November 21, 1980

Fencing: the art of attack and defense with a sword or foil. The term is a contraction of the word `defense.' Historically, fencing includes types of dueling and other less formalized methods of mortal combat.

Calvin College officially began a fencing program with the first meeting of the club held of Sept. 26. Six people attended.

By the beginning of November, two physical education classes began, with an enrollment of more than 30 people, and the fencing club now has grown to 12 people, including four women.

John Morehouse, who first introduced the idea of fencing at Calvin, instructs those interested in e'pe'e and sabre. Dave Griffiths is the instructor for the future.

Plans for the immediate future include competition in a nearby tournament scheduled for sometime during the fall semester.

The success of the club in the tournament depends greatly upon equipment, which has caused the greatest obstacle for growth and improvement of the new club.

New equipment was purchased on a limited basis due to the PE department's tight budget this year. The consequences of this are most readily seen in the slow progress of individual fencers caused by a lack of equipment with which to fence.

Most people probably think of fencing as a form of combat that preceded the invention of firearms. Although swords were used as one of the major weapons of combat prior to the firearm, the art of fencing did not arise until after the invention of the firearm.

Before firearms, swords were heavy and bulky, for thus they could be effective against a man fully suited in armor.

The firearm changed all this. Since armor could no longer provide the protection from injury that it previously did, its use declined. During the 15th century, as armor became ineffective, swords became lighter and shorter and more adaptable to close range and quicker combat.

The small swords of the late 17th and early 18th centuries is the direct ancestor of the modern e'pe'e and foil. The development of these weapons takes place from the 15th and 16th centuries until the mid and late eighteenth centuries.

The sabre, the third weapon in modern day fencing use, is the descendant of the scimitar of the East altered and refined into a naval and cavalry weapon of post-medieval Europe and Asia.

On the collegiate level, fencing offers a virtually wide-open area for entrance into competition.

It is one of the few sports left which a person can begin when he enters college and feasibly become a NCAA champion by the end of his four years.

In order to enter into competition, however, Calvin must first form a varsity team.

The first steps have been made towards this by the organizing of the fencing club and the courses offered by the PE department for first semester, interim, and second semester.