Caroline Allen’s CCS Profiles and Features class in Spring 2007, now in blog form.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Gaucho Fencing

Sweat and Swords: An introduction to UCSB fencing culture

The second most common response I get when I tell people that I’m on the UCSB fencing team is, “Cool! I’ve always wanted to try that.” Then they may go on to tell me that they took the fencing class taught by team coach Tim Robinson, or that their roommate used to do it in highschool, or that ever since seeing Pirates of the Caribbean they just been dying to try it. This is all encouraging to hear, even that last one, because despite the allure, the UCSB fencing team is consistently quite small, and they’re always on the lookout for fresh blood, so to speak. Which unfortunately brings me to the most common response I get from people who learn that I fence for UCSB:

“Whoa, we have a fencing team?”

This is rarely said to us directly, but overheard in passing if one of us should be wearing a club T-shirt or jacket. Yes, in the wide range of Gaucho sports, one could say that the fencing team is stuck on the fringe. All but ignored by the Daily Nexus, with events attended only by other fencers and their families, and a cheerleading team that despite pleas from last year’s administration, would not “bring it on” for us, it would be easy to blame our obscurity on others. But the truth is most of the blame lies with the sport itself. Modern or Olympic fencing as some people call it, is a very strange thing. Your average Joe who wanders into a practice at the top floor at Robinson Gym looking for break dancing or tango lessons only to find a room full of white clad humanoids wildly motioning at each other with frail, metal rods, would not know what was going on.

This may be because people think of fencing in its original context, that is, young men of breeding settling their differences with a glove, repartee, and a duel. The action was probably easier to follow back when there was bleeding involved. Olympic fencing is very different and has distilled that facet of 17th-19th century European culture over the centuries to be a better reflection of the modern age. Today’s fencers are quick to adopt new technology to make the sport fairer, easier to judge and generally more manageable and consequently Modern fencing has become somewhat dependent on new technology to keep score, although many clubs still practice dry, or non-electric fencing. The result is a far cry from Errol Flynn, and better resembles something out of a science fiction novel. The fencing bout is restricted to a thin rectangular strip and limited to two opponents at a time and most bouts go up to five points. If it’s a dry bout, four hand judges will stand at the corners of the strip to help the director call the action. If it’s an electric bout, each fencer will literally be plugged into a box that calls the action. Each fencer wears a wire connected to that box that threads underneath their jackets, running through the armpit and sleeve and finally plugging into their weapon. Changing technology inevitably changes how people fence. For instance, a machine will usually recognize a touch better than a distractible hand judge, so electric fencing has more room to be subtle than dry fencing. Even the speed at which a box will recognize a touch can impact how someone will fence.

The Basics

Modern fencing has three different weapons that people have the option to train in, each one having different rules, techniques and target areas. The best way to explain them, once again, is in their original context, or rather, how they killed people.

The weapon that most people begin learning with is foil. Foil was originally designed for the quick, painless kill. Consequently the target area is the torso, where all of those important internal organs are, namely the heart. It’s a point weapon, which means that touches are made with the end of the blade instead of the side. Foil bouts are governed by a set of rules called “right of way” which, even after three years of fencing foil, I can’t understand or explain for the life of me. Suffice it then to say that they help the director decide who gets the point when two people stab each other at the same time.

Epee has a more mischievous air, being a traditional dueling weapon. The original point of an epee duel was to hurt and humiliate your opponent as much as possible. This means that everything is target area, including face and crotch and there are no rules of right of way. It is also a point weapon. Epee bouts are the easiest to follow, and epeeists usually get the most bruises.

The final weapon is saber, and was introduced last in the modern fencing repertoire. Sabre is a very different ballgame because it isn’t a point weapon but an edged weapon, meaning that saberists make attacks with the side of the blade and not necessarily with the point (though those count too). This is because the point of saber is to make your opponent bleed, so attacks are made on everything from the waist up, including wrists, neck and head. Saber also follows the rules of right of way, and seems to attract violent people.

Fencing Culture: Competitions, and Decorum Don’ts

Modern fencing can also be called Competitive Fencing because fencing clubs often compete in tournaments where they fence against other teams in their league. The spirit of these tournaments always depends on the people there, (and let me say now that most fencers are laid back, friendly and good sports) but it’s not uncommon to see a grudge match or two between a pair of rivals. A fencing rivalry can start pretty easily because tournaments can rub one’s emotions more raw than usual, especially if you’re having a bad day. All it might take is a wrong look, a snide tone or a violation of the many Decorum Don’ts listed below, and you could have a lifelong nemesis, at least on the fencing strip.

The Decorum Don’ts

Now, once again, to most fencers most of the time, these are no big deal. But during a big tournament where you feel like your sole purpose is to be someone else’s pincushion, or you get cheated out of a stunning victory by an incompetent director, the following quirks can get old REAL fast.

Screaming: Fencers from all weapons (but mostly saber and foil) love to do this. There are several reasons a fencer might scream, but usually it has to do with right of way. Because right of way is so freakishly complex at times, a fencer might employ screaming to convince a director that a touch was theirs. For some fencers however, screaming has become a reflex and they will let out a piercing shriek any time they do anything, making them really unpleasant to be around or worse, fence. Sometimes emotions are running so high, a normally quiet fencer may even do it without thinking about it when they’ve made a touch that they’re particularly proud of, but many people consider this justifiable behavior.

Being a sore loser/snobby winner: This can include mask throwing, refusing to shake hands, salute or make eye contact with an opponent, and cheering one’s own victory while still on the strip. Fencers who do this come off as immature, disrespectful and inconsiderate so naturally it’s pretty common. Usually the decent thing to do, win or lose is to salute, shake hands, make eye contact and maybe say “Thank you” or “Good bout,” (saberists, usually having more physically intense bouts, sometimes hug afterwards.) I for one get really irked when people don’t bother to look me in the eye after a bout, especially if they’ve won, so if I know that won’t, I just refuse to let go of a handshake until they do.

Talking to an opponent during a bout: Trying to psyche out your opponent during a bout is generally considered a tacky move, especially if it’s verbal. I once had an opponent silence my cheering teammates by saying, “Now watch me put her in her place,”. Sometimes fencers try to stimulate antediluvian dueling banter during a bout, such as “En garde, you whoreson rat!” and the like. This can be distracting.

Turning your back on an opponent during a bout: Not only is this bad manners, it’s against the rules for safety reasons because the fencing mask doesn’t protect the back of the head. This can lead to a black card penalty; an automatic win for the other person.

These are the main standout “don’ts” that I’ve learned about during my time as a fencer. There are also a lot of carding offenses that are too many to list in full like using malfunctioning equipment and accidentally/intentionally body slamming opponents.

The Other Side of the Coin

Now, the UCSB fencing club is not the only fencing related club on campus and people often confuse them with the Society for Creative Anachronism, or the SCA for short. The SCA has a completely different approach to fencing, despite sharing roots with Modern fencing. Where Modern fencing focuses on one aspect of their roots and continue to evolve with technology, the SCA endeavors to recreate the entire culture as accurately as Safety will allow.

Initially, my knowledge of the SCA was limited to what members of the fencing club would tell me about them, and since most of them were irritated at being confused with the SCA, some of the accounts were laced with a thinly veiled hostility. The harsher among them may criticize the SCA’s technique and accuse them of being theatrical. These people have led several pilgrimages to the SCA’s practice space, (the courtyard of the music building) to “kick some ass” but the accounts of said quests are mixed. More tolerant members of the club say it all depends on what individuals want to get out of the fencing experience.

I finally got a chance to see the SCA practice in their native habitat when a teammate invited me to come with her and visit one of her friends. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get some more background on this supposedly blistering rivalry.

Stay tuned for Part II: The Belly of the Beast

Sweat and Swords Part II

You could say that the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA for short, has a higher profile than the UCSB fencing club by virtue of their obscurity. The school does not provide the SCA with their own space to practice like it does with the fencing team, so for the twenty years that the SCA have had a club at this campus, they have been forced to find their own grounds to fence on. For the past eight years, that space has been the courtyard of the music building, where any passer by can come in and observe. Consequently, people are likelier to see the SCA in all its glory than they are to see the more cloistered Gaucho fencers. Some people that the SCA encounter regularly are their hosts, the music students and faculty. Both parties have retained a tepid rapport over the years.

“They hate when we make too much noise during their concerts but they love that we chase the skateboarders away,” says coach Jonathan Getty.

When I arrived at the music building courtyard one Wednesday night, Jonathan Getty was giving a small group of students their fencing lesson. Around them were several pairs of people fencing their way across the courtyard. They weren’t operating strictly on a line, but moving in circles, up and down stairs and some of them were even on their knees.

No comments: