The Philippine Online Chronicles

I called her Aling Elepante, (Old Lady Elephant) when she was but a toddler, always stepping and stumbling on everything in her way as she ran through fields filled with cow dung and wild flowers. The unica hija and youngest among a brood of four, Charlene, Cha, or Charlie is strong-willed and strong boned, a bit different from her beauty queen namesake, Charlene Gonzales.

When I heard that she was being taught fencing in Angels Learning Center (ALC), Antipolo, by no less than University of Sto. Tomas (UST) coach Ricardo Fuenzalida, I thought that it suited her, regardless of her small stature.

Charlene is a 15-year-old of average height (5 feet flat), and upon seeing the height of other competitors in the Second Touché Masters Pilipinas tournament, I concluded that my sister is, well, small.

However, Fuenzalida debunked the usual notions that fencing champions have to be tall and have a long reach in order to win. While it is an advantage, there are also many female fencing medalists of average height.

It is discipline, Fuenzalida said, that creates gold medalists, and not height. If you have discipline, all the rest of the skills you need to have as an athlete will follow. One example, he noted, is Nam Hyun Hee, an Olympic gold medalist from Korea whose height is just like my sister's.

Fencing fundamentals

Charlene briefed me all about fencing as we were walking toward the ULTRA covered fencing arena in Pasig last Sunday, January 30, 2011.

According to her, fencing has three types of swords, the sabre, foil, and epee.

With the sabre, you score by slashing sideways, and your target is from the opponent’s jacket to the mask. You score by poking with the foil, and the target area is the same as the sabre. However, according to Charlene, epee fights are quite brutal since they are more like actual swordfights, where the whole body can be targeted in order to score points. You can even run towards your opponent during a match. There are more defined footwork required in sabre and foil matches.

Footwork when working with a sabre and a foil is trickier than when using an epee because your feet need to be perpendicular with a one-foot distance between them, she said.

Charlene then explained the point system to me. A parry is when you ward off an opponent’s attack. The basic parries are Parry 3, Parry 4, and Parry 5. Parry 3 helps you protect the center of your body. Parry 4 deflects opponent attacks to your side, and Parry 5 deflects it upward.

“Touché” is when your sword touches the opponent’s jacket, mask or legs. When watching a fencing match, you will usually hear the referees shouting, “Attack, parry, riposte, touché.” This means that the first fencer made an attack that was deflected, and the second fencer made a successful counterattack.

Footwork is vital, requiring flexibility for the fencer to avoid hits. During training, fencers have to run, hop, skip and split in midair, then repeat all of these in rapid succession in order to improve their footwork. The feet betray the plan of attack, so fencers have to be quick to avoid being read by the opponent.

Charlene is currently using the sabre, but she will soon switch to foil, which is lighter and easier to handle, considering her height.

Starting them young

Most tournaments divide fencers by age group. At ALC, the students are divided into three groups: 7-11 years old, 12-16 years old (cadet), and 16-21 years old. The members of the 16-21 age group are eligible to join the SEA Games and World Championships.

Jylyn Nicanor, the Touche Masters gold medalist, is only 18 years old. Another known female fencer is Mia Howell, a Fil-Am who went back to the Philippines at age 10, started training, and then joined the national team. Wally Mendoza, then 26 years old, won a bronze in the 2005 Saber World Cup Championship.

In the last SEA Games, several gold medalists in fencing came from the Philippines, and Coach Fuenzalida says that the Pinoy fencers would have a good showing in the Asian Games if they will be given support through funding, and if they can always compete abroad. Singapore is already sending its young fencers abroad for practice, and hiring the best athletes to give its cadet fencers a morale boost, just like inviting Nam Hyun Hee to conduct a seminar. If we were able to give this opportunity to our young fencers, then we will surely hone their skills. Fuenzalida added that from 1991 to 2010, we had good support from the government which meant three to four competitions a year outside the country, such as in Germany and China.

Coach Fuenzalida recommends more than once-a-week practice for dedicated fencers to be truly competitive.

Ricardo Fuenzalida is the current coach of the Sabre national team, UST, and ALC High School.

The Angels Learning Center High School fencing team

Touché

I told my sister that if Nam Hyun Hee could do it, then she can too. She replied by telling me that she would be jogging more frequently on her own outside of training, although I have yet to see her start. I am proud of her, of who she wants to become, and who she already is. A person who knows she can fence, and in essence, know for sure that it is a part of her.

For me, what you do defines who you are, not what you have.

If you know how to fence, then in a manner of speaking, you are able to properly communicate with yourself – mind and body, as the sword will require that of you, and others. Mastering the sword means that you must also master yourself.

Header image: Some rights reserved by Andrea Alessandretti.

Photos by Jose Francisco Cruz, some rights reserved.