Unbelievable that fencing is a college sport, or even an organized sport at all anymore. If it wasn't for the Olympics, there wouldn't be fencing, and the world would be better for it quite frankly. Have you ever watched fencing on TV? It's surreal, like wtf is this? it's a vestige of swordplay, from the Middle Ages or even older than that, when people used to duel with swords! Presumably for higher stakes than a medal. Truly a relic of a gladly bygone era. And somehow it survived and evolved into an Olympic sport, and sterilized and defanged as a more elegant form of combat in the age of gunpowder and small arms. Only it's not elegant at all, and a typical little fencing spar lasts like, four seconds. And then it's all over, and you just keep repeating that, until eventually there's a winner of the tournament or whatnot. And you have no idea what you just saw, just these two dudes violently jerking back and forth, in their exaggerated fencing posture, wildly whipping around those little foils in a seemingly highly ungainly, uncoordinated fashion, with very little in the way of discernible technique. And that's how you win in fencing. Nothing whatsoever like the badassery of the sword fighting of our imagination. If it were like, long, extended sword battles like something you see in a movie, a period piece, that would be pretty cool. Only no coup de graces though. You just get the gold medal instead. Even the outfits are lame. With those spooky looking little helmets they wear. You gotta take that shit off and be a swashbuckler about it. Bottom line it's just a sport, technically at least, for complete non athletes. Or rich kids, I assume. How the F else would you ever get into fencing? Like at boarding school I guess?
Oh and congratulations to ND on yet another fencing national title. Director's Cup here we come!
