WFencing is a sport that holds great importance to me, so much so that it has become a habit to
think about it several times a day. The question to me seems to be, why settle for an average
sport when you can be a fencer? The first time I saw it being played, I was mesmerized by its
beauty: the long weapons clashing against each other, the clinking sound they made, the sound
of the buzzer when it went off to signify a point, and the red and green colors of it. Most of all, all
the fencers wearing white uniforms with their masks on, playing as if their lives depended on it.
The effort they put into a single game was truly appreciable. This is what I saw: the purity and
goodness of it. Along with this, the competitiveness of the sport overwhelmed me. I have been
an athlete my entire life, but this sport got me excited like never before.
People may think it is easy to fence – one touch and you get a point. But that’s not how it works.
The sport is totally technical and conventional. To get a point, you need to brainstorm, be agile,
put on a good defense and attack thoughtfully, and with purpose. When you’re done thinking
about how you’ll score, you need to patiently execute your plan on the ground, and then the
point is yours. At first, I also thought it was easy, but as I realized all the technicalities, it did not
seem easy and comfortable. But as they say, with patience and hard work, you can achieve
anything, and now the sport is far more natural to me.
I’ve learnt many things from fencing. First, to be fearless; don’t be scared to enter your
opponent’s territory. Second, have patience, the most important quality. Without it, you will
struggle in this sport. Third, don’t be angry or lose your composure; an angry athlete is an
athlete who will make mistakes, as any coach will tell you. I realized how crucial these qualities
were to have as a good fencer.
Recently, I had to pause my regular training sessions due to my board exams, but now that they
are finished, I have resumed my training and am slowly getting back into pace. It feels wonderful
to be back on track again. You will get to see more fencing updates from me in the upcoming
blogs; the next one will be about my competitions and what’s coming up for me!
