Dreaded Fencing Exam 2020 – Pandemonium Edition

 

No kidding! The yearly fencing exam is a real thing, as those who attended on Saturday were reminded. Although judging from the picture above, produced by one of our fencers as an answer to the final question, I'm not sure 'dreaded' is exactly the right way to describe it!

Sure, your average fencing exam may not bring out such piratical outpourings. But this is Mountains Fencing Club after all!

Of course the exam wasn't all swashbuckling silliness. If you're wondering how well you'd have done, ask yourself whether you know how long a fencing 'tempo' should be. Or under what fencing tactics a stop hit would fall? And are you perfectly clear on the nature of the fencing line?

Which is part of the point of course. Fencing is a complex and beautiful sport – understanding the theory will help you fence better and it's important that we teach those things. But also, fencing is basically playing with swords and if that isn't fun then something has gone horribly wrong! I'd like to think we get the balance right.

Fencers grounded in theory, technique and art. That's one way of describing what we train our fencers to be. Pirates with book smarts could be another. Maybe even sophisticated swashbucklers.

Ultimately though, it's up to our fencers to define themselves and to create their own way of fencing. And MFC aims to foster an environment where all such fencing things are possible, with plenty of fun along the way!