The Art and Science of Fencing

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Summary: Great!
Review: If you want to understand what fencing is really about, buy this book

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Summary: I wrote the fencing book I always wanted to read as a kid.
Review: As a road map is no substitute for the trip, a fencing book is no substitute for taking lessons and bouting. No one can learn to fence from a book alone. But that doesn't mean a fencing book can't be a useful aid in forming one's experience. A good fencing book can be a guidepost, a reminder, a clearifier, a translator, even a motivator. That's what I hoped to accomplish in writing "The Art and Science of Fencing." Moreover, I wanted to show how accessible fencing really is, to make it seem less intimidating than I found it to be for myself at the start of my fencing career. To do this, I tried to put flesh on fencing, to make it "human." After all, we're not robots out there on the fencing strip. Fencing has its technical side, of course, and it does take much hard work and self-discipline to master it; but it can be done. No one should be afraid to get in there, and give it a try. Remember, most fencers aren't born to the game. Every great fencer was a stumbling beginner once upon a time. I think any fencing book that looks down on the novice from a lofty pinnacle, forgetting what it's like to grasp a foil in one's hand for the first time, is a poor piece of work. Finally, I wanted my book to be readible, so that, besides being informative, it might also be enjoyed. That's where true learning comes from anyway. If you like a subject, you want to learn all you can about it, and the learning stays with you. I hope the readers of "The Art and Science of Fencing" feel that I achieved my goal. By the way, in case anyone is interested in my fencing background: I've been involved in fencing for nearly twenty-seven years. I've studied in both the U.S. and Europe. My fencing master, Ralph Faulkner, was an international champion and a member of two Olympic fencing teams (1928 and 1932). He was also a coach of numerous champions. I became Maestro Faulkner's assistant in 1975. In 1980, I opened my own school, where I taught both sport and theatrical fencing. I also acted as a consultant to the film industry. In 1985, I moved to the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, and reestablished my school from scratch. I teach the classical French style of fencing, and I have little use for pistol grip weapons.Over the years, I've written articles on fencing for publications like THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, GENTLEMEN'S QUARTERLY, AMERICAN WAY, RECREATION NEWS, FILMCLIPS, and AMERICAN FENCING, to name a few. My first book, "The Encyclopedia of the Sword," a compendium of sword knowledge from around the world, was published by Greenwood Press in 1995. I might add that I'll be happy to discuss fencing with anyone who wants to contact me

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Summary: A very good book.
Review: I am a beginning fencing student, and this book helped me a lot. Nick Evangelista is a good teacher and writer.

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Summary: The most comprehensive, user-friendly fencing book available
Review: Fencing is a sport for everyone. It develops dexterity, endurance, flexibility and grace -- in short, total fitness -- while also honing the mind's problem solving process. Get the latest information available on one of the most universal, challenging sports through THE ART AND SCIENCE OF FENCING, by fencing master Nick Evangelista. THE ART AND SCIENCE OF FENCING covers the history of fencing, specific technique, equipment, fencing psychology, and how to get started in the sport. The author of this volume, Nick Evangelista, has been teaching fencing for over twenty-three years. He has studied fencing in both the United States and Europe.

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Summary: A genuinely interesting fencing book.
Review: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF FENCING is well-written and thoughtful. It is especially useful to the beginner, but the more advanced fencer could learn a thing or two from reading it. I've waded through a number of fencing books over the years, but this is the most understandable and enjoyable one I've had the pleasure to read. I recommend it highly.

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Summary: A good, basic introduction to fencing.
Review: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF FENCING is an intelligent, thoughful piece of writing. It really makes fencing come alive. It would be useful to both a beginner and advanced fencer. It is the most understandable book on fencing I've ever read.

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Summary: This book is very good, but very basic. Funky Pictures.
Review: This book is allright but doesn't enter into enough detail it is not a scientific book about fencing.

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Summary: a superb book for fencers of any level
Review: 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.

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Summary: Some Decent Stuff, Lots of Chaff
Review: 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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Summary: Writing a review
Review: I came onto this Amazon.com site just to write a simple review of "The Art and Science of Fencing." It is a good, useful book, and I just wanted to say that. It is the only fencing book I have ever read that actually makes fencing seem like part of the human condition rather than some kind of bloodless, mechanical operation. But like the reviewer just before me, I just don't understand the negative reviews of the Evangelista book.

Having just completed my second reading of "The Art and Science," I had a number of positive thoughts I wanted to address regarding the book. But then I read a recent review titled "More Vendetta than Fencing Instruction." And I found myself growing somewhat angry at the misrepresentation perpetrated by the writer of this review. There is a statement that a "huge" part of the book is devoted to condemning the pistol grip. This makes Nick Evangelista sound like some sort of crazy person. I couldn't recall that many remarks in the book regarding pistol grips, so I went over the entire text before I started writing my review. Out of 288 pages packed with fencing information of all sorts, I found barely one page worth of material devoted to pistol grips. One page! 287 other pages say nothing about pistol grips. Either the person who wrote the review has never read the book, and is relying on what they've heard others say, or they are simply not telling the truth.

Another item that I found rather irritating was when the reviewer referred to the material in the Evangelista book as "HIS" method, as thought it was something Evangelista just made up, and decided to push on an unsuspecting fencing world. Maitre Evangelista is presenting the traditional French School of Fencing in his text. This is what he teaches. It is not "His." He is simply one of the best teachers of this style of fencing in the country.

This sort of review -- and I use the word lightly -- is typical of the sport attacks on Nick Evangelista. Such skewed reviews have a right to exist in the public forum, but, then, it is also the right of others to point out their dishonesty and/or ignorance. Take the word of such individuals at your own risk.

Buy this book!!!