Students from seven schools attended the Bradley University fencing tournament Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. in Renaissance Coliseum.
The five participating club schools included Bradley University, Iowa State, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Illinois State University and the University of Minnesota. The remaining two schools, McKendree University and Lawrence University, are varsity schools.
Bradley is part of the Midwestern Conference, which is a mix of about 25 schools, all of which fencing is considered either a club sport or a varsity sport.
Fencing is a sport focusing on footwork and agility. Within the realm of fencing, there are three types of weapons and styles used, each requiring its own style and set of rules. The rules of fencing are based on target areas on the body, which differ per weapon.
The three styles include Epee, Foil and Sabre.
Each match is timed for three minutes. The individual with the most hits at the end of the allotted time wins. Within the three minutes, if a whole minute goes by without anyone scoring, the competitor with the highest score wins.
“However, for this particular tournament, if five points were reached by either side before the three minutes were up, then that side won,” senior fencing club president Erik Brady said.
In order to prepare for a fencing competition, some conditioning is done during practice. For endurance during matches, members will go for runs and work on strategic movements such as footwork. The club hopes to add weight training into the mix starting next semester.
“Typically we try to keep things a little bit fun with our practices, because we do know that some people that join our practices are very casual and just want to join for the sake of learning how to fence,” Brady said. “They don’t necessarily want to compete.”
Results are posted first by gender and then by each of the three different styles. Bradley’s men’s team placed third in Eppe, third in Sabre and sixth in Foil. Team stand-outs included sophomore electrical engineering majors Alexander Serrurier in Foil and Peter Sepynski in Sabre.
“Unfortunately, we only had men’s teams from Bradley participate in this tournament, but we are working on building women’s teams for our upcoming tournament in November,” Brady said.
The fencing team meets every Tuesday and Thursday in room 17 of the basement in Markin Recreation Center. All skill levels are welcomed, and no knowledge of the sport is required to join.
“Fencing is the best part of my week,” senior fencing club vice president Kate Palmer said. “I get to see all the best people on campus. This sport is also an amazing way to relieve stress.”
For more information about the fencing club, students can find their website through the directory of Bradley’s website under club sports.
“Three years ago I didn’t know anything about fencing, and now I’m one of the organizational leaders,” Brady said. “We really work hard with people to teach them the ropes and help them improve throughout the years.”
