The Inner Game of Fencing

This book is written by someone who lives and breathes fencing. The insights from cover to cover have helped me to overcome the greatest obstacle to my bouting.... myself. The inner game is about mastering the fencer within you.My first tournament was a loss before I even started to fence. Nick teaches that there are two games going on simultaneously when bouting. One, fencing against your opponent, and two, keeping your mind so free of clutter and doubt and so focused on the game at hand that the next touch is the only one that ever matters. At my next tournament I won the game within myself and made it to the final round. This book is very well rounded and covers every aspect of fencing. It may come across as negative to modern fencers, but that's because modern fencing is veering far away from fencing as a game of skill and strategy and turning into an electronic game with ever-changing rules made to suit the moment. I would rather learn the same lessons that have been taught to fencers for 350 years from someone like Nick who has the deepest respect for this most honorable sport. I fence with a rapier and found the techniques presented in 'The Inner Game' to be just as beneficial as if I were a classical fencer. The aspect of honor in the sport of fencing can be applied to everyday life. This book can read over and over again as you improve your fencing skills. This book and 'The Art and Science of Fencing' are the first two books that I highly recommend to any type of fencer or anyone simply interested in fencing.

I read The Inner Game of Fencing before I read my other favorite, the Art and Science of Fencing, and I'm glad I did. This book was instrumental in instilling the confidence I needed to act on my curiosity of the sport of fencing. Nick Evangelista believes that fencing belongs to everyone, not only the athletes pursuing Olympic notoriety. He makes it clear that you have just as much a right to be at the salle learning to be a recreational fencer, as does the dedicated sport fencer. This book unmasks the mysteries of the fencing world by using wisdom and reasoning. You'll find more than just a "how to" list." Strategies are shown to be a mindset rather than any complex technique. Even a beginner has a fighting chance of winning when the mind and hand and feet work together. Most fencing books only address the latter two. The Inner Game will give you the edge you need to make your fencing goals materialize. The format of the book is such that the busy person can open up to any page and read as little or as much as time allows and walk away with encouragement and prowess. Not only is Nick's wisdom imparted in this book, he includes quotes from past fencing masters that would have been lost had this book not brought their truth and substance forth to the new generations of fencers.

Fencing masters have an obligation to their students. It is present during the lesson, the bout or the printed page. Nick Evangelista's devotion to fencing is lifelong and he imparts that passion in "The Inner Game of Fencing." For the new fencer, Nick stimulates thought about actions and behavior on the fencing strip. For example, "How does a composed attack evolve?" or "What are the benefits of fencing conventions (rules)."For the experienced fencer, Nick offers a diverse range of topics to reflect on. It becomes easy for many of us to say, "because that's the way I have always done it." The book caused me to look inward. Am I doing this action in the best way that I can do it? What do I stand to gain or lose by changing?Nick Evangelista meets his obligation well. Agreement with all of his points of view is not required. Reflecting on your fencing game and how you want it to develop is.

Having read "The Art and Science of Fencing" by Nick Evangelista, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of his newest book "The Inner Game of Fencing" and I was not dissappointed. Classical fencing, or the "art" of fencing is a balance between technique, form, strategy, and spirit, and that is exactly what Maestro Evangelista addresses in this book. It is obvious he writes from an appreciation of an art which is being over run by a game concerned only with touches. If your interest in fencing lies merely in the goal of racking up touches, regardless of how you achieve that objective, then this book is not going to do much for you. But, if you believe fencing is a true ''Martial Art,'' requiring discipline, where every move, every position, every thought has a specific purpose, then I highly recommend this reading.

Fencing is all about achieving an end. And that's exactly where the readership of *The Inner Game* will neatly divide into separate factions at odds with each other, with the author, and with the entire book. For the one group, fencing means setting off a green or red light as quickly and decisively as possible. The end justifies the means: you punch, jump (with both feet of the ground), flick, or (sometimes) actually parry-riposte to achieve this end. Win the bout. The tournament. The Nationals. And find your name somewhere on the "train schedules" published in *American Fencing*. Nothing wrong with that: If fencing to you is a magnificent competitive sport that involves hitting an opponent no matter how (as long as it is within the FIE rules), I'd agree with you. It is... among other things. But this book may not be for you.Because if you take the Art of Fencing in its intellectual complexity... a parable of human life, maturation, truth, and social interaction, you enter into what Evangelista calls The Inner Game of Fencing. This Inner Game is about integrity and logical cohesion of mind and body, of strategy and movement... in short, a complex interaction of will, mind, and motion that will only open itself up to the individual who searches, probes, ponders, and questions the quick fixes and shortcuts convenience and short-term purpose dictate in modern competitive fencing.Evangelista has chosen a somewhat off-beat format for his book. It is less a prescriptive tractate that tries to please and coddle as it instructs. It is more a collection of individual insights... sometimes gruff, sometimes unflattering... but always honest, just as they were gathered and hard-fought for over decades of a man's and fencer's life. In a way, *The Inner Game* comprises the quintessence of what a serious student of fencing might glean from individual conversations with an experienced master over a decade of lessons.If you're looking for a book telling you how to set off a buzzer a split second earlier than your oppenent... go practice. If you have come to see fencing and swordplay as a process involving the lifelong pursuit of certain human truths, you might be tempted to put it next to Nadi's *On Fencing* and Musashi's *Book of 5 Rings*.That's where I put my copy.