The new fencing year has begun. You will notice I did not say "fencing season." The closest thing fencing has to off-season, is a snippet of time from (more or less) mid-July to mid-August... and that is not absolute.

Being an indoor sport allows fencing to be a year-round endeavour. That is only one of the differences between fencing and so many of the more popular sports: baseball; basketball; football; soccer; bowling and tennis, among others.

Fencing, you see, does not use a "ball." It uses, for want of a better word, swords. Actually, fencers rarely call their sporting implements "swords." For the most part, we call them "weapons." There are three weapons used: the foil, the epee and the sabre, but more on that next time.

Although they do not have pointed tips or sharp edges and could not cut cheese, we call them "weapons." It's just our term. It's tradition. It is also one reason why your typical public school is stark staring terrified of allowing fencing onto their campus. Weapons. Danger. Death. Fear.

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