British Fencing is almost a marginal sport now. There is so much emphasis on track and field, team sports, gymnastics and swimming that the martial arts are often sidelined by television and the sporting press. Fencing is one of the oldest Olympic sports. It has been represented in every Olympic Games since 1896 when the modern Olympic Games started.
Fencing is very much a martial art like Judo, Boxing or Taekwondo. It requires both physical athleticism and mental discipline. Training is mostly concerned with specific combat training, or sparring. Fencing masters work closely with their best students to ensure that they reach the top of their game. There is little in the way of solo training for fencer, which makes it a very different sport to train in than swimming or running.
There are 3 types of fencing represented in the Olypmic Games and each has a specific sword and its own set of rules. Also women and men participate in all the categories. Unlike other combat sports there are no weight categories.
- Men’s foil – individual & team events
- Women’s foil – individual events
- Men’s épee – individual & team events
- Women’s épee – individual & team events
- Men’s sabre – individual & team events
- Women’s sabre – individual events
Like with Tennis many fencers will participate in both the individual and team events. Also like tennis fencers are ranked based on points gained in various competitions that are held during a rolling year. This means that the rankings can change after every competition, and if a fencer misses a competition they risk slipping down the ladder. Each fencer can take points from up to 6 competitions, 3 of which can be international tournaments.
Fencers are divided into age categories and each category is ranked separately. The youngest fencers are the under 17′s called the Cadets. Next is the under 20 year olds, the Juniors and then the Seniors which is for anyone over the age of 13 years. There are also competitions held for children under 9, under 11 and under 14 that are called the Premier Foil Series. There is also series for newer fencers, the Leon Paul Junior Series, which allows people of all levels and ages to join.
In 2008 Great Britain had 3 fencers enter the Beijing Olympics:
- Martina Emanuel, Foil Individual. She was beaten by American Erinn Smart in the first round in 2008
- Richard Kruse, Foil Individual. In 2008 he won the first round, beating Romania’s Virgil Saliscan 15-6. He lost to the German world champion Peter Joppich in a very close match. Score 10-9.
- Alex O’Connell, Sabre Individual. He 2008 he lost to Russia’s Nikolay Kovalyov 15-14 in the 1st round.
As of 1st May 2010 Martina Emanuel is ranked 1st for foil in the UK and is certainly a contender for the 2012 Olympic Games. Also ranked in the top 5 are Anna Bentley, Hannah Bryars Natalia Sheppard and Claire Bennett.
Richard Kruse is ranked 1st for the men’s foil and is very likely to be in Team GB if he keeps performing well. Also in the top 5 are Laurence Halsted, Ed Jefferies, Keith Cook and Rhys Melia.
Team GB was not represented in the epee in Beijing, but here are the top men and women as of May 2010. Women: Corinna Lawrence, Mary Cohen, Megan Lomas, Jayne Crook and Liz Highton. Men: Jonathan Willis, Tom Bennett, Nicholas Perry, Tom Cadman and David Gregory.
For the Men’s Sabre Alex O’Connell is currently ranked no.2 behind Neil Hutchison. The other top five contenders are Maiyuran Ratneswaren, Chris Buxton and Jon Salfield.
For the women’s Sabre, also not represented in 2008, the following women are currently the top 5 ranked in Great Britain (details from April 2010): Chrystall Nicoll, Louise Bond-Williams, Joanna Hutchison, Angela Bilardi and Sophie Williams.
We hope to see some more British Olympic Contenders fencing in the London 2012 Games. The Fencing Arena in 2012 will be in the London Excel Centre.
References
- British Seniors rankings: www.britishfencing.com
- Men’s Sabre rankings: www.british-mens-sabre.webs.com
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