Fencer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Fencing (Start-Up Sports series)

I really liked the breadth of topics covered in this book. Also, the pictures are the best I've seen to demonstrate parries. I thoroughly enjoy using this book as a reference and guide.

This book was a gift for a step-grandson. He is interested in swordsmanship, and this book has encouraged him to persue fencing for a sport. The pictures and language were clear and easy to understand. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in fencing.

A very interesting book, I will be exploring this sport further and this was a great starting point.

Sure, this is supposed to be a book for beginners, and sure, it provided some good information. However, the writing wasn't good enough for me to me interested in the author's personal fencing journey with his son. It was like reading what my grandmother would find interesting about fencing. Most of the information in this book you will get from your first fencing lesson. I'm not an expert, but the book also differed from what my fencing instructors taught me. This book is not worth the money.

I have a 9-year-old daughter who is interested in fencing. I bought this book hoping it would be a good basic instruction manual suitable for a child who is a good reader. Whatever it's merits, the book did not meet my hopes and expectations.There is clearly a lot of good information in the book. However, in order to get to that information it is necessary to wade through a lot of prose in an excessively informal, folksy style that instantly rings false. The introduction (titled "You've Got To Be Kidding! But It Looks So Wierd") sets the tone, devoting itself to reassuring the reader that fencing is not a wimpy sport. The book proceeds to devote entirely too much ink to fencing's supposed underdog status in the world of sports, berating unclean fencing clubs, unintelligible instructors, etc.Now my daughter had been fascinated by the idea of fencing ever since she discovered one of my old foils in the basement. It had never occurred to her that fencing was anything other than exciting and fun. The introduction, however well-intentioned by the authors, sets a negative tone that is entirely inappropriate for a young reader.My daughter daughter was pretty much instantly turned off by this book. I had to agree with her.If you can get it, I would highly recommend the out-of-print "Sports Illustrated Book Of Fencing", as a much more appropriate book for a young beginning fencer.

I checked this book out at a local library in Kansas City when I was looking for a book to help learn the basic skills of fencing. When I first read "Fencer's Start-Up: A Beginner's Guide To Traditional And Sport Fencing" I thought I had discovered at least a primer for the on-guard position, parries and basic attacks. Unfortunatly the descriptions of the body mechanics involved for the moves were to shallow for me to make use of them. I started reading the second half of the book and that is when the book redeemed itself.The author included a short journal of his learning experiences as a fencer. He did manage to be honest throughout the entire journal and that's what makes the second half so good. Not a lot of author's can be totally honest with their readers when they sit down to write even a simple treatise on fencing. The manage to write themselves into a good light as with most short autobiographies but this author didn't.You all came to this book expecting a serious manual on the art of fencing and I think that is the wrong attitude to approach this book with. Try to think of this book as a tool to get a young person passionate about the sport by showing them how simple a game it is to play. Most of the books on fencing I have read have a stern classical view of fencing, one that keeps it's full people potential chained back by tradition. What I mean is that most of the books I have read do not make fencing look like something that can be done by just anyone. They confine the sport to the rich, the elite or those who already have friends or family fencing. This books was a small attempt to change that by showing people the game without a great deal of tradition. For that it is a book I would want in my library.For those of you who don't agree with what I have said I say, "Tough."

The first part of Mr. Werner's book covers the basics of the three weapons (foil, epee, and saber), and the second half is a autobiographical account of the author's experiences begining to fence. The first half of the book is very light...not explaining footwork, stances, or bladework in enough detail to be truly helpful. The photos used are not very helpful either, even though the use of PVC tubes over the blades to increase visibility in the photos is a good idea. The journal is interesting, but leaves me with little respect for the author. He comes across as whiny and slightly juvenile in his approach to fencing. I would pass this one up.

This is a lightweight introduction to fencing that deliberately avoids detailed technical explanation and historical background. The serious student should look elsewhere, but the book is intended more to spark interest in those who might otherwise be tempted to write off fencing as old fashioned, elitist and boring. 'Sport fencing' tries to combat this attitude. Mr. Werner's fencing diary is to be commended for its honesty, he does not always portray himself in the best of lights. For mature students starting out, or for instructors who want insight on how their students may see them, this part has value.

Super zum Lernen von Fechtvokabeln in Englisch. Vom Inhalt gibt es auch gleiche deutsch Bücher. Normales Buch über Fechten. Danke