
The sheer volume of fencing videos on social media channels like YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram Reels, offers us a gold mine for analysts doing theoretical research on the sport of fencing.
A couple of such recent studies inspired me to conduct my own research. I decided to take a deep dive into the videos I saw online, and today I’m proudly announcing the outcome of my rigorous study of these fencing materials.
This groundbreaking, unprecedented, data-driven analysis details the influence of Yelling in Fencing on the Final Result! It’s something we’ve all seen happen in matches, but until now, we didn’t know how prevalent it was or what influence it had on the players and observers.
I believe this deeper understanding of a singular aspect of matches will revolutionize the sport of fencing and drastically change its future.
Let’s dive in.
Research Methodology
Unlike other studies that limited their scope to a single weapon, I set a goal to expand the boundaries of my research and address all three weapons – foil, sabre, and epee. This choice is rooted in my belief that all three weapons are vital to our sport.
But that’s not all. My research also expands to age groups beyond Seniors, who are usually the subject of the most intense research, to all Modern Fencers – Youth, Cadet, Junior, Senior and Veterans, And in light of the recent decision of the USA Fencing Board of Directors to include the Y8 events at the regional level, it addresses the youngest group too.
Getting good data is the heart of quality quantitative research. That’s why I watched hours and hours of fencing bouts online and in person. Keeping meticulous notes, I was careful only to take down information that was directly relevant to the subject matter, ensuring clean data. In addition, I had support from fact-checkers, who double-checked my material consistently to ensure that the information was accurate.
Several factors were of particular interest to this research: the number of times a fencer yells, the sequence of yells, the strength of yells (measured in decibels), the duration of yells (measured in seconds), the repetition of yells (measured in a number of yells separated by an inhale).
Here we go!