Saturday afternoon we managed to rouse ourselves off our Olympic viewing couch in the basement. We headed over to our local rec center, which was having an open house. What we wanted to see was a fencing demonstration. The rec center is starting some fencing classes this fall, including a homeschooling one, and we had already decided to sign Nathan and Luke up for them (the ages were 7-12). I've always thought fencing was a neat sport, and Anthony is fencing for the Academy. Plus, we watched the women's team sabre bronze medal match on TV, and it was so interesting! We all wished we knew more about how points were scored, so we were hoping to have some of our questions answered.
The McC boys showed up with their dad for the same demo--they also are planning to take the homeschool class. There was only one man there, who kept saying he was waiting for more people, but no one else ever showed up to help him. That didn't really matter. He was a big talker, so he explained all about the 3 different blades and let everyone touch them. He showed all the padding and mask you wear, and he talked about the differences in rules for foil, epee, and sabre. Very interesting. Really I need to go back and watch the team final with him right there to explain the action though, LOL. It all moves so fast.
Then he got all 8 of our boys dressed up, and he gave them each a foil. He explained some basic moves and practiced with them for quite a while. The boys were so excited! It would have been great to see people demonstrate fencing, but actually doing it was even better, especially when they never dreamed they would be able to! At the end he even hooked up Isaac, Caleb, and Daniel McC in the electronic vests and stuff that they wear for an actual match and showed how to get points in each event. (My boys are very slow volunteers, espeically when they are not sure what they are volunteering for, so they did not raise their hands, unlike the McC boys, who shot their hands up as soon as he asked for volunteers!) We were there about 2 hours. We were the only people there for a while, so our boys were the only ones dressed up. More people did trickle in, but they just had to watch! The man did say that when he was done, he would give everyone else a chance to suit up and try on the equipment, but it was nice because we got so much individual attention.
So now I need to remember to sign up online on Aug. 21 for the class. I think it will be a lot of fun for the boys!
2 comments:
That's very cool. Anthony said that the very best fencers start at an early age. I heard a very funny TRUE story about a guy who was always the first to volunteer. He attended his companies annual sales training day and raised his hand immediately when they asked for a voulunteer. The instructors proceeded to strap him to a board and put a cloth bag over his head. As they poured water over his face they told the other employees they needed to fight for sales just as hard as Bill was fighting for air! When Bill was later asked by the media why he would vounteer for such a thing, his only response was..."Last year it was an egg toss." Ed
That sounds really awesome! It's cool your family is interested in fencing and that Nathan and Luke are going to try it. I wish I could've watched the matches with you, I would've been happy to explain, but oh well. I was really excited too when the USA swept womens' sabre and our mens' sabre team won silver! Anyway, I can't wait to hear how the lessons go and everything. Please let me know if you have any questions about fencing!
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