Physical Education Activities · Physical Education
Coach expects you to come to class with a fact about fencing or the team memorized for when you sign in.
Show up twice a week and fence. It's pass/fail like all the other gym classes, and basically, as long as you don't miss more than six classes, you pass. It's sweet.
George may appear slightly off kilter to those who don't catch the glimmer in his eyes as he makes fun of you in front of the whole class. If you really want to test his mettle, wear the T shirts of other Ivy League colleges and see how he reacts. A girl with a Yale shirt was poked fun at all semester because "ladies should not be wearing shirts with four letter words on them". It was hilarious, and the girl wore the shirt repeatedly. George is brilliant - make sure you count the number of times he says "pommel on the wrist" for the entire 14 weeks. Oh wait, he told us that a former student actually did, and it came up to over a 1000 times over the whole semester, so you do the math. George was absent alot this semester because he was off in China to help train other fencing judges because (and we had to Google to find this out) he is one of the world's best and most sought after fencing judges. And because of this, we learnt how to fence, as well as how to judge the scoring. Believe me, with tiny metal points going at speeds of more than 100mph even at beginner level, the class got into alot of headscratching just trying to figure out who got hit and who didn't. So if George is one of the best in the world, you're definitely studying with someone with real field experience.
Standard PE attendance: up to 6 absences to pass. Minimal physical exertion.
4-allowed absences. Builds your torso, arms and legs. Not much sweating involved.
Epee fencing with Coach Aufrichtig is the best PE class anybody can ever take at Columbia. Not only will you learn from the best, this class is also going to give you an unexpected community of people to grow closer to. Other reviews are spot on about how great Coach and the course are. But the community aspect really makes this class special, so much one of my classmates even wrote a Spec op-ed about it.
Aladar is the man. Seriously. Okay, the dude has a Masters' in fencing (I didn't even know those EXISTED before this past term) and a double doctorate in sports psychology and something else...and he's teaching fencing. To a bunch of klutzes like me. At Columbia. Of course he's amazing! Fencing itself is a lot of fun, and he does a really great job of teaching you the (sometimes tedious) basics of footwork and defense while letting you have fun waving around a foil in a highly controlled manner. Really great class, really great teacher...why would you not want to take this?
This is PE. You shouldn't be doing any work outside of class. As usual, you can skip 6 classes and still pass.
Very easy-going. Kerri went over fundamentals for the first five weeks, then she let us pair up and play for the remainder of the semester. For the first two weeks on our own, she would watch us, but after that, she sat in her office. It was up to the students if they wanted to play, or just sit around. In my section, it was about half and half. If you really want to learn the sport, she'll give you the basics, but beyond that you'll have to learn from other students or watch videos online. We were let out after only half an hour twice.
What a wonderful woman. She is so talented and respected in her field. She has taken time off to help with the Olympics before. The Barnard fencing team is one of the best around, which is due to her instruction (I am sure). Like any great mind, she is a little crazy. Her crazy comes down to students jerking around in class. Pay attention and try - you will be fine. If you do something well, she makes you feel like a million bucks. Especially if you do well enough to demonstrate. What a pick-me-up! Sometimes she runs a little over the allotted 50-minutes, but that's just because she wants everyone to understand the moves since every class is built on past principles. Very straightforward instruction. If nothing else, take this class because it is interesting. Who else do you know learning how to fence for college credit? It might score you points later in life.