Entry in progress—B.P.
 
“Dressage takes two lifetimes to master” is a similar saying.
 
Wikipedia: Fencing
Contemporary fencing is the modern state of the western art of combat with the small sword. It is also called olympic fencing, and began in Italy in the 18th century. The Italian school modified the original Spanish, “classical fencing”, and the French school later refined the Italian system. Modern Spanish fencing also became prominent in the 19th century.
 
Modern fencing uses three weapons, and is divided respectively into three competitive scenes: foil, sabre (spelled “saber” in the United States) and épée. Most (but not all) competitive fencers choose to specialize in one of these only.
   
North-West Fencing (UK)
Colin Walls
Coach at Manchester Fencing Club and Salle Kiss.
(...)
How Long Does it Take to Become Good
There is a saying that it takes two lifetimes to master fencing. By the time anyone has come close to “mastering” the sport, they are long past their athletic prime. Some may feel that this is a drawback to the sport, but most fencers see it as a great strength: fencing never becomes dull or routine; there are always new skills to master, and new grounds to conquer.
 
La Spada Nemica (Marin County, CA)
There is an adage dating back through the 19th century that says, “It takes two lifetimes to master the art of fencing.” Contrast this long-acknowledged wisdom to assurances by some present-day fencing clubs that novices taking their fencing classes will be fencing “almost immediately,” or within “just a few weeks.” That’s exactly what impatient beginners want to hear, but wildly jabbing and poking with a foil after having taken only a few fencing lessons no more qualifies as “fencing” than the act of sounding out a few major scales on a keyboard can honestly be viewed as “playing piano.” At the conclusion of a fencing class lasting eight weeks or more a beginning student, no matter how naturally gifted, is not ready to fence!
 
Google News Archive
1 January 1996, Tuscaloosa (AL) News, “Shelton teacher to be volunteer during Olympics” by Richard Powell, pg. 3B, cols. 3-4:
“They say it takes two lifetimes to learn fencing, be cause by the time you learn the moves, your body’s too old to make them.”
(Bruce Bizzoco.—ed.)
     
fencing.net
Thread: Marketing and fencing
sabreur
09-21-2003, 12:10 PM
I am not sure how to market fencing.
 
I think the essential issue in reaching a wide audience is the “two lifetimes” thing—it takes two lifetimes to master fencing…
 
Fencing is a very difficult sport to do even reasonably well. It takes several years of pretty focused training to begin to develop the body knowledge and technical expertise to really understand what it is about. Many people don’t have the patience or willingness to go through that training to reach the end of being a decent fencer.
   
Twitter
adeel hasan
‏@me_Caption
Benefits of Fencing http://bit.ly/pwBKAm  it takes two lifetimes to master fencing.
9:46 PM - 7 Sep 2011
 
Washington (DC) Post
Fencing: A terrific workout that really makes you think
By Des Bieler March 31, 2015
(...)
Her speedy ascent from novice to competitor is hardly uncommon. Although fencing may take two lifetimes to master, as an old saying goes, beginners can learn the basics quickly and even start sparring on the first day.