But right now I fence, and fencing is awesome.
Every now and then I look at my mask lying around in the spare room and think: "hell, yeah, baby! I totally fence!" But that could just be because I'm a dork. And fencing is awesome.
However, as much as I love the sport, ever since I took it up there have been a number of things I'd love to change about it. I'm not the boss of fencing, I'm just a lowly nobody who's never even won a medal at a competition. But if I had a bit of money and could afford to use it to try to push my own agenda, there are somethings I'd like to try.
One of them is the colour of fencing clothes. Or, rather, the lack of it.
As per tradition, fencing uniforms are white (like cricket, tennis, and any other sport that was the domain of rich men with servants to do the laundry). Okay, fine, that does look a bit cool. I'm perfectly okay with there being a thing that says you should compete in the traditional white kit.
However, there happens to be two levels of fencing clothes. The 350N level is good enough to stop you from dying and it's fairly common in normal week-by-week club fencing. The 800N level is more swordproof and is the required level for any official competitions.
So, yes, you have to wear white for competition. Well, hurrah. Since the 350N clothes can’t be worn for competitions anyway, why do they have to be locked into the traditional colour scheme?
Or, for that matter, style? Why can’t we shake things up at the training level and have – oh, I don’t know – pants?
There are a lot of clothes involved in the traditional fencing attire, and I’m not convinced we need all of them. A better design would cut down on a lot of the guff.
In addition to the mask and shoes (which are non-negotiable givens) my usual outfit for a weekly training night consists of everything I would wear at a competition:
Now, Leon Paul sells 350N track pants (black) which could theoretically replace the socks and breeches and eliminate the need for the shorts. They also sell “club jackets” – which combine the jacket and the plastron into one garment, which is padded to reduce bruising and ROYAL BLUE!
Their website indicates the blue colour will deter theft and encourage people to buy their own kit.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking: “Wait, there’s something that cuts down on the amount of clothes I have to wear/wash, gives more protection against bruises and is a pretty colour – and I’m *not* supposed to want it?”
I could reduce the amount of clothes I have to deal with *and* have an outfit that came in colour… This sounds like a good thing to me.
I could go from everything listed above to the following list without endangering myself at all (and possibly providing even better protection):
Clearly, they are actually capable of making 350N clothes in colours other than white and in styles other than the bib-and-breeches combo. So why don’t they?
I can’t believe no one has found a market for this yet. If you could buy jackets in a variety of colours and styles for normal club fencing days, why wouldn’t you get more than one? Imagine what would happen if you came up with a way to print designs on the fabric…
I know a bunch of people who never bothered buying a 350N outfit because they may as well just have an 800N suite to cover everything (I bought the cheaper stuff while I was waiting to see if I'd stick it through). I think there are probably a lot of people who would probably buy a second jacket if that jacket looked cool.
Imagine a fencing kit that looked like Captain America's uniform, or something...
However, there happens to be two levels of fencing clothes. The 350N level is good enough to stop you from dying and it's fairly common in normal week-by-week club fencing. The 800N level is more swordproof and is the required level for any official competitions.
So, yes, you have to wear white for competition. Well, hurrah. Since the 350N clothes can’t be worn for competitions anyway, why do they have to be locked into the traditional colour scheme?
Or, for that matter, style? Why can’t we shake things up at the training level and have – oh, I don’t know – pants?
There are a lot of clothes involved in the traditional fencing attire, and I’m not convinced we need all of them. A better design would cut down on a lot of the guff.
In addition to the mask and shoes (which are non-negotiable givens) my usual outfit for a weekly training night consists of everything I would wear at a competition:
- A pair of knee-length socks (which are always awkward to get on and off, and can’t possibly project my shins against sword wounds)
- A pair of breeches
- A pair of exercise shorts under the breeches (because the breeches on their own just feel weird, and because I change between breeches and real pants for activities before and after fencing and can’t be bothered finding a changing room)
- A T-shirt
- A plastron (a half-shirt of thick material worn under the jacket to provide extra protection under your sword arm)
- A chest protector
- A jacket
Now, Leon Paul sells 350N track pants (black) which could theoretically replace the socks and breeches and eliminate the need for the shorts. They also sell “club jackets” – which combine the jacket and the plastron into one garment, which is padded to reduce bruising and ROYAL BLUE!
Their website indicates the blue colour will deter theft and encourage people to buy their own kit.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking: “Wait, there’s something that cuts down on the amount of clothes I have to wear/wash, gives more protection against bruises and is a pretty colour – and I’m *not* supposed to want it?”
I could reduce the amount of clothes I have to deal with *and* have an outfit that came in colour… This sounds like a good thing to me.
I could go from everything listed above to the following list without endangering myself at all (and possibly providing even better protection):
- Pants
- T-Shirt
- Chest protector
- Jacket.
Clearly, they are actually capable of making 350N clothes in colours other than white and in styles other than the bib-and-breeches combo. So why don’t they?
I can’t believe no one has found a market for this yet. If you could buy jackets in a variety of colours and styles for normal club fencing days, why wouldn’t you get more than one? Imagine what would happen if you came up with a way to print designs on the fabric…
I know a bunch of people who never bothered buying a 350N outfit because they may as well just have an 800N suite to cover everything (I bought the cheaper stuff while I was waiting to see if I'd stick it through). I think there are probably a lot of people who would probably buy a second jacket if that jacket looked cool.
Imagine a fencing kit that looked like Captain America's uniform, or something...
The idea of fencing has attracted me since being a little boy - just like any other little boy. But the viewing of it kills the enthusiasm. A bout seems to take a millisecond. That's the epee?
ReplyDeleteWhere's the fun in that?
I would like my children to take up fencing - how reasonable to contemplate setting up one's own 'fencing school' (i.e. just for one's own children) without any education in the subject whatever?
If you want them to muck about with swords, but find the sport side of things boring, go straight for "stage". You'll be able to source books and YouTube clips on stage fighting, and get some decent props to play with. And you'll be able to focus on all of the things that look impressive and flourishy but never work in a real bout.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, keep an eye out for historical re-enactment clubs that have a Medieval/Renaissance focus. They tend to play, rather than bout, so it's often more fun to do and watch.
Whatever you do, though, don't skimp on the protective clothing. The only sword injury (apart from bruises) I've ever seen was at a re-enactment club where one of the guys was wearing a padded jacket too short to cover his wrists. Guess where he got cleaved to the bone?
I've talked about this in another post, but I'm just going to add it here in case someone found their way to this post and was wondering: I actually did buy the Leon Paul club jacket and training pants, and it's wasn't a big success.
ReplyDeleteThe jacket was actually quite uncomfortable (and incredibly hot), and the one I bought was faulty and needed to be replaced. My experience wearing it made me not want a replacement, so I just got a refund instead.
The pants aren't too bad, but they're clearly designed for a cooler climate than the one I live in. I actually use my old 350N breaches rather than these pants during summer, because I just can't stand the way they cling in the heat.