[OT] Anyone Fence? Advice?

[daTim]

I would recomend starting in traditional fencing like rapier style, it is easy to pick up and doesnt require a large ammount of physical strain.
I have only recently tried the more midieval styles of sword play with broadswords maces and the like. Needless to say it is quite different. The people who practice at my college get very physical with throws, trips, hits etc... it is all very much like real fighting.
I have never taken kendo lessons and dont know too much about it, since I tend to favor the European styles.

 

[DM_Matt]

I fenced varsity foil in high school for two years. I havent yet had time at college.

I recommend you try european first.

Some caveats about the other styles: Most Martial Arts styles, Kendo being a notable exception, dont have competition, and most are integrated with unarmed martial arts. These styles are thing to know, but are not really used unless someone tries to mug you and you both are carrying katanas . It seems that they are good suppliaments to wider martial arts ability. Its probably best to try other primarily weaponess styles such as karate, jujitsu, tae kwon do, etc and THEN learn extra sword styles to suppliament them.

With SCA, note that it may increase your geek rating, if that kind of thing matters to you. Fencing and martial arts are considered "cool" by the masses (not that the masses are correct very often), but SCA is a level beyond DND, equal or slightly geekier than LARPing. Depending on how you look at that, that could be good OR bad.

I like european fencing becuase it is the most competition-oriented and the most sport-like. It is reletively self-contained, in that it doesnt require and massively incorporate other skills, like japanese, etc styles do, nor does, as in the case of SCA, roleplaying and historical accuracy get in the way of good sporting fun. I like to roleplay, and I like to play sports, but swinging a padded mace at someone pretending that I'm a knight is not my cup of tea. YMMV on that point, too.

 

[MythandLore]

Now 1st there is the traditional fencing. (flimsy foil swords that bend) This appeals to me the least but appears to be the most popular.

Traditional western fencing can be good.
This Basic western fencing comes out of the old rapier styles.
The sport is mostly full contact sparing with protective gear and a metal sword.
You can find orginazations, schools and clubs in many places.
Foil - Basic Thrusting sword
Epee - Heavier Thrusting sword with larger had protection
Saber - Cutting sword
Depending on the style of sword you use the points are scored diffrently.
(No mixed weapons, ie. no epee vs saber etc)
As you said, these are very popular, they are an Olympic event.

2nd there are the Japanese/martial art styles that seem to be semi popular. One of my brother's friends is a instructor at a dojo and he is taking a class in this. However I get the impression that it is more for experienced martial artists.

First off you should not have to be a "experienced martial artist" to take a Japanese sword style, some schools are sticklers about this, but really, using a katana is not the same as throwing a punch.

Kendo
The most popular japanese sword art.
Mostly full contact sparing while wearing armor and use a shinai (semi flexible bamboo sword)
Personally I think this is the most fun/useful of the Japanese sword arts.

Kenjutsu
Really a blanket term for "killing art of the sword" it's very hard to find a legitimate place to learn this.
Most of the time people who do iaido or batto-do claim to do Kenjutsu.

Iaido
Second most popular japanese sword art (not even close to kendo in the amount of people doing it)
Focus mainly on drawing the sword (drawing a sword and striking in one motion is the main idea, this is the "quick draw" style of sword fighting)
Mostly they use Bokken (wooden sword) or iaito (a practice/dull katana) to practice their sword drawing forms.
Some use shinken (live blade katana) to do tameshigiri (cutting bamboo, straw bundles, etc.)
Some times they will do light sparing with NO protective gear.
It seems like every akido teacher also does "iaido", many times not wanting to teach it to students by itself.
Sword arts are seprate from boxing arts and you should not have to take one to do the other.

Iaijutsu
The "killing art of the sword draw", Like kenjutsu it's pretty hard to find a legitimate teacher, it's mostly just people that do iaido and want to make it sound tuffer.

Batto-do (or Batto Jutsu) they focus mainly on tameshigiri (though the name would make you think it's mostly about drawing).
Seems like mostly people who are interested in sword collecting do this.
In alot of ways it is similar to iaido.
http://www.toyamausa.com/

3rd. This is the medieval type sword fighting that appeals to me most but I can't even find a single place that teaches it within my state.

ARMA
They are about using medieval and renaissance european weapons in a historic manner.
Rapier, fencing, western swords (and other weapons) of all kinds.
They do some forms and alot of full contact sparing with protective gear, the "medieval" weapons tend to be made out of a foam over strips of wood and metal. (a very nice design)
They do make me laugh sometimes though.
http://www.thehaca.com/Videos/Videos.htm

You can compare a guy from ARMA's ablity to cut to someone that does Botto-do with these clips.
Who do you think is better?
http://www.thehaca.com/Videos/cutting_edited.avi
http://www.toyamausa.com/bob_6_wara.mov

SCA
The SCA is not "really" about the fighting, there are lots of people that are in the SCA that will never do any fighting, the SCA is more about renactments, you could brew ale or make clay pots and still be in the SCA.
From what I know about them, they pretty much cover the same weapons as ARMA, they aren't as serious about themselves and the best thing about them is the mass full contact sparing they do, all kinds of weapons, armor, sheilds.
What a roit!
As far as the "medieval" weapons go, they make theirs out of padded ratton sticks.
I think they are the best way to go if your looking for a "medieval" style swordplay.
I know how their rules of conduct are for the fighting and it is very well thought out, they also have a process of testing you before you are allowed to fight which is also well done.
http://sca.org/
This is a really really great video about what the SCA is all about.
WATCH IT NOW!
http://www.gamers.com/i/gx/feature/000725-sca/video/main/big_sca_main_video_cut.asf

There are a few other posiblities you have over looked.
Escrima or Kali (Filipino Stick Fighting)
Rattan Sticks, mostly form with light sparing, some places have full contact sparing using protective gear now.
(Real weapons are Machettes or Short swords and dagger)
The only problem is there are so many different family styles out there that you may not know if a teacher is legitimate.

Another possiblity is a Chinese Style but the problem with these tends to be there is almost no weapon sparing, and there are so many different family styles out there that you may not know if a teacher is legitimate.

So...anyone with experience? How did you learn? Any suggestions or recommendations? Thanks for your time.

I've been doing martial arts for 22 years now, my focus has always been the sword.
I learned from my father mostly and from other people he knows and from some of my friends.

A couple of quick words on martial arts, DON"T USE METAL SWORDS!
DON"T USE METAL SWORDS! DON"T USE METAL SWORDS!!!
Western fencing are the only ones you should ever use while sparing (they are made special for it), and even then it's with protective gear.
Be extra careful with metal weapons of any kind, it's very easy to hurt yourself or someone around you, trust me you don't want to be a part of that.

I hoped my answer helps you decide what you want to do, if you have anymore questions I'll try to help if I can.

Be warned though: fencing requires a fairly significant monetary investment.

I hear that brother!
But any of the "weapon" arts can be expensive, five grand for a good shinken - ouch!

It's also a sport requiring a great deal of dedication.

I've found in genral most martial arts tend to need a lot dedication if you ever want to get good.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

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1. Computer nerd/geek (maybe, a geek to some, ok with computers)
2. Facial hair/non-status quo hairstyle -Get a haircut every 3 weeks- have to shave even though i hate it.
3. Percussionist. - yeah im as musically talented as NSYNC
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5. Slightly socially disadvantaged. - used to think that until started going through all the relationships, friends etc i have.
6. Intelligence somewhat above average. - sure, if you say so
7. People who enjoy Tolkein. - sorry cant get past the first chapter- love George Martin (dark n gritty is what i enjoy)
8. Liberals. - used to be until i decided to do my MBA and became a capitalist pig.
9. People who don't care about how their clothes look. - like to read MAXIM, GQ etc. lol

 

[sword-dancer]

For the use of the sword follow this link and ask
I think they could help you

http://www.netsword.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi