Modern Fencing: Yes or No?

It seems like there's a never-ending debate on whether or not modern Olympic fencing has any use to the SCA fencer. After all, fencing's fencing, right? And with the resurgence in Olympic, it's becoming easier and easier to find local fencing clubs to join, but is it a good idea for someone who wants the best rapier game they can get?

For the record, my start in fencing was in Olympic, some twenty years ago. I fenced mainly foil and epee, but did some sabre as well, so I am familiar with the sport. Olympic is a wonderful place to learn basic parrys and attacks as well as work on your tip control and speed, but it does have three major flaws: footwork, right of way and touches.

Olympic footwork is basically sound, except for the fact that it is designed for a 14-meter by 2-meter (roughly 46'x6') strip. Because of the narrow width, the only movement options for Olympic fencers are front/back and up/down. That's good, as far as it goes, but SCA fencing is usually done in the round and that extra dimension of side to side makes a real difference. When someone is advancing in Olympic, your only choices are to stand your ground or retreat, but in the SCA, you can side-step in just about any direction.

Another flaw in Olympic (as far as the SCA is concerned) is the idea of right of way. Basically, right of way is the idea that whoever attacks first, wins - no matter who lands their attack first. Now, don't get me wrong, right of way is a good idea, but in a style that scores body parts differently like the SCA, there are times when it is worth sacrificing an arm or a leg to get the head or torso.

The third major flaw in Olymic fencing is what constitutes a touch. Any touch that results in sufficient bend (or that will set off the scoring buzzers) is a good touch. Sounds pretty good, right? The touches might be heavier than we use, but the idea's sound. Well, sort of. You see, in Olympic, it doesn't matter how the touch lands -tip, flat or press - as long as there's sufficient bend. In a form that treats blades as having edges, you do suddenly have to worry about how the blade landed, not just how hard.

Of course, Olympic isn't all bad. Some years back, a visiting fencer from the Outlands commented on how incredible Artemisian fencers were at single-sword. The reason we were (are) so good at single-sword is that most fencers are tought a modified version of Olympic as their first style, complete with parrys, attacks, lunges and drills. Those drills, especially make their way into our psyches until we can't get rid of them. I know I've killed more than one person with a textbook lunge. And, as limited as Olympic is, it is a good way to keep your parry reflexes sharp and cut down on your double-kills.

So should an SCA fencer do Olympic? Not if they're just starting out. The differences in style are too great and they'll find their fencing suffers both on the strip and in the round. After they've gained a good feel for fencing and can separate the two styles, then yes, they can gain from the experience. With one caviat: stay away from sabre. Sabre offers no benefits to the SCA fencer and can lead to the bad habit of hacking.