Yes, we had to wear protection that we called porridge bowls (for
girls only). And there were little rubber points on the foil, which
could be very dangerous if they fell off. You certainly didn't want
that in your eye. I was ok but my sister won the Victorian
championships. Only problem was, she played them by mistake; she
hadn't been entered, and she didn't get to take the cup home. But they
let her keep the medal. I did enjoy the feeling of balance in your
body, and the skilful moves. We had a very good teacher, a Hungarian
silver medallist with incredible patience. You could tell his pupils
because they all said the French terms with Hungarian accents.
Judy, my mother was a keen horsewoman. It wasn't a matter of choice; I
wasn't one of those girls who dreamed of having a horse, and was
constantly told how lucky I was to be able to ride (which I was, I
guess...could have done with some of the other accoutrements of middle
class childhood, like money or clothes without holes in: mine included
building the yards and getting up at 5.30 to milk the cows). I spent
much of my childhood hearing my mother yelling "get back on that
horse!" (after falling off) or trotting around a paddock with my arms
folded and no stirrups, because you weren't supposed to use your hands
to hold on. I was taught the classic English method of riding. Toes up
heels down knees in. I rebelled at 16 and have scarcely ridden since.
Though there is something sublime about the kind of symbiosis it's
possible to achieve with a good horse, and I did like the sense of
companionship you could feel with an animal, and the feeling of
freedom it could give you.
I suppose both these activities contributed to my general sense of
being an anachronism. Can't say poetry helped with that one.
xA
On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 7:13 PM, Roger Day <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Foil is point only.
> Sabre is the side of the blade and the point, the lunge is more of a
> flick. All the terms are in French.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sabre+fencing&search_type=&aq=f
>
> Protection is advisable even with the blunt sticks fencers used. I
> never used to wear a box until someone hit me down there and I pissed
> blood for a while.
--
Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
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