Swordsman

Why has fencing never become popular in the U.S.? Aldo Nadi, world fencing champion, has brooded over that poser ever since he arrived in the U.S. to teach the sport eight years ago. His conclusion: Americans consider fencing sissy.

Nothing infuriates Mr. Nadi more than that vulgar error. He has written a furious book (On Fencing -- Putnam; $3) to set Americans straight about his sport, which he prefers to call an art. A model of fencing instruction, the book is also an entertaining swordsman's-eye-view of mankind. "The fencing strip," observes Mr. Nadi sternly, "is the mirror of the soul."

Aldo Nadi, 44, is a handsome, steel whip of a man, so slim (6 ft, 128 lb.) that on the fencing strip he bears a strong resemblance to his weapon. Some fencers consider him the greatest swordsman who ever lived. The son of a famous Italian Maitre d'Armes, Aldo began fencing at four, won his first title at twelve, is acknowledged the world's finest foilsman.

Retreat from Beauty. When Nadi came to the U.S. in 1935, society ladies mobbed him. Horrified at the flaccid clumsiness of some of his overstuffed clients at Elizabeth Arden's beauty salon, where he was Director of Fencing, Aldo soon quit to devote himself to serious fencers and children, his favorite pupils.

Now, married to a former Follies girl (Rosemary Wallace) whom he taught to fence, he presides over his own Salle d'Armes in Manhattan's Savoy-Plaza, where his pupils include several U.S. fencing champions and a handful of celebrities: Tenor Richard Crooks, Writer Paul Gallico, Actress Lillian Gish. As a finished world champion, Nadi finds it unnecessary to train, likes to spend his evenings in expensive nightclubs.

The U.S. has some 150,000 fencers, chiefly concentrated in three fencing capitals (New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco) and on college campuses. Just now they are handicapped by a shortage of weapons. But the major obstacle to fencing's popularity in the U.S. is a lack of teachers. This, in Aldo Nadi's opinion, is a great pity, for he believes there is no human ill that fencing can not cure.

All the Ills. . . . Fencing, says Nadi, should be "a cardinal part" of everybody's education. He considers boxing, by contrast, a vulgar, stupid sport. He prescribes fencing for developing character, nervous stamina and intelligence, for reducing, for learning to walk properly, for "strengthening and toning the breast muscles" (quips Nadi: "Show me the girl not interested in these details").

As a teacher, Nadi insists on strict observance of the punctilio of fencing, even to a show of courtesy toward the judges--for whom Nadi usually has only the most perfunctory respect. In saluting an opponent, a Nadi fencer must hold his mask in his left hand with four fingers on top, look his adversary straight in the eye, bring the blade of his weapon up before his right eye, then sweep it down and to the right. The blade, says Nadi, must whistle through the air, must under no circumstances commit the "frightful discord" of striking the floor.

The Relaxed Approach. Contradicting most other teachers, who favor fencing flatfooted, Nadi makes his pupils raise the left heel in readiness to spring, insists that they practice before a mirror to correct "a jutting posterior." He tolerates no idle questions from pupils during lessons, describes with admiration how a stern old master taught the late great French fencer Kirchhoffer to relax. The master used to put Kirchhoffer on guard, then go away. After several minutes he would return, feel Kirchhoffer's arm, exclaim : "Your arm is tense. You will never be a fencer. Get out!"

Nadi's arrogant book is seasoned with many a pungent observation. Samples:

"No ambitious fencer can afford to indulge seriously in any other sport."

"Do not bother with pretty women who may be present."

"When I see a fencer smile under his mask I know he cannot be very good."

"In the eyes of the real fencer any screen duel is, of course, an abomination."

"All the best French fencers, Louis Merignac excepted (were) left-handed." (Italian Aldo is right-handed.)

Soul for Sale. Nadi's greatest disappointment is that the value of fencing as combat training has so far been largely overlooked by U.S. armed forces. Convinced that "nothing could be more useful to our flyers," he tried to enlist as a Navy physical instructor after Pearl Harbor, was incredulous when the Navy declined his offer. Cries Nadi: "I would sell my soul to be allowed to take charge of physical instruction for the aviators."

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