This, and all other Fencer Girl pages are dedicated to the fun of fencing (and sometimes to alliteration).
Information about fencing on Fencer Girl pages will be correct 'cause she doesn't want to be a purvayer of prevarications. However, you will find some less than reverent material (though most is "family-safe") on some of the pages. (If a page contains material that some may not feel is suitable for kids, Fencer Girl will post a notice at the top of the page.
For most fencers, the game is a hobby rather than a career, and as such, it should be entered into with a blithe spirit.
He was quite real, perhaps one of the finest swordsmen ever. He could also be a real jerk. Someone hired approximately 100 thugs to waylay him one night. Caught on a bridge, de Bergerac was able to kill many of his attackers and send the rest fleeing. Of further interest, he is considered the first science fiction writer. You will find his stories in collections of early French literature." --Denton(added 7-11-00) Do you have a gripe about fencing? Would you like a place to put it out there to the world? Well, there's a new site in cybertown where you can do just that. Fencing Sucks is a lot of fun. There is griping but there is a lot of humor. Check out the postings for some creative definitions of fencing terms. The photo gallery is great too. This one gets the F.G. stamp of approval.
Fencer's Bookshelf
by Annie Morris (added 3-28-00)
You can't fence all the time. Sometimes, you have to put up your sword and partake of a more restful activity. Why not read a book with swords in it?
If you are new to fencing, you may be intimidated by many of the books on how to fence. They are big with a lot of fancy French words in them and lots of diagrams. You just want something simple with clear pictures. I've got just the book for you. It's called FENCING (Know the Sport) by Alan Skipp. It's a paperback with a retail price of $5.95. It's got sections on clothing, the weapons, basic moves, target areas, and a nice glossary of terms. It's got great pictures illustrating stance and movement and the text is clear and concise. When new students sign up for lessons at Tampa's Fencing Academy, they receive a copy of this book to help get them started. That's a pretty good recommendation itself, don't you think?
If you have kids in your home who are interested in fencing, you might enjoy reading ON GUARD by Donna Jo Napoli along with them. A good children's book follows the same rules of writing as a good adult book and even if the plot is not complicated, it will keep you wanting to know how things turn out. That's the case with ON GUARD. It's about a young boy who wants to find a way to be special. He that becoming a good fencer will be the key for him. He finds out that fencing is more than an athletic activity and comes away with much more than the skills needed to face an opponent on the strip. The recommended reading age for this book is 9 to 12. Look for it in the young readers shelves of book shops. It retails for $4.99.
Bernard Cornwell is probably best known for his Sharpe's series of books but his WARLORD CHRONICLES deserve more than a few kind words also. The series is comprised of THE WINTER KING, ENEMY OF GOD, and EXCALIBUR ($14.95 each in paperback). Although these are chronicles of the life of the famed King Arthur, the narrator, Derfel (pronounced "Dervel") Cadarn will be taken to your heart even more than the great Arthur. You follow his life from the time he was a Saxon child thrown into a druid's deathpit to his time as a warlord and then to the end of his life as a Christian monk. His life in intertwined with Arthur's and the story of Arthur would not be complete without him in this telling. By the end of the tale, you'll know that Britain had two bright blades as part of her mythic history: the Sword of Rhydderch (Excalibur) and Derfel's Hywelbane.
You'll get to know Merlin, Guinivere, Mordred, Lancelot, Galahad, Sagramor and many others from Arthurian legends in a way you have never known them before. There is beauty and romance to be found in these pages as well as amazing battles. There is not only war between the Saxons and the British but also between the Christians and Pagans. There is intrigue and outright derring-do. This is no fairy tale. This series is true heroic adventure.
If you can't find these books in your local bookstores, ask them to order them for you or buy them online at Barnes & Noble or at AMAZON.COM
NOVEMBER 12, 1999---Wanna have some web fun with words? Of course you do. You like "rapier wit," don't you? Well, Fencer Girl has just stumbled onto the coolest site imaginable. It will take any web page or piece of text you give it and put it into a different dialect for you. F.G. tried it with her own page in the Cockney dialect and it was way funny. You hafta love this one. THE DIALECTIZER
(OCTOBER 24, 1999) Since this page was first published, Fencer Girl has kept her mortal plane identity out of this page, preferring to leave it to the imaginations of those who visit here and know her cyber presence. However, she feels the time has come to let those who wish to know who the flesh and blood behind the cybergirl is visit Annie's Attic and see more of what she's about. Scary prospect, huh? Aw, you can take it. Fencer Girl knows you can.
(Added 6-20-00) Visit Castle Greywolf for some fantasy fun. This is a very extensive site owned by one of Fencer Girl's friends. Please do drop in.
(Added 6-1-00)To read some neat articles on fencing, go to:Themstream. There are articles on buying your first foil, "Is Your Child Ready to Fence?" and more.
(Added 4-18-00) Visit
THE VIRTUAL RENAISSANCE. You won't find much about swords or fencing there but
the site is tres' faboo anyway. F.G. says you gotta go there!!!
(October 24, 1999)YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS GUY'S PAGE! Mark Santos is a fencer, an artist, a writer, a real Renaissance kind of guy. His page is TRES COOL!!. Hie yourself hence and
see the wonders that await you in MY INNER SANCTUM.
FENCER GIRL HAS ALWAYS LOVED PAPER DOLLS and now she has found just the coolest one ever for all the fencer girls out there who share this love. This is one by an artist named Brenda Mattox. You can see her lovely "Captain Scarlet" by clicking HERE.
WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT FENCER GIRL? Here's your chance. She had a little April Fools fun with the editor of TFA MAGAZINE and you can read the result: "AN ENCOUNTER WITH FENCER GIRL" by clicking HERE. Again, you'll have to use the handy-dandy "back" button to come home to F.G.
If you would like to see a very pretty picture of a lady with a sword, click HERE.
NEW!!! Super Sabreur -- a.k.a.The Fencing Strip is a spiffy little comic that Fencer Girl thinks will be good for you. It will tickle the funny bone in your sword arm.
IF YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A RENAISSANCE GUY OR GAL, be sure to check out RENAISSAANCE MAGAZINE. Fencer Girl just picked up an issue of it at the local Barnes & Noble (this was on 9-19-99 and she didn't just pick it up--she paid for it) because a friend's picture was in it and then she found it to be a very interesting mag. You just might like it too.
GALLANTRY
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Second Star to the Right
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Futureworld
A LITTLE TOUCHE'
1. Sword of Damocles
If you are in need of just the right cliche' but can't seem to cull it from all the other trivial information you have stored in your brain, check out the CLICHE' FINDER. Here are the ones Fencer Girl found when she searched for the keyword "sword."
2. The pen is mightier than the sword.
3. Between the sword and the wall (Spanish)