself yet with the sword, noblest instrument of all, he protects and defends himself against any assault whatsoever of inimical force; following nonetheless the strict rule of true valor, and of the art of fencing. The aim of fencing is the defense of self, from whence it derives its name; because “to fence” does not mean other than defending oneself, hence it is that “protection” and “defense” are words of the same meaning Thence it is also seen that defense is the principal action in fencing, and that no one must proceed to offense, if not by way of legitimate defense. -Ridolfo Capo Ferro Sorry, mate. Fencing is sword fighting, to defend oneself effectively against violence in a sword fight. The misunderstanding of the word is the reason why people who practice actual swordsmanship around the world like Kenjutsu, FMA or HEMA avoid using that word when it infact represented sword fighting in general

I'd claim that a skilled epee sports fencer would do very well with the kind of late 19th century duelling swords that their equipment closely resembles. You always see a lot of HEMA people talking with a very arrogant attitude online, but when you actually watch their competitions live, they have equally short exchanges and seem to get mutual kills very frequently.

Many people read 'fiction'. Dumas wrote stories. I expect he would be puzzled to think anyone would be put off sport because of a book he wrote.

You can’t read fiction and think you know what fencing is. Hema is closer to ‘real’ fencing, but it’s still a sport.

yeah, except distance, tempo, line control, remise possibility. imo it is a best training for real cold weapon fighting possible.

@@moXnoX1 no, distance, line control, remise possibility and especially the tempo is far more different then in the real cold weapon fighing. Go to HEMA club -there you can realise how far more different the olimpic fencing is compere to the real weapon fighting.

@@Porzuc_Ateizm been to hema clubs man, its almost same. also when A level olimpic fencers go to hema club - interesting things happen)

@@moXnoX1 the difference is in almost everything. Olimpic fencing is just the game and lots of suicide actions is happening there-there is no place for that in hema. Most of olimpic fencers would be dead in the hema clubs if the weapons would be sharp and they can't stand that fight. Olimpic fencing is just the pitty game compere to the real weapons fighting.

@@Porzuc_Ateizm bullshit. No suicidal things are trained, on the contrary. Doubles happen everywhere where opponents are nearly equal. I saw a case when the top veteran foil fencer went to try hema in one of the best clubs and he managed to keep up and even beat some of top 10 hemarating athlets in hema sabre. After taking just one lesson and using just one attack and defence.