En guard
 

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/...kmFCYu0KzZ5g--

Ahhahahaahahahaha

If you give them huge hypodermic needles, they can get exercise and medication at the same time!

How are they going to score touches? Those look like electric blades and they're not wearing the right gear.

Not to mention that foil is for pussies and morons.

I used to own a fencing sal. www.windycityfencing.net

this is how we train the elderly to deal with home invasions in melbs :)

Jazz, are you joking?

First, fencing was around long before electric scoring machines became popular. Second, safety equipment such as a plastron is worn to protect against broken blades from aggressive maneuvers such as a fleche; something I doubt these people have to worry about.

Third, foil is probably the only safe option for them to practice with. As the former owner of a fencing Sal, you probably realize how helpful it is to start beginners off on foil so they can learn technique before jumping to a more forgiving weapon (like Epee), or one that has even more complicated and arbitrary rules (Sabre).

No, foil's for pussies. And morons.

Check the instructor/judge - he's got all his gear on - and that might be a body cord dangling from his right hand. It's hard to tell and might be something completely different, but that's what it looks like to me. If it were about safety, why are they wearing breast plates?

We didn't bother to teach foil (although we did have a few sabre fencers). That didn't change after I sold the club. And I would never teach foil to the elderly since the rules aren't exactly intuitive.

Then again, these are Australians, and we all know how crazy THOSE folks are (I'm looking at you, dlish).

Ok,

The director doesn't have a body cord, it's the blade for his weapon (he is resting his hands on it). I don't see anybody wearing breast plates, and the director is probably the only one wearing a jacket because he is the only one who has one. Also, the foils being used are dry weapons (you can see the rubber tip on the ends).

I would like to think that I am neither a pussy nor a moron, but I do fence foil. As a matter of fact, I won my 'C' in a dry foil tournament some years ago (They have a big one in NC every year). I always preferred (and was better at) Epee, but foil was great practice as it forced bigger, more dynamic moves and fast exchanges.

The people in the photos are fencing while holding onto walkers. Do you really think it would be smart to give them a heavier, stiffer weapon? Or one where the chief aim is to slash the shit out of your opponent?

I after I graduated college, I stayed on as a coach for a while. I was taught Foil first, but we were almost exclusively an Epee club by that point, and we chose to let people jump straight into their weapon of choice. It caused a lot of problems as we were continually trying to correct bad habits. Our epee fencers also had a very difficult time transitioning to foil or sabre, though those who learned foil first transitioned quickly over to either epee or sabre.

Another note: Foil fencing evolved as a way to teach people how to survive duels, as opposed to just winning them. Think how often you get simultaneous lights in epee. People would duel and both parties would get injured or killed. Foil, along with right of way, was designed to teach people not to jump onto their opponents blade. Of course, foil has it's problems as well (simple blade contact should not equal a parry), but it came about for very good reasons.

Heh, classic epee vs. foil vs. sabre ego conflict.

IMO everyone should fence epee. Everyone who doesn't is wrong. Foil fencers tend to be pussies and morons and sabre fencers are pompous ninnies. Oh, and foil fencers - pretty much all of that group - were the sole reason for the explosion of the club that mine succeeded. It was a great club and I was very happy not being an owner. If I (and my partners) hadn't stepped in, there would have been a very noticable vacuum in Chicago fencing. So if I seem a little embittered towards foil fencers, there's a reason.

On an unrelated note, everyone should also be Cubs and Bears fans. Oh, and Steve Spurrier is the devil.

Now, I know nothing about fencing, but if you two were trying to persuade me to one way or the other, I'd say that I would listen to Greg over Jazz.

But, funny picture.

haha...looks kinda dangerous

How many points for a hit to the walker? ;)