I have a fencing scene in The Spanish Exile and wanted to learn more about the sport so I took an introductory lesson. I brought along my youngest, Sabrina. She’d been wanting to try it, too, and it was spring break.
We went to Wasatch Fencing in Kaysville. They are amazing. They love the sport so much, and committed to helping kids, their coaches are all volunteers. The facility is huge, with two main areas for fencing bouts. Picture those conveyor walks at the airport, except there is a grippy metal surface and they don’t move.
A young man named Joshua helped us get suited up. You put on a chest guard, a half jacket – the plastron – that goes over your dominant hand side for further protection, a jacket that made me think of a straight jacket, a glove on your dominant hand, and a face mask like a beekeeper’s.
Then he taught us how to do the footwork. You start “on guard, ready, fence!” You “advance” or “retreat”. After this, we were ready for some action.
The cute thing about bringing Sabrina is how every once in a while, Joshua would use a term like “parry” or “riposte” and Sabrina and I would exchange excited glances.
We each took turns learning different moves. We learned to attack, to parry and attack, to “beat” or deflect our opponent’s foil, and disengage. My common mistake was just leaning and not lunging so I could have more attack arm strength. Also, dragging my feet in the back and keeping my arm the right angle.
A coach named Martin helped us out, too. Sabrina used a more modern foil, while I used Martin’s foil that had a straight or French grip. Martin had some great advice:
“You should feel tension in your legs. That’s what gives you power. But relax, loosen your fingers. It’s all in the fingers. Keep your arm close to the body.”
The end bouts were exciting. We got hooked up through these electronic ropes that kept track of who got who, and our points. Joshua was nice and let me get him a few times even though if it were a real bout, I’d have been attacked at least a dozen times. Towards the end, I got a bit sassy, and was waving my foil quite a bit. Which was very Hollywoodish, and a style that the coaches said was not really a good idea.
When we were done, my hair got plastered to my head with sweat, and I felt like I had just done a major workout. The coaches said I was the second author who’d gone in for book research. The other was Jennifer Nielsen, author of “The False Prince.”
One thing I know, my fencing scene in my novel needs to be rewritten. Now I know how.
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