The Inner Game of Fencing: Excellence in Form, Technique, Strategy and Spirit.

Inner Game

by Nick Evangelista

In this book, veteran instructor and author Nick Evangelista shows that the mind of the fencer is the critical tool and that no matter how good your technical skills are, if you don't know how to apply them effectively and efficiently, you will never grow beyond a simple poker. Evangelista covers all aspects of the inner game of how strategy is formed on the fencing strip, why self-discipline is vital, how important winning is to the learning process, why emotional input ruins your game, and how to take an opponent's strengths and turn them against him or her.
Evangelista explains how through self-discipline, continuous learning, and practice, you can take your fencing skills to a whole new level of performance.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 11, 2000

About the author

With over 36 years of fencing experience under his belt, fencing master Nick Evangelista is one of the sport's most unique teachers. He has studied fencing in both the United States and Europe and has also collected a number of awards and medals during his years of competition. Over the past three decades, he has developed many fencers who have successfully competed in the United States fencing community. Maestro Evangelista teaches the traditional French school of fencing, sometimes referred to as "classical," and encourages his students and readers to consider in their actions and strategies, among other things, the question, "What if these weapons were sharp?"

Maestro Evangelista’s formative years as a fencer were spent under the guidance of one of the acknowledged great masters of the twentieth century, Ralph Faulkner, a former Olympian known as "The Fencing Master to the Stars" for his work with several famous Hollywood swashbucklers.

Nick Evangelista has many published articles to his credit. He currently has five fencing-related books: The Encyclopedia of the Sword, The Art and Science of Fencing , Fighting with Sticks, The Inner Game of Fencing, and The Woman Fencer. His work has also been quoted in numerous publications, including Smithsonian Magazine. He has acted as a consultant to the film industry, adding his talent to TV shows including: Magnum P.I. and The Highlander. As the fencing history editor for Encyclopedia Britannica Online, he updated their fencing information for the twenty-first century. Maestro Evangelista is also the editor/publisher of Fencers Quarterly Magazine, the only independent hard-copy fencing magazine in the world.

[Photograph and biography excerpted from The Nick Evangelista Homepage]

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, this book was good; however, it was not exactly what I expected it to be. I found this book to primarily be a 300 page long rant on modern fencing. As I am a classical fencer myself, I understood Evangelista's point of view and agreed with him on virtually everything. His argument, though, was poorly developed (I would say that he is right; just didn't approach it very well) and usually suggested that the modern fencer was just plain stupid. When he put his points out as blatantly as he did, it would be obvious for the outsider which is the "right choice". But like many fencing books, I found the audience to be unclear. Based off of the title and a quick flipping through, I thought that the book was primarily about tactics and their applications- for a fencer. Though it read like one fencer talking to another-the jargon is there- it wouldn't make sense for an established fencer to read this book. A lot of what Evangelista talks about are "ideal" clubs, teachers, etc; Your First Bout, Your First Tournament, and the like. And as his arguments were poorly constructed, I'm not really sure that he would be able to sway anyone. Regardless, it was an enjoyable read as he brought humor to the text and I think that it poses some interesting points of view when talking to/teaching the beginner.

[Skye Elder · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I thought it would be more teaching me different skills I could use in a bout. Turns out this is actually a 300 page book about fencing itself. Which was actually really good! I would totally recommend this to any fencer. This book is totally 5 stars!💫🌟💫

[Peter Ivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally, I bought this book to learn more about the basic terminology and technique of fencing -- it does not teach that, however. It is far more invaluable as an advanced guide to the psychology and deeper insights about fencing. Evangelista delves into the history of fencing as well, giving an excellent description of how the technique evolved. His personal anecdotes display a passion and understanding of fencing that makes his advice authentic and interesting.

[Richard Harden · Rating 3 out of 5]

While quite interesting, this book often felt like an apologia of fencing. While I am finding in my own experience that I would rather learn classical fencing than pure anything-for-a-touch sport fencing, I had rather hoped to find it a book of the strategies of fencing, and was more than a little disappointed.

[keereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

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