When I first saw fencing as an option for my year ten electives, I was hesitant about signing up; isn’t fencing that sport where you aimlessly jab people with a sword? Isn’t it too late for me to start at fourteen-years-old? Isn’t it dangerous, exhausting, and intimidating? After frantically tapping through Google, I found ‘Fencing: an organised sport involving the use of a sword - épée, foil, or sabre – for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Often likened to ‘physical chess’.’ Sounds cool enough, I guess I’ll sign up - what Google didn’t tell me, however, was that fencing is more than just swords and rules, but about adrenaline, tactics and confidence. What Google didn’t tell me was that in a few months, I would be begging my mum to allow me another term of fencing, or that I’d soon be writing an article convincing as many people as possible to take up my new favourite sport.  

Everyone has a different reason for taking up fencing: for me, it was simply the excitement of swinging around a massive blade in a futuristic-looking suit. My friend, on the other hand, said their reason was ‘to build mental resilience’; another said, ‘to work out the whole body’ and another said ‘it reminded me of Star Wars’. Fencing attracts a wide variety of people because it involves a wide variety of skills: while it increases your physical coordination, flexibility, strength and cardiovascular endurance, fencing also teaches you to think on your feet and maintain determination when faced with defeat. These skills are ones we ought to develop for our own self-benefit, so why not swing around some swords and have fun while doing it? 

Despite what overdramatic movies and your mind’s self-doubt might lead you to believe, you don’t have to have started fencing at seven-years-old to be successful - although at age 15, Swiss fencer Sophie Lamon won silver in the women’s team épée event of the 2000 Summer Olympics, Austrian Karl Munich was 64 when he competed at the 1912 Games. Like any sport, the only thing you need to succeed in fencing is self-belief, which you are sure to develop as you pull yourself through inevitable failures and triumph in fights you never thought you would win. 

Another aspect of what makes fencing so fun is the competitions, which enrich the welcoming and invigorating atmosphere of the fencing community: two weeks ago, my friend Laila went to a fencing competition in Tonbridge, where she competed against fencers from a variety of different schools. Although she was ‘extremely nervous and the whole thing felt like a fever dream’, Laila told me she ‘loved the competition and would totally do it again’. Within the thrilling four hours of the competition, she managed to put her skills to test and develop them through determining the most effective fencing techniques, like waiting for your opponent to attack and scoring via a counterattack.  

Even so, competition success is not a compulsory component of being a fencer; the greatest successes in fencing can be the satisfaction of mastering that parry first-try, landing that risky counterattack, or finally learning to put on the heaps of gear and gloves by yourself. Fencing is unlike any other sport I have ever played - it has stretched my body and mind to their utmost limits, opened me up to a welcoming community of new friends and is the only sport where stabbing the other player doesn’t land you a red card. Although you might feel intimidated at first by the swinging swords and heaving helmets, these will soon be the same things that have your heart thumping out of your chest with exhilaration, and hopefully make fencing your favourite sport.