A Basic Foil Companion

Every beginning foil fencer should read this book. It's more than a textbook - think of it as your coach's assistant. It guides you through your first classes and lessons, reinforces the basic principles of foil fencing, takes you to your first competitions, and introduces you to the terms you'll use throughout your fencing career. Here is just a partial checklist of the topics covered: * Sport Fencing and Stage Fencing * Foil, Saber, Epee - choosing your weapon * What you might cover in a typical fencing class * Safety: fencing's safe if you use common sense * Equipment: what you'll need to start out * Warming Up, Stretching, Cooling Down * Footwork, Distance and Timing * How to Do Drills * Right of Way - the mysterious key to foil * Fencing Your First Bouts * Practicing at Home * Moving Beyond the Beginner Class * Electric Foil * Competitions and the Referee * Fencing Vocabulary, including the basic terms for On Guard, Footwork and Distance Lines of Target and Parry Positions Bladework Fencing Actions Strategy and Tactics ...and more... * Websites for Fencers * Fencing Equipment Vendors Plus a skills checklist and a couple of quizzes to keep you on your toes

Fencing Master Paul Sise is the owner and head coach of Pioneer Valley Fencing Academy in Western Massachusetts, where he teaches beginning through advanced foil and epee. His students range from recreational fencers to national competitors. He also teaches fencing at The Eagle Hill School, an excellent college preparatory boarding school for students with learning disabilities. With Coach Robert Ferullo (also of Pioneer Valley), he wrote ＂Coaching Fencers with Learning Disabilities,＂ which was published in the Winter 2006 edition of the USFCA magazine, The Swordmaster. Paul holds Level 3 Certification in all three weapons from the USFA Coaches College, and is certified as a Level 3 Armorer by the Armorers College. From the USFCA and the International Academy of Arms, he holds the titles Prévôt d’ Armes (Provost at Arms) and Maitre d’ Escrime Epee (Master of Epee Fencing). He is a former Secretary of the USFCA. Sise remains active in the USFCA by attending conferences, sitting on examining boards, and teaching coaching clinics in the New England area. Paul is a graduate of Lawrence University, where he earned a B.A. in Geology and was Most Valuable Fencer his senior year. He attended UMass, Amherst, for graduate school where he helped coach the fencing club and earned a M.S. in Geology. He currently lives in Western Mass with his wife Karen and daughter Zoe.