Multi-Weapon Wonder...or Disaster depending on how you look at it

All this talk about identity has made me think about the role of identity in the fencing world, which is surprisingly very prominent, even though it may not be discussed in such certain terms. Upon meeting, one of the first questions that two fencers will ask of one another is what weapon they fence, and an opinion will be made almost immediately, even before the conversation goes any farther. Fencers classify themselves and are put in categories by others based on their weapon identity. As soon as you make the decision of what weapon you are going to fence, you have taken on that identity and will be held accountable for that for the rest of your fencing career.

If you look closely there are stereotypical differences in styles, and some people swear, personality types between fencers in the three different weapons. On a serious note, the style of fencing on the strip is very identifiable. It takes a different type of mindset to fence each of the three weapons, so you can usually tell which weapon someone fences pretty early on. For example, foil is a point weapon with limited target area, so it takes a lot of point control. It also has right of way, so very deliberate bladework is involved as well. Epee is a point weapon as well, but the entire body is target area and there is no right of way (officially), so this weapon has a lot to do with timing and drawing out your opponent. Sabre is an edge weapon, so you can cut with it. Target area is anything above the waist since it evolved from a cavalry sword. Also because of this, it is faster because the timing is compressed and actions are typically more aggressive than the other two. I pride myself on having pretty good weapon-dar. As new fencers that I know have progressed, I have been able to predict their weapon before they had even made the decision. (I have only been fooled once by an oddly aggressive epeeist :P)

There is even some talk about personality differences between the three different types of fencers. Most of the time I don't buy into it seriously, but it is definitely the inspiration for some stereotypical jokes tossed around in fencing crowds. These are definitely a couple of my favorites:

Fencers in Town

...and one my coach has shared with the team many times:

Fencer Behavior at a Party:

Foilists: Typically the kind of sleazy guys who think they're cool, in the middle of the dance floor, awkwardly hitting on everyone that moves.

Epeeists: Traveling around in a little pack, sipping scotch and discussing philosophy.

Sabreurs: The ones at the table in the corner threatening to beat each other up while yelling, "MY beer!"

Throughout this whole process, I have had a very interesting relationship to weapon identity, because it was not so cut and dry for me. I'm typically referred to as the one with the "weapon identity crisis" because I fence two weapons - foil and sabre. Style-wise I'm a bit more of a sabreur, but I started out as a foilist, because that was the only opportunity I had when I started fencing back home and I don't want to give it up entirely. Both weapons are fun, plus I get twice the competition opportunity and I get to confuse people (although the joke is on me if I manage to whack someone upside the head with a foil, which does happen occasionally). Besides, I'd like to meet myself in a bar; I'd get to take awkwardness to a whole new level by hitting on people while dedicatedly guarding MY beer. It's been a fun experience. Sometimes I get to be the multi-weapon wonder, because I can fill in at team competitions wherever I'm needed. At other times, I get to be the multi-weapon disaster for the coaches who try to get me to train for both without confusing the two and starting weapon schizophrenia in the middle of a bout.

I had never really thought of the whole thing in this way until all of this talk about identity started. Although, I never really noticed how much identity had cemented itself in the sport culture until I came to terms with the fact that I was taking on two fencing "identities" at the same time.