A Fencer Looks at Football
I have now operated as the team videographer for two games now and I am ever so slowly coming to terms with the differences between Football and Fencing. Besides the obvious, one being a team collision sport and the other being an individual contact sport, one being indoors and the other outdoors, what I discovered is that they are more alike than differing.
Both rely on rather expensive equipment for protection. Mask and helmet, jacket and shoulder pads, underarm protector and girdle, appropriate shoes, and long socks. If you don't have the approved equipment, you don't get to play.
Both are combat oriented with territorial objectives. Football wants you to get the ball past the enemy defenders to an objective, the end zone. Fencing wants you to get your tip past your enemies defenses to an objective, the target.
Both rely on strategy at the macro level, knowing your opponent, knowing how much time is on the clock and what your own strengths and weaknesses are. If you are a fencer with low stamina you will want to end the bout as quickly as you can anaerobically. If you know your opponent tires easily you will want to keep your distance and wear them out. In football it is much the same, does the other team have a lot of fresh players that can be substituted regularly, or do you only have just enough to play. Does the other team like to pass more than run?
Both rely on tactics at the micro level in order to outplay, out think, and outwit your opponent. In fencing it is important to keep your your weapon's bell guard in a good position to protect your target area. Careful placement will limit your opponents options. In football it is important to coordinate your line to either create or block openings where the ball may move, limiting what your opponent can do.
In fencing, if you film a bout for training purposes , you want to see the whole fencer and at least a little of the opponent. If you film fencing for an audience you must have enough camera angles to show in post production how each fencer scores and where the blunders and successes occur. In football, if you film a game for training purposes, you want to see your whole team and at least a little of the other team. If you film football for an audience you must have enough camera angles to show in post production how each team scores and where the blunders and successes occur. Each rely heavily on slow motion to convey the action to the audience.
Another difference here is a fencer won't ever spread out to cover half the strip. Football teams will do that especially when the ball slips past the defenders and is careening wildly towards the target...err end zone. During these moments, I can only guess the most important part of the team is that closest to the ball. If I'm wrong, someone will tell me, or replace me with someone better at videography.
Therefore, if fencing can be called chess at a hundred miles an hour, than football must be chess with very heavy duty pieces.
