It was when I started to lose the sensation in my hands that I began to drift into a daydream, imagining the tent as a supersize sports igloo in which it was very possible I might become the frozen ice sculpture.
Standing there, with the thermometer reading 2.6°C, I wondered if fencing was really worth freezing for.
My chill-induced musings were sharply interrupted though by a loud “Thwack!”, the sudden clanging of swords hitting one another and the grunts of those using them reverberating across the tent. My attention caught, I looked over to see two fencers locked in combat, a mix of aggression, power and tactical planning brought together in one dynamic duel. I wasn’t able to look away until Sarah Aynsley, my personal fencing teacher for the evening and Press Officer for the fencing club, beckoned me with the words I’d been waiting to hear more than anything: “Warm-up time.”
Slowly starting to thaw as I jogged round the tent, it was hard not to notice just how many people there were fencing. I’d always imagined fencing, with its niche reputation, would make only a relatively small sports club. This year however there’s been a massive surge in interest in fencing, and there are currently ninety-five members of York University’s fencing club.
So what is so attractive about fencing? For Sarah, fencing is a “logical” sport, one in which the player is required to use their mind as much as their body.
“It’s incredibly elegent,” Sarah tells me as she dismantles my attempt at a riposte with casual ease. I’ve just been taught how to stand, and apart from my limp left arm gangling sadly behind me, I feel like I’m doing a decent job at imitating one of the Three Musketeers.
Getting the posture right is one thing, but combining that with quick movement is an altogether different prospect.
“Lunge!” I lunge, although not so much in a graceful athletic movement as in a spasmodic contortion of flailing limbs. My lunge clearly needs work. I take heart however from a first session in which I’ve learnt the basics of fencing, and can see from the level of fencers who started only a term ago that it’s a sport in which the individual improves rapidly.
There are three types of sword used in fencing: a foil, an épée and a sabre. Dressed in white protective clothing, players duel on a narrow stretch of surface called a piste, and for each sword fenced with there are different rules. For example in foil matches the player only wins points by striking the opponent on their torso, whilst in épée matches the entire body is a target area. The variety of fencing is therefore wide, with different styles for different personalities. If you want to go ape on someone then épée is for you, or if, like Sarah, you’re drawn to something more tactical, then foil is your game.
There’s not just a variety of fencing styles but also a variety of members. Fencing is often misconceived as an elitist sport for public school toffs, but from meeting the club’s members nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of the fencing club’s members only began fencing in the past year, and with beginner’s courses starting in the first week of every term, and a number of qualified instructors as members, there are few sports clubs at York that are more welcoming or easier to join.
The cost of equipment and long away trips has made acquiring more funding from YorkSport a top priority for next year. With two Commonwealth fencers as members, membership numbers approaching a hundred, and fantastic success this year for both the men’s and women’s teams, with both a match away from promotion, the case for increased funding is strong.
There is a tendency to view fencing as a sport for prancing fairies, as one that is aesthetically pleasing but is too restrained and therefore unenjoyable. This is not the case. Fencing is a mix of thinking and force, requiring the use of logic as well as power. Most importantly though, few things you do will be as fun.