En Garde: Fencing Awaits!

By Mason Theriault

The Fencing Club’s advanced members hard at work with drills. (Photo by Mason Theriault)

Have you ever been insulted by someone and desired revenge in the fashion of an 18th-century French noble? Ask your nemesis to accompany you to the Purchase gymnasium at 4:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays for Fencing Club, and your journey to swordsmanship will have begun.

Around 4:45 p.m., you’ll get your first taste. The instructor, or Maestro, David Jadego, leads everyone in footwork—the fencing version of warm-up. He calls out words such as “Advance,” “Pas avant,” “Lunge” and a line of fencers, adorned in white jackets, follow with shifting feet and outstretched swords.

To a newcomer it must seem overwhelming—so many different movements in quick succession, while simultaneously focusing on form and balance. “Fencing can be difficult at first, yeah,” Jadego says on the matter, “but I find that students who really commit to it get better very fast and end up loving it.”

After footwork, club members break off into smaller groups. The more advanced fencers spar or practice drills, while the new students learn the basics.

Members of the Fencing Club gathered in a line to practice footwork. (Photo by Tia Porter)

Picture two people fencing in your head. It probably involved two figures in white coats and mesh helmets stabbing each other with thin swords—not an incorrect image, but according to the club President Joanna Perez-Calderon, that’s only one of the many different fencing styles.

“For beginners, we teach classical French Foil,” she said, “but we also teach Sabre fencing as well.” Members can practice both, in addition to the Longsword style. The difference isn’t only in the blade, though. “How you move your weapon, particularly with en garde, varies by style,” Perez-Calderon explained.

Just one style is more than enough for freshman Tia Porter, who’s new to the club and the sport. Going in blind, her first day led to a surprising conclusion. “I honestly never knew that fencing was so intense,” she said. “There are so many different things you have to focus on at once!”

By her fourth meeting, however, Porter was feeling much better. “It was definitely tricky at first, but I don’t know, I feel like I’ve gotten a little better.” The road to progress is a long one, but it seems that Porter plans to stick with it.

Joanna Perez-Calderon (left) and David Jadego (right) sparring as an example for the Fencing Club. (Photo by Tia Porter)

At 6 p.m. everyone gathered around for a quick check-in, and then they head out, sweaty and sore. Just like any other sport, this small group of fencers compete, and of course, they play to win.

While club fencing isn’t an official division sport, fencing groups across the nation will still get together to hold competitions, called assaults, where fencers pair up and fight to three hits.

Don’t get your hopes up about competing anytime soon. The next competition will be held in March, which gives plenty of time to show up to the next meeting; and then, whenever your pesky nemesis says something they shouldn’t have, you’ll have the perfect counterargument: a sword (albeit not a sharp one).