Discovered In A Box of Baubles – 3 January, 2021

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

Ah, those fencing scenes in Not a Very Civil, Civil Servant. Not nearly long enough, are they? I thought a little extended seasonal pleasure might be had by examining them, and the picture in my last post, in greater detail - *vbg*.

Caveat: I am not a sports fencer, although I did check some information with my nephew, who was on the fencing team at his university. All mistakes are my own of course.

The picture I posted earlier is a publicity still from NVCCS. There are two scenes in the episode where the Lads and Cowley are in fencing whites. One comes soon after the opening credits, the other is right at the end. They serve to provide some expository moments (and eye candy), but they don’t seem to have a great deal to do with the plot. Moreover, there’s some question about the utility of the Lads learning fencing in the first place. I’ve seen comments on a few sites contemplating this somewhat bemusedly – such as the “fascinatingly bizarre” description given to the first fencing scene on Dave Matthews’ Mark-1 website.

In fannish circles, the focus is usually on those nice, figure-hugging whites, rather than the other equipment. I’ve got nothing against that, and I’m not trying to drag you away from your contemplation, I just thought it would be a good idea to review the basics in a relevant way.



There are three disciplines in modern fencing: sabre, epee, and foil.

Foil – is often the introductory discipline. The target area is limited to the torso jacket and the aim is to strike the opponent with the sword tip only. The blade weighs less than 500g – it’s a maximum of 1.1m long (20 cm for the grip and 90 cm for the blade itself), and highly flexible. Many people seem to use ‘foil’ as a word for any fencing weapon. This is not correct.

Épée – the cup is larger than the guard on a foil and the weapon itself is heavier, weighing up to 770g. The blade is a maximum of 1.1m long (20 + 90) and triangular with a . The weapon may have different grips, such as a pistol grip or a French Grip. While the whole body is a target, contact is only scored with the point of the epee and with more than 750g pressure. Unlike foil and sabre there’s no “right of way” (which is the system used to determine who can score a point in any given situation – usually called priority).

Sabre – the weapon is lightweight, max. 500g, and up to 1.05m total length - so a little shorter than the others. It has a distinctive guard that curves around to the pommel, protecting the weapon hand which is off limits to strikes. Otherwise the target area is anywhere above the waist, including arms and head. Contact may be made with any part of the blade, so slashing is possible (no pun intended but you may laugh or groan if you like…). Whoever attacks first has priority, which is needed to secure points. It’s all about getting and using this priority to score hits.

Main source: “Sports Explainer” Youtube videos. Also, this video about sabre is really interesting and fun to watch.

So the main thing to be aware of in “Not a Very Civil, Civil Servant” is that, despite how the scene is commonly described, there isn’t a foil in sight. In the bout at the start of the episode, Cowley is fighting against Bodie and they are both using sabres – you can see the hand guards, and they both cut with the blade in addition to thrusting. In the photo Bodie and Cowley both have sabres, and Doyle has an épée with a French grip. But when Doyle offers to fight Bodie – “D’you wanna play?” – he picks up Cowley’s sabre. I think all three of them are carrying sabres in the final scene, but it’s not terribly clear.

As to the utility of an intelligence agent learning fencing, it is my impression that there was plenty of fencing going on in the British Public School system, at Universities like Oxford and Cambridge, and in the Armed Services(2). Fencing is good for fitness and strength, engaging both body and mind. While sabre tends to reward intuitive, quick reactions and aggression, épée requires a combination of strength and tactical thinking in attack and counterattack. Or Cowley may have felt their education was a little basic and decided to improve it. Mind you, I doubt that George Cowley’s teaching methods would be entirely according to Hoyle, given his needs vs. the rather technical nature of competition fencing rules.

Your thoughts?

(1) Ephemera, sorry - ‘Oils ain’t Oils’ was an ad for Caltex GTX motor oil that aired in Australia in the late 80’s, starring Max Cullen as Sol, a mechanic, and John Bluthal as a mob boss.

(2) The last G.B. Olympic fencing medalist, Henry Hoskyns, was, according to his obituary, “Educated at both Eton and then Oxford, Hoskyns, a keen boxer and Major in the Army, was affectionately known as one of Britain's great 'gentlemen fencers', going on to collect some nine Commonwealth Games gold medals as well as success on the world and Olympic stage.”
Also, the Army used to run the Public Schools Fencing Championship until the outbreak of war in 1914 – so it was definitely seen as an appropriate pursuit for an “officer and gentleman”.

Comments

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

I found your explanation quite interesting, thank you - and had a total flashback over the Oils Ain't Oils. They must have played that ad about 75 times throughout the Bathurst telecast when I was growing up.