Michael’s answer to “Hello again, 1 more question! Do you fence in your free time or as a competitor? You seem to hav…” > Likes and Comments

Yes you certainly are! I started reading The Great Book of Amber at about the same time I started listening to your books and the way you and Zelanzy describe fighting is quite similar and fantastic. I am not sure if he fenced either, and unfortunately will never have the opportunity to ask (also I've never done any googling on the subject) but reading both gets me excited about it enough that I too would absolutely love to take a stab at it (get it??, I know, not funny).

It's interesting too because I have read and love a lot of Heinlein's work and he was an avid fencer yet the only instance I've read of him getting into it (Glory Road) it felt nearly identical to how your fencing/sword fighting scenes play out in my mind.

Thanks for answering! Goes to show how well good research can go in your favor if you spend the time to do it right.

Also, if you have an suggestions on books about Fencing that you found particularly helpful or engaging I would love to hear them!

If you like having all the muscles in your body screaming at you, fencing is for you.

All the research you will ever need is watching the YouTube channel of Matt Easton (Scholagladiatoria) - he is a historical martial arts and weapons expert, who talks about weapons (especially swords), armor and sword fighting from different historical periods. You can learn everything from him, as he knows his stuff and does proper research too. Also, doing sports fencing is not a good idea, if you want to learn the principals of real sword fighting and make it sound or look realistic in a book or a movie - modern sports fencing has almost nothing in common with historical duel fencing, sword fighting, etc. The way they score the points in it, and hence the technique they use, are counter-intuitive to what a real fencer/sword-fighter would usually do...

Thanks for the info on Matt Easton! Watching his videos right now.

You're welcome :)