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Title
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Fencing and Other Sports at College
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Date
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December 1939
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volume
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4
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issue
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7
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page start
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10
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page end
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11
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list of authors
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Rear Admiral R. E. Bakenhus
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content
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en
Introduction
There is no group in the world more loyal to its sport than the fencers. We have often made reference to the fencing bug which once having really bitten you leaves you the life-long host to its virus. Such a real victim is Rear Admiral Bakenhus, who was injected many years ago and regardless of whether serving with the United States Navy, afloat or ashore, or now retired as a Consulting Engineer in New York City, has always carried his fencing equipment to his various ports of call throughout the world. His was a constant search for other fencers with whom to enjoy the sport and in case of failure to find them to train other men in the sport for his pleasure. Rarely, if ever, an active competitor, his is the perfect example of what fencing can mean to a man who has come to appreciate its good fun, its exercise and its mental stimulation.
A few years ago he wrote an article in favor of fencing at college. We saw and liked that article and have gained his permission to reprint it. We have saved it purposely for this issue of The Riposte which should reach you just at the start of active college fencing. If your school or college is hesitating in recognizing the sport or is showing a tendency to minimize the sport in favor of other athletics, we suggest that you bring this article to your school's attention. It gives a clear, concise and fair analysis of the sport's advantages that should impress any athletic department with the various benefits fencing offers to its devotees.
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FENCING AND OTHER SPORTS AT COLLEGE
By Rear Admiral R. E. Bakenhus, Civil Engineering Corps, U.S. Navy, Retired
Physical Education in General
The primary purpose of physical education for the student is to contribute to the well-rounded man of life after school, to give him health and strength and the ability to do things in his chosen profession with the best results. It should contribute materially to his good health both while at school and in after life. The young man should acquire a good posture, knowledge of what strains his body will stand, and how to get the most out of himself without injury.
Physical education and exercise should have expert supervision, and each man, while given the widest latitude of choice, should be guided to those exercises which are best suited for him.
Sports and games indulged in to a reasonable extent are excellent as a part of a well-rounded physical education. They give recreation and fun. The association with others is a benefit and results in life-long friendships. Competitive sports, if not carried to excess, or beyond the physical capacity of the individual, have a great value. They are stimulating, teach a man how to put forth his best effort in a crisis, and also how to prepare for such a crisis. The lessons learned may be applied to the efforts and crises of later life, if they are well learned.
There are but few institutions where a man may indulge in sports for their own sake, where they are his main interest, and the intellectual or professional pursuits are secondary. There are always some who may indulge in such a luxury or who are preparing for a career in professional sports or in physical education. The fundamental aims and objects of most colleges and schools do not provide for such groups. Nor is it in accord with the principles of education followed at such schools to encourage any one sport or athletic interest to such a degree that it becomes a center for the school spirit, nor where the athlete becomes the great hero of the hour, such that the basic ideal of the student body is warped. All honor to the man who triumphs in athletic sports at school. There is a thrill in it for him and for all his schoolmates. He has done something that should help him win in the competitions of later life, whether it be with individuals or with adverse conditions. He has done something to build up his morale and give him confidence in himself, and that will always stand him in good stead.
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Fencing
The purpose of these notes is to bring out the advantages of fencing without in any way detracting from any of the other suitable sports.
Fencing is one of the very oldest and most honorable of sports and dates back hundreds of years. At the present time the weapons and methods as generally used are conventionalized and the weapons are light and the action faster than of old.
Fencing is essentially, though not exclusively, an indoor sport and is thus particularly adapted to the months of inclement weather.
Fencing does not require excessive space, nor are the facilities and equipment expensive.
Not much time is required to prepare for this exercise and thus no time is lost unnecessarily.
The exercise is milder than some sports and yet is vigorous enough to develop the muscles and to require deep breathing. It is an exercise which tends to develop good posture, self-possession, and to eliminate awkward movements or poses.
Fencing is a sport for a man with brains as well as muscles. The moves must be carefully thought out and practiced under a competent instructor, of course. There are many combinations of action. To perceive them the eye must be trained, and more than that, the automatic reactions must be developed by long practice. The reactions then become faster than the eye can see and are due to the “feel” of the blade and to subconscious thought.
The lunge, the advance, and the retreat are excellent exercise for the legs and the body muscles. The work with the weapon itself develops the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, and body muscles.
There are three types of weapons now in general use: the foil, which is for thrusting with the torso only as a target; the épée, which is also for thrusting but with any part of the body, limbs, or head as a target; and the sabre, which is both a thrusting and a cutting weapon with the body, arms, and head as target. There is much to be learned, and the weapons are usually taken up in the order named.
Proper clothing must be used for protection while fencing. This includes mask, glove, jacket, and trousers of suitable material and design for the weapon concerned, and also shoes for proper footwork. Fencing is one of the safest of all sports, and bodily injury is a rarity.
Fencing above all requires perfected coordination of the various parts of the nervous and muscular systems. It tends to give poise and graceful movement. It does more than that, as it brings out power of automatic reaction to given situations. It will help a man to save himself when he might otherwise be subject of an accident—to avoid a fall, move out of danger, or he may save others due to his quick reactions.
Fencing is an exciting and exhilarating sport. It has all of the advantages of competition. This will not only bring out the superior fencers, but will also show each individual under what circumstances he can do his best.
Fencing has always been a gentlemanly sport. Courtesy and fairness are inherent in the game.
One of the great advantages of fencing is that a man can indulge in it for many years after he would be required to give up some of the other popular sports. There are many men fencing at ages of 50 and 60 and even 70 years who do well and get much fun out of it.
The fencer also gets experience in judging and umpiring in competitions. This is difficult and requires a quick eye and knowledge of the rules. It develops also a sense of fairness, justice, and decision.
There is hardly a sport that is so well adapted to college men as fencing, both for the benefit during the study years and for what it will mean later.
