Fencing team sharpens skills

Two weapons in use at weekend divisional tournament

Mention fencing to people and certain images inevitably come to mind. The flash of the blade, wiry men in blousy shirts swinging from large boats with cannons dotting the sides. People wittily bantering, "thrust," "parry," "backstep" and "I am not left-handed," while making lightning slashes with their swords. Errol Flynn and the like.

However, such images are often not the case in fencing, which has been compared to chess as often as to personal warfare.

The swashbuckling nature is there, but it is mixed with all-white padded suits and sensors at the end of the blades to register any hits made. Quickness is essential, being able to maneuver within a strip of space only about six feet wide is needed to be able to last through a match, and strength is also key. Tied all together, a fencer must be able to beat through the opponents defenses, plan ahead to how they may attempt to parry and try a counter-response, known as a riposte, all in just one exchange.

The basis behind the different types of fencing stem from a couple different types of combat practices in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The two types that will be used in the tournament the Oberlin Fencing Club is hosting this weekend are foil and epée. Foil is based on the idea of combatants attempting killing blows to vital organs of the body. In foil, the scoring is counted if one fencer makes a hit on the torso or crotch area of their opponent. In epée scoring counts if a hit is made anywhere on the body, based on the slightly more chivalrous ideal of drawing first blood. The other difference is that the epée is a bit more rigid than the foil, with the occasional result of slightly larger and more impressive bruises.

The thrust and parry exchanges in foil usually only happen a few times before one or both of the fencers will withdraw. Part of the structure enforced in foil is due to the idea of "right of way." The Director presiding over the match will judge which fencer made an initial movement with their sword arm. After the movement has begun, the opponent cannot strike until they either dodge, parry the blow or are struck. If a parry or dodge is made, the opponent gains the initiative and can attempt a riposte.

Due to the lack of limits on scoring with epée, typically only the more experienced fencers will compete. Foil is more dominant in non-professional fencing competitions, and beginning Oberlin fencers such as sophomore Andreas Orphanides stick with it for now. Orphanides was introduced to fencing a few years ago. "There was a teacher in my high school who taught it for a term, and when I got to Oberlin I was still interested, so I took the ExCo," Orphanides said. The ExCo is how most people get onto the club team, although sometimes fencers will come in with previous experience.

In both of the competitions, "It's essentially two dimensional," said Orphanides. "There's some sideways motion, which some try and exploit."

There are two time lengths for the matches, a match to five points with a three minute time limit, and a match to fifteen points with a series of three minute periods. Any ties result in a sudden death period. "Usually time runs out before either of the opponents gets fifteen hits," said Orphanides.

This weekend, the members of Oberlin's Fencing Club will put their modern rapiers up against those from Kent State's and Cleveland State's, as well as many clubs from the Ohio area. Coach senior Jason Pinchuk estimates that about 20 to 40 competitors will be in Phillips on Saturday morning and afternoon. The foil competition begins at 9 a.m. in the fencing room on the second floor of Philips Gym. Later, at 1 p.m. the épée will begin. The last tournament Oberlin attended was in early October, and resulted in 22 wins in 28 matches.