UNCOVERING UTICA'S GEMS - Clinton - Hamilton College

caught off garde
nobody would ever call me athletic. Although I do
enjoy the occasional workout on the elliptical, I
generally regard athletes with baffled reverence.
That was my first impression of the fencing club
when I went joined their practice for a day. It was
clear that I had never tried anything remotely similar
to fencing before. But one of the coaches pulled
me aside and taught me some of the basics before we began.
The footwork of fencing feels like a sort of synchronized dance,
quite different from the dance I’m used to doing—mainly located in
the Annex. The “fencing dance,” as I like to call it, is a bit more complicated,
but with the coach’s help, I learned it well enough to partner up
and start fencing.
I partnered up with Zachary Pintchik ’12 who showed me some
of the more intricate aspects of fencing. I had a difficult time defending
myself, as I was supposed to limit the “target area” and move towards
my side instead of exposing myself for attack. He went easy on me at
first, but I was still stabbed several times.
As I started to understand the defense techniques, I began feeling
as though I was
in a sword fighting
scene in Pirates of
the Caribbean. Another
member, Will Pigot ’11, explained to me that the most difficult
thing about fencing “isn’t doing ‘Jack Sparrow’ motions. The idea of
fencing is that you do everything with the smallest possible motion.”
When I asked him if fencing made him feel like a badass, he answered,
laughing, “you know…we’re hitting each other with swords. It would
be kind of hard not to. But the fact that we’re wearing these silly jackets
and masks kind of detracts from it.”
Like most of the members of the fencing club, Pigot has only been
fencing since the beginning of this semester, which made me feel a little
more at ease about my inexperience. I spoke to another beginner, Sarah
Fobes ’12 who told me, “It’s a very playful sport…good exercise. It’s
good for me because I have bad coordination so I get to work on that.”
Although Sarah is new to fencing, she is experienced with karate. She
says, “A lot of the conditioning and instincts I’ve been trying to get in
karate don’t really apply here. The way you move, the way you attack…
it’s different with fencing.”
By the time practice was over, I felt almost like I had just worked
out on the elliptical, except I felt as though I had worked out in a more
creative, fun way. I may try fencing again, and I would encourage anyone
else to do the same.
- alexandra borowitz ’11
the continental | autumn 2008 41