How Fencers wrap gifts

There are as many approaches to gift wrapping as there are approaches to fencing lessons. The combinations are limitless. In the end, we settle on what we are comfortable with and what suits our abilities, much like the 
way, I suspect, we choose our fencing weapons.

Having a background in sociology, I am fascinated by the idea that our personality and not our physicality determines our choice of fencing weapon. Our inherent personality traits define which sword we are more comfortable wielding, or which sword becomes our main weapon.  

If this is true, there would be distinct differences between fencers, hallmarks that define a foilist, epeeist or saberist.  

To explore the idea, that personality traits determine weapon choice, I asked a foilist, an epeeist and a saberist to wrap a foil for Christmas. Here are the results: 

Epeeist                                                                                             The epeeist wrapped the gift with a notable urgency as if wanting to get it over with. Their choice of wrapping was a sparkly burlap  fabric that didn't require taping or ribbon to hold it in place. This eliminated the need for any precise folding around the bell and grip. The epeeist simply wrapped the fabric around the sword to divert the fact that it was a sword. The epeeist attempted to deceive the recipient into thinking they had spent a long time wrapping the present, when in fact they were done in seconds.  
       

Foilist 



The foilist considered the recipient of the gift and how they might expect the present to be wrapped. The foilist then choose wrapping paper and a
coordinating
ribbon. The ribbon was
meticulously tied into a bow with the ends cut into sharp points. When the present was wrapped to the foilist's satisfaction, she chose a greeting card with a sentimental verse inside, tied the card to the gift and hand delivered it.

Saberist


The saberist tried out the foil for a week before "wrapping"  it. He didn't apologize for using the sword. The saberist used it, because he could and no one told him he couldn't. And since it was now considered a used sword, he saw no sense in wrapping it. "What the hell, who wraps a sword anyway!" The saberist stuck a pre-made bow on the foil and went looking for eggnog.

Clearly, there are personality traits that define who gravitates to which weapon and as demonstrated, these differences spill into their gift wrapping techniques. 

Happy Hollidays

from our piste to yours!

I fence, therefore I am

KK