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Fencer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Fencing
Debunking the sport’s rumored reputation of being outdated, this newly revised edition explores the ancient yet powerfully rich and entertaining art of fencing. Covering Olympic-style foil, epee, and saber methods, this comprehensive guide also features tips on safety, etiquette, and technique. With a brief history on the sport and an updated resource section, this examination tackles the fencing experience with humor and style.
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 14, 2025
This is a very good book.
It’s a good companion to read when you’re just learning how to fence.
I really enjoyed this!💫🌟💫
It’s a good companion to read when you’re just learning how to fence.
I really enjoyed this!💫🌟💫
January 28, 2023
Goodreads really needs to give us half star reviews, it kills me every time. Anyway, 2.5 stars rounded up. This book was solidly average.
I am 4 classes into an 8-class intro to fencing course, and checked out this book after being thoroughly confused by priority and right of way in foil. There tends to be a lot going on in in the room during the intro classes, and it's not always easy to hear and understand the instructor when she's going over more nuanced things (I get the impression she also thinks that we all have more of a baseline knowledge of what she's talking about than I actually do...) so outside research it is.
The first 10 chapters of this book are just general introductions to the sport of fencing, and to the three main styles. The definitions of different styles and moves are well-written, and I found the abundance of pictures moderately helpful. I admit, I skipped the 10th chapter (on this particular group's own version of Sport Fencing) because it didn't really seem relevant. The most useful chapter (to me) was the Journal in chapter 11. The author documents his first 47 classes and his own journey to learning how to fence. I found it nice to read about someone else's experience, and feel less out of place knowing that most people have no idea what's going on for the first month or so of their lessons. There may be some hope for me yet. This is not the book to read if you're looking for more in-depth strategy and tactics, it is solidly a baseline beginner book.
The writing style was clear, but it was also incredibly 90s. Even if I didn't know from the introduction that the author was a surfer in California before taking up fencing, I would have been able to tell. He's very insistent that fencing is way cooler than we think it is, and I get the impression he felt a little embarrassed to be so interested in it as a sport. It would have been nice if he'd just owned it instead of trying to make it seem like a new cool thing for kids these days to get into. There was also a weird moment in the intro where he gets kind of defensive about his use of masculine pronouns (claiming it's not a "reflection of bias", it's just "easier to write and read"), which I thought was unnecessary. Drawing attention to it just made it weird, Doug.
I'm still not totally clear on priority, but that's not the author's fault. I think I just need more experience watching bouts and seeing how it's done. I think I may be a more of an Epeeist anyway.
I am 4 classes into an 8-class intro to fencing course, and checked out this book after being thoroughly confused by priority and right of way in foil. There tends to be a lot going on in in the room during the intro classes, and it's not always easy to hear and understand the instructor when she's going over more nuanced things (I get the impression she also thinks that we all have more of a baseline knowledge of what she's talking about than I actually do...) so outside research it is.
The first 10 chapters of this book are just general introductions to the sport of fencing, and to the three main styles. The definitions of different styles and moves are well-written, and I found the abundance of pictures moderately helpful. I admit, I skipped the 10th chapter (on this particular group's own version of Sport Fencing) because it didn't really seem relevant. The most useful chapter (to me) was the Journal in chapter 11. The author documents his first 47 classes and his own journey to learning how to fence. I found it nice to read about someone else's experience, and feel less out of place knowing that most people have no idea what's going on for the first month or so of their lessons. There may be some hope for me yet. This is not the book to read if you're looking for more in-depth strategy and tactics, it is solidly a baseline beginner book.
The writing style was clear, but it was also incredibly 90s. Even if I didn't know from the introduction that the author was a surfer in California before taking up fencing, I would have been able to tell. He's very insistent that fencing is way cooler than we think it is, and I get the impression he felt a little embarrassed to be so interested in it as a sport. It would have been nice if he'd just owned it instead of trying to make it seem like a new cool thing for kids these days to get into. There was also a weird moment in the intro where he gets kind of defensive about his use of masculine pronouns (claiming it's not a "reflection of bias", it's just "easier to write and read"), which I thought was unnecessary. Drawing attention to it just made it weird, Doug.
I'm still not totally clear on priority, but that's not the author's fault. I think I just need more experience watching bouts and seeing how it's done. I think I may be a more of an Epeeist anyway.
December 23, 2014
While the contents of this book may not adhere to many people's standards for what is or is not to be included in a beginner's guide to Traditional and Sport Fencing, I would say as someone who has never held a foil, that I truly enjoyed this book. The point is not to give any thorough instruction, but to generate interest in the sport of Fencing by giving the reader a basic understanding of the fundamentals. On top of being a simple guide, this book contains a short section on the history of Fencing, and also journal entries of the author's many lessons in Fencing.
December 20, 2010
Ugh. It's really trying to "speak" to teens, but it does it in a way that is demeaning. Also, this is not a beginner's guide to what they call "Olympic Fencing", or what I would call the sport of fencing. However, the thing they call "Sport Fencing" is sort of mix between classical fencing and olympic fencing, where only epee is scored electrically. Some of the information is sound, but be prepared for some classical, non-sport fencing theory.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews