So, I hurt my shoulders a little bit ago, and have yet to receive the thumbs up from my PT for sparring. Since grappling was what got me into this mess (a few times, really), I figured I might take a bit of a break for the next few months and try out this fencing place close to me.

Will fencing put more strain on my shoulders anyway, and thus be avoided? What sort of key areas/injuries should I worry about if I take up this training?

Thanks guys!

Is it the same arm you'd hold a weapon with? Fencing probably won't cause strain in that the weapon is light, but the deltoid is used to raise the arm so that it's parallel to the ground. Any variation of a fencing stance will use that dynamic at least a little, since the arm is usually extended forward.

both my shoulders have been injured at least a couple times. holding my arms parallel isn't an issue though, so i guess i should be safe.

No knee problems I assume? Shoulders should be fine but knees are a fragile thing and fencing, particularly the lunge, can put strain on them over time.

From my experience (haven't fenced in about 6 years), if you're doing it properly your shoulder should be ok, but depending on your injury missed lunges might hurt you.

Are you going for foil? They are so damn light I can't see any problems arising from the actual contact.

http://eastbayfencers.com/

they offer foil or epee. i was interested in saber, since i was hoping to apply fencing training to eskrima, but foil is a good place to start.

sabre sounds awesome, I've just been giving it a read.

I like the idea of epee being able to score on the whole body as well.. Damn I need to start fencing again!!

Should be fine, shoulders don't really take much pressure in fencing. Also, that gym looks pretty sick, have fun!

they offer foil or epee. i was interested in saber, since i was hoping to apply fencing training to eskrima, but foil is a good place to start.
I'd say the epee is as good as the saber for working towards escrima. Either way the footwork for both weapons is dissimilar in form and strategy between the two arts though.

I'd say the epee is as good as the saber for working towards escrima. Either way the footwork for both weapons is dissimilar in form and strategy between the two arts though.


One notable difference is the fact that in fencing you have a bell guard to protect your hand and even then hand is only target in epee where you have a huge bell guard, this being the case one has to watch out for his hand getting the **** smacked out of it when transferring to FMA. I did epee for six months and wound up switching to sabre and have been doing it for 18 months now. I am hoping to get moniteur of saber after a couple more years so I consider it the weapon I know more about so if I say something asinine about epee or foil, correction is eagerly accepted.

I'm actually transferring the other way around; I learned a bit of eskrima from friends over the last year or so. i was hoping to use fencing to supplement the training, with acknowledgement that hand-targeting and footwork will be major differences.

just how bad is the stress on the knees? are there any precautions i can take to prevent injury?

I'm actually transferring the other way around; I learned a bit of eskrima from friends over the last year or so. i was hoping to use fencing to supplement the training, with acknowledgement that hand-targeting and footwork will be major differences.

just how bad is the stress on the knees? are there any precautions i can take to prevent injury?
Learn to lunge with proper form, and how far you can realistically lunge. The explosive lunge is what'll put stress on the knees. The things you'll want to avoid are extending the right knee farther forward than the toes, having your left foot roll onto its side, and having your left knee flex towards the ground (assuming your left foot is pointed to the side). Here's some pics:

Here's a good lunge:
http://www.tcnj.edu/~fencing/pictures/lunge2.jpg

http://www.martinjdougherty.co.uk/mjdimg/fence2.jpg
Here, the foot has rolled over from touching the ground with the sole, to touching the ground with the inside of the foot. This is bad alignment as I learned it, but you'll see it even in high level fencing because it can be used to lunge very far. That doesn't make it good for the joints, though.

http://s3.hubimg.com/u/846046_f496.jpg
Something like this can appear to be bad form because the back knee is bent, however, it's actually fine because the foot and knee are in alignment.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2354/1791971873_2fa1103fc0.jpg?v=0
Notice the poor alignment of the back leg.

Don't do it like this:
http://ssosporton.infolab-uat.com/Portals/0/nus%20challenge%203.jpg

Wushu FTW!:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/418225385_05ae854231.jpg

The next to last picture looks like the fencer is fleching rather than lunging.

The next to last picture looks like the fencer is fleching rather than lunging.
That's what I was thinking too.