-
Title
-
A Foil for Your Figure
-
Date
-
November 1939
-
volume
-
4
-
issue
-
6
-
pages
-
6-7, 11
-
content
-
en
A FOIL FOR YOUR FIGURE
A Reprint from YOU Magazine by Permission of Its Publishers
In the old days every gentleman carried a sword, ready to draw at the drop of a lace handkerchief, in the defense of a lady's honor. But today, if retorts were still made with steel, thousands of women could take care of the defense of their own honor, and carve their initials on an offender's shirtfront with a dexterity to amaze d'Artagnan.
For fencing has stepped out from under the cloak of its elegant and romantic history as a means of self-defense, and has become a regular and popular sport. Women took it up after it was made safe for them by the introduction of the fencing mask. And now every sizeable city has at least one fencing salle, or club, where more and more women are combining the fun of an exhilarating sport with the benefit of the calisthenics incorporated in it.
As a sport, it's a natural for women. In the first place, fencing is as much a combat of wits as of physical skill. At least half the victory is won by acting—by playing up to an opponent to make her believe that you are going to do one thing and then following through with another, or letting yourself appear to be lured, pretending to fall into a trap, and then setting one of your own. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that, as the weaker sex, we're pretty good at that sort of thing.
Maybe you still have visions of Douglas Fairbanks leaping from housetop to housetop, warding off an adversary with a sword. Very picturesque, of course, but very exhausting, too. You'll be involved in no such elaborate gymnastics if you decide to learn fencing, for all the action takes place on a strip 40 feet long and 6 feet wide.
The foil is the basic weapon for fencing. Both men and women use it while they are learning, and it is the only weapon ever used by women. The foil has a quadrilateral blade, about 35 inches long, with a blunt end. It is made of finely tempered steel and has a great deal of bend. It weighs only 12 1/2 ounces, about as much as a loaf of bread.
The limit to a bout is eight minutes, and it is generally won or lost before that time expires. Your object, of course, is to touch your opponent with the tip of your foil. For women, four such touches are needed, while the rules call for five touches in a bout between men. The target for women in foil fencing is from the neck to the tops of the hip bones, and touches on the arms, legs, or the mask are counted as fouls. When a foul occurs, play is interrupted and no score is made; then the play begins anew.
Fencing is a highly formalized sport. Though its rules are rigid, it affords an infinite variety of offensive and defensive actions. Each action has a counteraction distilled from the knowledge of centuries of combat. Fencing isn't a sport that you can pick up "uninstructed." You will have to take lessons. To attempt to fence before you have been taught the technique would be as futile as trying to play tennis with a baseball bat. But after a few months of practice, regularly once or twice a week, you will be ready to enjoy fencing. And as you continue, each time you fence, you will find some small improvement, some added coordination of muscles. To hear your opponent cry "touche" is as thrilling as a service ace in tennis or a strike in bowling. The first time your foil finds its target, you'll experience practically an electric shock that will make up for the months of intensive work necessary to learn the mechanics of the sport.
Before crossing swords, which marks the commencement of play, the opponents salute each other. The foil is raised in a perpendicular position directly in front of the right shoulder. After a moment's pause, it is lowered in direct line with the shoulder. The masks are then put on, and the on-guard position is assumed.
The position on guard is the basic position of fencing, and it is the one to which the fencer returns after each lunge. The body is in profile, since it offers the smallest target; the right arm is bent so that the elbow is about six inches out from the hip, and the foil is pointed toward the opponent's target; the left arm is extended behind so that the forearm is perpendicular, and the upper arm is on a horizontal plane, with the hand curved in toward the head. The legs are crouched, and are separated at approximately the distance of twice the length of your foot. The right foot is pointed toward your opponent, and the left foot is at right angles to it. The back is held straight, and the knees are bent, the right knee directly above the instep on a plumbline, and the left knee above the toes of the left foot.
Describing the guard position in such specific terms is difficult. Just try describing a curtsey, for instance, in terms of where to put your feet and how to bend your knee and where to bend. If you pick up a foil, or even a yardstick, and point your right toe at some object, turn your profile to it, move your left foot back a foot or so and bend both knees, you'll have it. And if you try thrusting with the foil, you'll find it's the only way you can keep a solid stance and be prepared for a quick retreat.
Once you've assumed the crouch of the guard position, with your weight evenly distributed on both feet, your spine straight, and your fanny tucked in, you'll realize that the position automatically corrects figure faults. No rounded shoulders, no protruding fanny; your abdominal muscles are tense and always under control, and you can actually feel the ramrod of your spine as you stand ready to parry the first lunge of an adversary's foil.
The thrust and lunge, parry, and counter or riposte are the first principles of the game. The thrust is used when the target is within arm's reach. The lunge is what its name implies—a lunge forward with the whole body thrusting the foil arm’s length, when the target is out of reach. In a long distance, it is necessary to make an advance and lunge. The parry is a defensive movement to divert the opponent’s blade from its attack. And the riposte is simply a counterattack. The target is divided evenly into four sections, and the sport is worked out with such mathematical precision that there are exact fencing positions for each of the attacks, defenses, or counterattacks on these four sections. So you see, unless you know the right parry for an attack on the upper inside target and can apply it instantly, your opponent can make a touch without the slightest effort. There are simple and compound attacks, sixteen different parries, and numerous ripostes.
Every action in fencing is as controlled and exact as a move in chess. But in fencing, you have to think and act at the same time. As you become a real fencer, your reflexes will be so trained that you can meet any emergency and react immediately and calmly. The beginner is inclined to plunge into action too quickly—instinctively rather than thinking first and then choosing her action. One of the first things you are taught in order to improve quick thinking is to learn to control your reflexes. If you think you have good coordination, remember it the next time you are startled and see which worked first—mind or body.
A good example of how our actions get ahead of our thoughts is in the fact that almost all beginners jump when a foil is thrust straight at their eyes. They know that they are completely protected by a mask, but that doesn't seem to change matters. A good fencer never flinches. If for no other reason than that you become less susceptible to shock, fencing is a wonderful antidote for nervousness. But besides, you become so completely absorbed while you are on the strip that you forget that you ever had a worry.
This discipline that fencing gives you in mind over matter affects your coordination in everything you do, from entering a ballroom to driving a car, and it trains your reflexes to rapid response. It makes you aware of all your muscles and makes your brain aware of its mastery of them.
Fencing brings into play practically every muscle in your body, and in fact, some muscles you never knew you had. It affects the whole body. It strengthens and lengthens muscles and gives them that soft rippling power that doesn't distort the contour lines. Fencing has the same quality of movement as swimming, the same fluid, continuous motions that make for long, relaxed muscles, instead of bulging bunches. It makes women into graceful, feminine creatures—not into hardened toughies.
Don't interpret this as an extravagant promise. Fencing won't make the pounds magically roll away, but you will find that it will redistribute your weight along more graceful lines. And you may discover that what you believed was fat was merely flabby muscle tissue that the exercise of fencing will tone up and whip into shape. The constant elevation of your arms brings into play the muscles which control your bosom and helps to achieve that high-breasted ideal. Fencing won't give you what you haven't got, but it will develop what you have got.
Originally, fencing was exclusively the sport of men, primarily because of the danger attached to it. The introduction of the mask was the turning point of fencing and its beginning as a modern sport. Today, a woman who has learned to handle a foil with dexterity can hold her ground with an average male fencer, and we'll bet that most men will give ground. But male vs. female fencing is always only in fun, for now in official amateur competition the sexes don't compete. Paul Gallico, eminent sports authority, says that he would rather fence with a good woman fencer than with most men and that a man has no advantage over a girl. In his own words: "If anything, he is handicapped because a woman's natural deceitfulness comes in handy."
Well, we won't go off the deep end and agree with Mr. Gallico that we are a deceitful lot. Nor will we stop to argue the point. We have already recognized that the inherent sense of strategy—well, cunning, then—that we all possess is a great asset to a woman fencer. If he wants to call a spade a dredging machine, all right, but our cunning will continue to score points.
And once a woman learns to fence, she can continue until she has to give it up for a wheelchair. Fencing is the one sport that doctors frequently permit when others are banned, for it is only as strenuous as you make it. We asked at the various salles about New York what the range of ages of their women members is. We were told that they ranged from twelve to fifty, but that neither of those figures could be considered limits.
You are probably ready to ask at this point, "But, if I learn to fence, whom can I fence with? My husband doesn't fence and neither do any of my friends." Every sizeable city has one or more fencing clubs, and every club has plenty of eager fencers. If you belong to a club, you need never worry about someone to go on the strip with you. Fencing is a comparatively inexpensive sport. A club membership generally averages around forty dollars a season—these dues frequently include one lesson a week. The official fencing season lasts from November to the end of May, but there is nothing to stop you from fencing all summer long, on your lawn, in your basement, any place where there is enough room.
If you want to learn to fence, it will be easy enough to find someone to teach you, even if you don't live in a city and there is no fencing club convenient. Write to the Amateur Fencers League of America, 522 West 152nd Street, New York City. They will be glad to help you find a good fencer living near you who can give you instruction. Fencing is a particularly fraternal sport, and a good fencer who can find time will be glad to give lessons to a newcomer to the sport. Fees for lessons will be governed according to your teacher, but they are never higher than those of other competitive sports.
Your equipment will cost no more than $25. The foil costs about $3.50 and the mask from $2 to $3. The glove is not expensive. Your costume will average around $15, although you can shoot that figure up as high as you like, if you want to get fancy. But while you're learning, you don't really need to have a complete fencing outfit. Fencing trousers look very much like ski pants, with a little fullness down the pant leg that gathers into a tight cuff at the ankle. A fencing jacket is a necessary precaution. You can buy them separately without the trousers. They are padded in the front and on the upper right arm. Some have pockets over the bosom in which to insert mesh cups lined with lambs’ wool. Or you can wear a protection that is made like a brassiere, tying in the back. You have a choice of materials from tin to asbestos.
Wear flat-heeled shoes, of course; either sneakers or composition-soled shoes will do. And it's a good idea to wear woolen socks to absorb perspiration. You're on your toes only figuratively in fencing, never literally. Fencing is the one sport where your feet must be flat on the floor. As a result, you come down on your heels with quite a bit of unaccustomed weight—especially the right heel. So here's a tip: put a small sponge, or better yet, a piece of hard rubber, under your right heel to serve as a shock absorber.
Certainly, once you start to fence, your enthusiasm for it grows as your skill improves. The sport is full of fascination and dramatics. The lunge, the parry, and the feint are bits of drama in themselves. And, as we said before, a good fencer is always a good actor. And good actors are often good fencers, too. Both Katharine Cornell and Eva LeGallienne are excellent fencers. Actresses have found that fencing contributes a lot to their stage presence, not only because it improves their posture and poise, but because it sharpens their wits. Fencing doesn’t help them remember their lines, but its training in quick thinking and quick decision does help when the time comes to ad lib in order to save a situation. And fencing builds up stamina, to last through a long-run play, or a strenuous social season, or whatever demands your life may make on you.
[The above article is reprinted from the Fall 1939 issue of YOU Magazine and appears here with permission of the publishers. YOU is the leading consumer authority on subjects of interest to women. Published bi-monthly—subscription rate $2.50 a year. YOU, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York City.]
