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| The Art and Science of Fencing | 
 enlarge | Author: Nick Evangelista
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (78 reviews)
Sales Rank: 156282
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 296
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10 x 7 x 0.7
ISBN: 1570280754
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.86
EAN: 9781570280757
ASIN: 1570280754
Publication Date: January 11, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Just the Basics December 7, 2005
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
The Art and Science of Fencing contains a fairly basic into and description of sport fencing, focusing on the French approach to foil. A full third of the book is dedicated to trying to sell the reader on fencing. In my opinion, if you have bought the book, you're already interested. The text was notably lacking in decent photos or illustrations. There are a couple of pages dedicated to praising the importance of drills and exercises, but there is very little actual description of suggested drills or exercises!
On a side note, the author has a very narrow view of fencing, attributing that there was no "real" swordplay until the 16th century. This is admittedly a common bias in the field. However, it blatantly ignores the fechtschules that have documented evidence from the 1400's. The author is not working from experience or research, as describing non-rapier swords as "can openers" is highly inaccurate.
Lastly, the author asserts that strength training has no place in a fencing training regime. I suggest that strength training has a place in any athletic endevor and that it is simply a matter of tailoring your program to match your sport.
Overall an average introduction for beginning fencers.
One of the better Fencing intros available. October 14, 2005
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
Sometimes a book is noteworthy simply by virtue of lack of competition regarding the subject matter.
Such is the case here. Evangelista's Art and Science of Fencing is one of the better books out there for those who want a servicable introduction to sport fencing. The graphic layout is pretty good as are the photos. The historical stuff is brief, readable and informative. Evangelista does a good job of explaining to the uninitiated why fencing has the rules it does and how the modern sport links to the actual dueling of the Renaissance period on.
The diagrams of different fencing parries and movements are crude and not necessarily helpful. But here, Evangelista shoots about par for the course. Most fencing manuals in existence have pretty awful illustrations.
That said, Evangelista is not exactly popular in the serious competative fencing circuit. Most of today's top competitors routinely roll their eyes at Evangelista.
Part of this is due, no doubt to Evangelista's rather high opinion of himself which seems to pervade the book. But mostly Evangelista is dismissed by the competitive fencing community as a "tradition-bound old fogey." He routinely attacks the modern style of fencing and yearns for a return to the "good old days."
Most of his criticism focuses on the "anatomical grip." Evangelista advocates a traditional straight "French grip." He is correct in his assessment that the French grip leads to much lighter and straightforward fencing than the more muscular and aggressive anatomical grip. He is also correct in pointing out that the newer grips create a fencing style that little resembles real duels fought in Renaissance Italy or England in the 1700s.
I have fenced with both. Personally, I prefer the anatomical grip for essentially two reasons: 1) it transfers strength and power more readily to the sword and 2) it's just more fun!
This second reason illustrates the major problem with Evangelista: he's essentially a killjoy. Modern fencing has wholeheartedly embraced the new style of fencing that Evengelista has attacked. Modern fencers have perfected some rather spectacular moves that would be simply impossible with a more traditional grip. The sport has evolved: today fencing matches are much more aggressive than an actual duel (with lethal swords) would have been.
But I do not see this as a problem really. Fencing is a sport, not a real duel. A certain amount of unrealism is permitted in sport that would not be prudent in true life or death struggles. In essence, it's OK to be a bit "inauthentic." My feeling is that if people are enjoying the anatomical style, let them enjoy it.
You should also note that Evangelista's description of the rules of sabre fencing is a bit outdated. He describes essentially a running charge (or "fleche"). This move has been illegal since the mid 1980s. Sabre fencers are no longer allowed to cross their rear foot in front of their leading foot.
"Raging controversies" aside however, Evangelista's book is probably the best introductory guide to sport fencing on the market. The sad truth is that very few good books have been written about sport fencing. Most of the books available are from the 1970s and 1980s (or earlier) and have not withstood the test of time. In fact, Evangelista's book is likely to be the only book on sport fencing available at your local book store.
Evangelista wins by default. His book simply has no serious competition. If you are interested in learning more about sport fencing without actually setting foot in a fencing club, this book is really all you've got. But that doesn't make this a great book.
If you are serious about learning sport fencing, visit a club, get a sword and start doing it. For everyone else, this book will suffice.
 Weak and Unenlighten Treatment of Fencing October 11, 2005
10 out of 20 found this review helpful
As a competive fencer for over 25 years (member of 3 U.S. Junior World Championship team, U.S. World University Games team and top ten ranked fencer in foil)I found this book to be a poor guide to both the art and science of fencing. It is rigid, dogmatic, and outright misleading. I appreciate the scholarship and some of the historical accounts of schools of fencing. However, this book fails to help newbies whether they be interested in the sport or just the discipline of fencing to enter the exciting world of mind, body, and spirit conjured by it. To quote other great teachers of fencing, "It takes a life time to learn how to fence and life time to fence."
 a superb book for fencers of any level February 1, 2005
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
The Art and Science of Fencing offers a comprehensive, but by no means tedious, overview of historical, classical, and competitive fencing. I believe there is useful information here for any fencer. The author's knowledge and love of fencing clearly shine through, and he makes an eloquent defense for his views on fencing. One's fencing library should certainly include a copy of this great book, and should probably begin with it. One of the best attributes of TAASOF compared with other similar volumes is how the author's personality is evident through his writing. This makes The Art and Science of Fencing read like a guided tour, rather than a dry textbook. Having met and crossed blades with Maestro Evangelista, I can assure you he knows what he's talking about. With blade in hand, he is quick, controlled and cunning, and at all times humorous and gentlemanly, as his book implies.
 Some Decent Stuff, Lots of Chaff September 27, 2004
21 out of 27 found this review helpful
I am an admittedly novice fencer, having taken up the sport only a year or so ago. I came across this book on Amazon and was amazed at the wildly divergent reviews of Mr. Evangelista's tome.
The purist in me agreed with some of his views on classical fencing - his unapologetic bias towards the French grip versus the pistol grip, his dismissiveness regarding the use of speed and strngth in favor of proper technique, and the recommendation that beginners learn foil before other styles of fencing. (I tend to be a purist on many sporting matters: baseball and football to be played on real grass, no designated hitter in baseball, playing basketball as a team, rather than indivisual sport, and using wound-core - instead of solid-core - golf balls.) Mr. Evangelista does tend to be bombastic - although he tells you that he is, up front. Simply put, he openly acknowledges his biases in favor of "classical fencing".
However, the book fails in a couple of respects. For a book that is supposed to be authoritative (to the neophyte) on the Art and Science of Fencing, it is difficult for a beginner to visualize many of the techniques that he describes verbally. The book is very short on explanatory drawings, and the photos he uses are very low-budget (He appears to have taken a goodly number of them in his back yard or alley under what can only be described as interesting lighting conditions.) While the book is not intended to be a substitute for lessons, he would do his target readers a great service if he would give many more visual depictions of his explanations.
This could be a very good "introduction to fencing" book if he were to re-release it in a revised edition by (1) upgrading the quality of the photos, and (2) including signficantly more drawings and diagrams to better explain his text to help beginners visualize his points.
What I did find fascinating was the apparent manipulation of the Amazon.com Editorial Review process in connection with this book. It is apparent to me that a great number of the book's early "reviews" seemed to be written by Mr. Evanelista, his wife, and/or many of their good friends/former students. I say this because while this book does contain some helpful nuggets, it is hardly the "best book on fencing ever written" as many of the early reviews characterized it. It seems to me that many of the reviewers who have since savaged Mr. Evangelista's book are punishing him for what they interpret to be a bald-faced attempt on his part to drive up his Amazon.com rating of the book, rather than for the content itself. Any quasi-serious fencer could objectively read the book, discount the author's admitted biases, and still take away some valuable information. However, these same fencers - as Amazon.com users -won't forgive someone who has tried to "game" the Amazon online editorial review system. If a beginning fencer wants a better "how-to" book on fencing techniques, then the "Steps to Success" book by Elaine Cheris is a better buy. (But you won't get the historical perspective that Mr. Evangelista provides in his book.) Also, I decided to borrow this book from the library it rather than buy it.
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