Dare to take a stab at this workout?

Everything I know about sword fighting came from the cinema. The big screen showcased swashbuckling heroes who swung from chandeliers, leapt from balconies or battled their way up castle staircases before finally defeating the arch villain.

In real life, fencing is less dramatic and choreographed but still a great deal of fun, even for beginners like me. No matter how many times you’ve seen it at the movies, nothing revs the heart like a masked stranger lunging toward your chest with a sword.

Fencing has been likened to a physical chess match, where grace, skill and razor-sharp reflexes often carry the day. The sport demands total concentration -- a momentary lapse can quickly lead to defeat.

For skilled fencers, swordplay can be physically exhausting. The attacks, counterattacks and the back-and-forthing along the narrow, 40-foot-long strip of floor can tax the legs as much as stair-climbing.

However, judged solely as a workout -- at least from the beginner’s level -- fencing isn’t going to sweat off a Sunday brunch. After fencing for a little more than 30 minutes, I did sweat, but I think the perspiration had as much to do with my heavy wire-mesh mask as it did with my movement.

Fencing itself is thought to be more than 5,000 years old. The ancient Egyptians and Japanese are believed to have pioneered it. And by the early 19th century, swordsmanship was considered an essential part of a European gentleman’s education, even though it was gradually losing ground to guns.

As the weapon passed into obsolescence, the sword nevertheless hung on as a sport, primarily among the elite. It was one of the first sports incorporated into the modern Olympics. Today, fencing enjoys a niche popularity at some of the nation’s best colleges and universities.

There are few solid numbers on how many Americans participate in the sport each year. A 1999 survey by a sporting goods manufacturer found that 400,000 people had fenced at least once in the previous year. The U.S. Fencing Assn., the sport’s national governing body based in Colorado Springs, Colo., claims an active membership of 18,000.

“Most people pick up fencing in college,� said Cindy Bent Findlay, a spokeswoman for the fencing group. “But many come back to it in their 40s too. Part of the attraction is it’s a lifelong sport.�

There are a few drawbacks, however. The cost of getting started in the sport is one. Masks, weapons, gloves and shoes -- all required equipment -- can easily run several hundred dollars. Lessons aren’t cheap, either. My private session was $25 per 20 minutes, which seems to be the going rate. Lessons and group classes, which can exceed $100 for a couple of months’ instruction, often include borrowed equipment for beginners.

My instructor was Michael D’Asaro Jr., a former Olympian who has helped train actors in movies ranging from “The Lord of the Rings� to “Pirates of the Caribbean.� The Brooklynite, whose business name is “the fencing dude,� works out of the Westside Fencing Center in the beautiful Helms Bakery Building in Culver City. Its wooden floors and beamed ceilings lend a smoky gym feel to the fencing center.

Usually, D’Asaro limits private lessons to a single 20-minute session. If the lesson goes on much longer, some students become overwhelmed with new information. He made an exception for me, and I took a pair of lessons back-to-back.

We started off with the basics. There are three weapons used in competition -- the foil, the epee and the saber. We mostly stuck with the foil, which is almost a yard long and weighs less than a pound. The epee is the descendant of the dueling sword, while the saber is the modern version of the slashing cavalry sword, according to the United States Fencing Assn.

The foil’s blade, with a small plastic tip covering its point, isn’t sharp and bends easily. The object is to hit your opponent with the tip of the blade, roughly between the shoulders and the groin.

For safety, we wore masks to protect our faces. I could see fine with the mask, though initially it felt as if I were wearing a scuba mask. And although we did not use them, competitors are outfitted with electronic devices to record when a hit occurs.

Next, the basic movements were explained. There was the attack and the parry to block it, and the riposte (the defender’s answering attack). It looked so easy when the instructor did it.

But when it came to my turn, of course, it didn’t flow as gracefully. It usually takes about three months of one or two private or group lessons a week to become reasonably proficient at fencing, Findlay said. If students stick with it for six months or longer, some will become good enough for competitions, she added.

The problem for beginners like me is precision and speed. By the time I remembered what my muscles were supposed to be doing, there was a sword point bending into my chest. I wouldn’t have lasted long in a proper duel.

Still, I stuck with it and by the end of the lesson we were able to put together a couple of decent sequences of attack and counterattack.

A reminder: Stretch out before picking up the sword. I didn’t and paid the price of a minor back tweak when I lunged too far one time. The discomfort -- the only aftereffect of my fencing workout -- faded in a couple of days.

If you’re looking to get into shape quickly and easily, fencing isn’t the most efficient method. But if you’re looking for a lot of fun and color, and have the patience to become skilled, a sword just might be for you.

For more information, go to the U.S. Fencing Assn.’s Web site at www.usfencing.org.

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Snapshot: Fencing

Duration of activity: 40 minutes

Calories burned*: 228

Heart rate*: Average, 112; high, 131

*This information was obtained using a heart-rate monitor.

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Times staff writer Martin Miller can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].