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Simonson' s Swordsmen
ATTACK . . . parry and repouse
      counter party and repouse! Per-
      haps this lingo is unfamiliar to
most of us sports fans in the midwest,
but in France people would immediately
know we refer to the fascinating, fast-
moving sport of fencing. An outgrowth
of the old sword-play and duels of an
older world, fencing today requires
Unlike football or basketball where a
player begins in grade school and usu-
ally ends his career after college, a
fencer requires many more years of
training and  competition  before he
reaches his peak. In fact, most of the
Olympic fencers are in their forties. It
is a sport, like few others, which utilizes
not only the large muscles but the small
By WAYNE ROGERS, '58
f,-nrlna ic nriiNLIr with mnnu neonne
  Wisconsin's fencing  coach, Archie
Simonson, says he usually has about
forty to fifty boys out for the Badger
squad each year. Many of these boys
have never held a. "blade" in their
hand, but before the season is over they
are fencing 'with confidence and form
and enjoying it more each day. This,
says Simonson, is his main reward for
coaching the sport.
Fencing, like tennis -and golf, is a
  Simonson, himself, is a recent gradu-
ate of the University's law school. He
coached the fencing teams before grad-
uation, and after graduating, he kept his
practice in Madison so he could continue
to work with his teams, which, inci-
dentally, have never finished worse than
third in Big-10 competition. Each day
"Archie" leaves his law office at 1 West
Main about 3 p.m. and goes over to the
new Randall Memorial for practice. He
works with the freshmen from 3:30 to
4:30 and the varsity from 4:30 to 6:00,
giving individual attention to nearly
every one on the team each day.
  Simonson gives several reasons why