What’s The Matter With The Umpire?
Clare Briggs
Clare Briggs is a famous cartoonist who lived from 1875 to 1930. Poems by Wilbur Nesbitt.
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Almost all fencers start with foil. After that initial time, I fenced epee and never considered foil or saber. (I once swore a mighty oath to never fence saber again, and have stuck by it for a half-century now.) Foil has right-of-way rules, which are subject to the referee’s interpretation. Trying to outwit your opponent is hard enough, I don’t need to complicate it by adding a referee’s interpretation of the rules.
At least you can ask politely for explanations. More than one referee got tired of my “Ma’am, could you please explain why you called that sequence parry-reposte for my opponent, rather than a beat attack and continuation for me?”Report