“I enjoyed swordsmanship more than anything because is was beautiful. I thought it was a wonderful exercise, a great sport. But I would not put it under the category of sport; I would put it under the category of the arts. I think it’s tremendously skillful and very beautiful.” —Basil Rathbone
“And after all the art of fence does furnish a most interesting fund of conversation—the art of skillful fighting at close quarters, which implies a knowledge of theory combined with a trained power of execution, which taxes eye and hand, vigour and judgment, and brings into play every faculty of mind and body, each doing its part, and each in turn supplementing and reinforcing the other.”—Baron César de Bazancourt, Les Secrets de l’Épée, 1862.
“Be not over elated at the thrusts you hit with, nor despise those by which you are hit. Never set any value upon any thrust you give, before you examine whether it was well given, without any danger attending it. Study the danger and advantage of every thrust you make.” —Andrew Lonnergan, The Fencer’s Guide, 1771.
“Bunbu ichi.” [Translation: "Pen and sword in accord.”] —A maxim of the samurai, 17th century Japan or earlier.
It's been about 10 years since last I fenced and I had been contemplating a return to the sport. This upcoming class will be pretty low key; it's an introductory course (I've forgotten almost everything I learned), only for one hour a week and only during the month of February. I'll have the option to continue in the same slot after that, but we'll see.
I didn't expect to post any quotes related to fencing but I just signed up for lessons, so this is my way of cheating and talking about a subject unrelated to writing but still connecting it to words in some way. :) The third quote could even be argued as metaphor. There were several quotes I liked on this website, but I had to exercise some restraint and narrow it down to four.
Despite me being practically allergic to exercise (ha!), I'm looking forward to these lessons.