Challenge 2: Fencing

“Fencing - A game of chess with a blade”

Rule 1: With my Foil and Faceguard.

When taking up this Fencing challenge with Pembroke Fencing Club in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 I had preconceptions. I had imagined a gathering of aloof Frenchmen waving swords, shouting “En Garde” and quickly dismissing my general cluelessness. Instead I was nicely surprised to meet the very pleasant Olga Velma, my instructor for the night.

My instructor - Olga Velma

Olga is an experienced fencer originally from Estonia, she is a repeated champion and medal winner in the Estonian Epee Championships and has been living and fencing in Ireland for a number of years.

So I was in good hands, alongside a number of other beginners to the sport who had signed up for an introductory course.

Firstly we covered the background to modern fencing...

Fencing is one of only four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games. It’s practiced in three disciplines - The Foil, The Epee and The Saber.

Each one is a unique sword with various associated rules based around the scoring areas that register as a hit on your opponent and the right of way or priority rules which determine who scores the point in the case that both fencers hit at the same time.

Foil: The smallest and lightest of the fencing swords. Touches are scored with the weapon’s point on the torso of the opponent. Foil emphasizes strong defense and fast, precise actions.
 

Epee: The heaviest of the three weapons, the Epee is a descendant of the rapier and has a large bell guard to protect the fencer’s hand. Touches with the epee are scored with the point, anywhere on the opponent's body. Epee technique emphasizes timing, point control, and a good counter-attack.
 

Sabre: Sabres are a cutting and thrusting weapon, derived from calvary swords of the late 19th century. Sabre touches can be scored with the point and the edge anywhere above the opponent's waist. Sabre technique emphasizes speed, feints, and strong offense.

A picture paints a thousand words...

Fencing swords and target areas

A fencing bout takes place on a piste, which is a strip 2 meters wide and 14 meters long. Fencers line up either side of a mid-point at en-garde lines. Retreating off of the strip means a point for the opponent.

Once we had digested that info it was time to learn the stance of a fencer.

As I am right handed I adopted a stance with my right foot and right hand as lead. My feet positioned at a 90° angle, approx shoulder width apart with my front foot pointed directly ahead in the line I was looking to move in. The footwork is similar to that of a boxer, albeit with the lead hand / foot reversed, whereas a boxer will push off his stronger back foot and lead with his weaker hand, in fencing the opposite is true. (Then again a fencer doesn't have two weapons to hit with!)

The fencing stance and thrusting attack

The knees are slightly bent, the body upright to ensure stability and good balance. The front arm is extended, the non-fencing hand is held high behind the body. It wasn’t the most natural of poses but it felt right for the occasion.
 
After practicing our footwork and movements we finally got our hands on a foil to practice some sword work.  


The foil was light and flexible and once it was in my hand my mind was screaming at me to thrust and slash and slay invisible opponents like a great reincarnation of one of the Three Musketeers. Had I been alone with no judging eyes that’s exactly what would have happened, in reality the fear of embarrassment kept me in line with my classmates as we ran through the exercises. We practiced using the edge of the blade, thrusts forward to strike with the point and general control. Clashing foils together I could definitely see the allure of the sport, even at the basic level I was operating at.  


As we wrapped up the session I had worked up a sweat and gained some insight, but I was keen for more. Thankfully I got the opportunity to learn more from Olga and to see real fencers in action. The International class fencers began their session, hooked up to the electronic scoreboards, paired off and ready to duel.

 

The real deal: Yves Carnec (FRA)  V Martin Shields (IRL)

One of the guys I got speaking to was Ido Ajzenstadt, who has represented Israel. Ido was about to compete in a qualifier for London 2012, the top four will qualify – Ido is ranked fifth going into the event …Good luck Ido!! 

To see guys at the top of their game in full flow was amazing. They were demonstrating real agility, strength, and speed, along with cunning. Attacks are sudden and aggressive but very purposeful; there is a real craft to this sport. I heard fencing described as a game of chess with a blade, in other words - a thinking mans knife fight!

One other thing that struck me, they looked great …in earlier times white fencing clothing were worn to show when duelists drew first blood from their opponent and this clothing tradition is carried into modern fencing. There is something very classical about the look. 

In summary I can say fencing is a very fast-paced, challenging, modern sport. By its very nature a dueling sport holds a certain drama and excitement and this is certainly true of fencing. There is an almost romantic quality to it. I will definitely be tuning in for this event in London 2012, hopefully I’ll be seeing a familiar face on the piste in Ido.

Pembroke Fencing Club is based in St Clonleths College, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. See http://www.pembrokefencing.ie/ for more details. Many thanks to my instructor, Olga Velma, who is available for group or individual lessons for adults or kids.
 

See http://www.irishfencing.net/ for the website of the Irish Fencing Federation, the governing body of the sport in Ireland.

Challenge 1: Archery

Who knew the largest Archery club in Ireland is based in Tallaght!? 

Rule 1: Picture proof is essential. Look at that technique!

Being from Tallaght and having been "educated" in the school next to the complex that the Greenhills Archers club train in, this was a great starting point for my Olympic Challenge. The fact that I enjoyed the sport makes it all the better. 

Greenhills Archers are genuinely the largest Archery club in Ireland. Last year they boasted over 75 members - a mix of 10 to 60 year olds, male and female and all skill levels from absolute beginners (me on this occasion!) to Olympic hopefuls.

Archery looks a fairly simple sport, and when it’s done right, it is! But doing it right is not such an easy task. Before getting into the specifics of how you position your body (and there are many specifics), how you draw the bowstring, etc here’s a bit if background....

There are two main forms of Archery, the obvious difference between them is in the bow used. The first is Recurve - this is your classic curved bow, and the only one currently used in Olympic competition.


The second is Compound - a compound bow is a modern bow which requires less force in the drawback of the string and takes advantage of mechanical aids such as cams and a magnifying sight, it is less physically demanding. Compound Archery is due to be added to the Olympics in 2016.

The Recurve Bow - side on profile.

Straight away I knew I was a Recurve man. The compound bow is impressive but those childhood images of Robin Hood and William Tell didn’t include bows with cable and pulley systems. Recurve is the one for me! 

I got speaking to the number one Recurve Archer in the club, Jason Yourell. Jason is a full time Archer, he’s dreaming of making the London 2012 Olympics, unfortunately that is looking out of his reach right now but in this sport he will get plenty more opportunities.

There is currently no national range for Archers in Ireland, funding from the sports council is minimal and there is a lack of suitable indoor training facilities. But the biggest problem is the one outside of everyone’s control – the Irish weather.

Wind and rain are not the friend of an archer in practice or competition. So against this backdrop guys like Jason who make it to Ireland’s elite training squad have serious obstacles to overcome before it even comes to firing 300 or 400 arrows in a day’s practice sessions. 


In a sport requiring serious levels of discipline, it’s probably not all that surprising to hear that the Korean’s are the world’s best. They are untouchable in the sport and stories suggest they shoot 1000 arrows a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.



Dont mess with the Koreans!



It came time for me to have a go myself, and I had a personal tutor - Eric Kelly. Eric was very patient and showed me the basics, which I remember as:

1. Stance - feet shoulder width apart, standing square on, parallel to the target. Adopt a firm stance but not too rigid.
2. Load – Load the arrow to the string and get your fingers set – one above and two below the arrow.
3. Pre-draw – Rotate your head to the target, close your left eye to focus with your right eye. Take some tension in the bowstring, then begin to lift your bow arm and draw arm together
4. Aim and Draw – Set your eye on the target as you raise your bow and draw the string back until it touches your nose and your drawing hand rests under your chin.
5. Anchoring– A very brief hold in position to set your aim at the target – you want the movement to be as fluid as possible.
6. Release – Release your fingers on the draw hand and let the force of the string fire the arrow.
7. Relax - Hopefully you’ve hit the centre of target and have a suitably large grin on your face. Otherwise it’s the walk of shame to collect your arrow off the floor.


The picture below shows my early efforts, what you are looking for is “Grouping” – at the beginner stage it is better to have three arrows grouped together even if they are at the edge of the target rather than have one in the centre, one on the left and one on the right. Repetition is key!


I must admit, my target was about 10 meters away, at Olympic level the archer is 70 meters from the target.

The beauty about this sport in my eyes is that right from the get-go I was able to pick up a bow and hit the target. There’s a huge amount to learn if you want to get to a high level in the sport but to pick up a bow and fire an arrow at a target, regardless of the perfect technique - it feels natural, and very satisfying.

This is a sport with few barriers - age, physique, sex - these are not defining factors in who can be good at this sport. One would assume the cost of the equipment would be high but for a beginner archer joining a local club this isn’t a problem, everything is provided for a very small joining fee and only when you get to the high levels of competition are you considering spending 2,000 Euro on a top class bow engineered from carbon composites.

The best and most expensive bow will only eliminate error from the bow itself, not from the archer – so this isn’t a sport all about who can afford the best equipment.


Having attended two sessions with the club I can honestly say I have a greater appreciation for the sport. Anybody looking for a sport with an easy entry level, a massive scope for learning and improvement, and a good social element could do far worse then give Archery a go. It’s very enjoyable and gets a big thumbs up from me!


Greenhills Archers train every Wednesday night from 8.30 to 10.30pm in Tallaght Sports Complex, Dublin 24. The club are currently enrolling for a new beginners course, for more information see: www.greenhillsarchery.com/

http://archery.ie/site/ is the site of the national governing body of archery in Ireland.

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