Fencing team gears up for tourney

Joust when you thought it was safe to go back to Philips Gym...15 students with swords could change your mind.

The fifteen-person Fencing Club has been practicing since the beginning of the semester. The team practices three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the fencing room in Philips Gym. They also attend approximately six tournaments a year, one of which is this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

"A tournament consists of a lot of fencers getting up really early in the morning, driving to a gym that you don't have any idea where it is, getting lost on the way, stretching, getting dressed in your whites, waiting to fence for a really long time and coming in last," said junior Andreas Orphanides.

The "whites" are the fencers' gear; which consists of a mask, jacket, and knickers. Knickers are stiff pants that only go to the knee. They are usually made out of some canvas-like material that offers more protection for the body. Recently the team members bought themselves some new knickers.

Of course, they also need swords. There are three types used in tournaments: sabers, epeés, and the more common foil. The different types of swords vary in weight, shape and in the rules for scoring.

The epeé is the heaviest sword. It has a large hand grip, also known as a bell-guard, and points are scored when a fencer touches his or her opponent anywhere on their body. Sabers weigh in at the middle and points are scored by touching the opposing fencer anywhere above the waist. Foils are the lightest and have a small bell-guard.

Points with foil are scored by touching the opposing fencer anywhere on the upper torso except the head and arms. A match is either 5 points or 5 minutes long, whichever comes first. There is also direct elimination fencing, in which there are 15 points and three 3-minute long periods.

Fencers and their swords are electrically wired to make it easier to count points. In all cases fencers are ranked individually, not as a team. Oberlin fences against teams from Cleveland, Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University and occasionally Canada. There are five rankings in fencing, A being the best and E being the worst. None of the team members have achieved the necessary prerequisite skills and wins to achieve a ranking.

The club members fence for many reasons. For some, its an enjoyable way to pass the time.

"It's a fun sport," said sophomore Josiah Wagener. "I've always been interested in medieval history and in knights."

It's also an interesting way to relieve stress. "What better release then going and stabbing people for sport?" said junior Sarah Shellman, the only full-time female member of the fifteen-person club.

It's also a healthy pastime. "It's actually a pretty good form of exercise," said Orphanides. "About on the same level as racquetball."

Fencing isn't easy, especially when one first starts. "The most basic standing position is the most awkward thing in the world," said co-captain junior Matt Strine, who is also the fencing club's liaison and treasurer .

Small injuries also occur frequently. "I get bruises and scrapes all the time. You get them on your dominant side," Strine said. The most common major fencing injury is bad knees due to the type of movement.

Equipment is also expensive. The least expensive sword, a "dry" foil, that is, one without the scoring electronics, is about $40. A tournament foil with the electric wiring costs about $65, according to Strine. Because of lack of funding, the club cannot afford to hire a full-time coach, although they do have a trainer come every couple of weeks from Cleveland which members pay out of their own pockets. Their ExCo, a prerequisite for the club, suffers from lack of funding as well.

"OK, we don't get funding because it's an elite male-dominated sport," Shellman said. "But because we don't have money, we can't get more equipment so that we can get more people involved."

The Fencing Club encourages spectators. "I think it would be great for people to see what we actually do," Shellman said.