News Staff Reporter
Yes, it’s true: Choate does have a fencing club. The Fencing Club, led by Lisa Fazzino ’08, meets every Sunday from 2:00 – 3:30 at the Tartan Court in the WJAC. The club has about 20 members on its conference, with 6 of the members regularly attending the meetings. French teacher Elke Hoppenbrouwers is the faculty adviser for the group.
During a traditional meeting, the attendees have an “open fencing” session or play “king of the hill.” “Open fencing” is when one person fences whomever they would like to fence. “King of the hill” is a game the group plays in which whoever wins a match becomes the king, and continues playing until he or she loses a match.
The club hopes to have a bake sale sometime in February. While the details are not yet concrete, money raised from the bake sale will go towards purchasing new equipment for the club.
According to fencing101.com, scoring is determined by electronic padding worn by the fencers, which registers when a hit occurs with “flashing, color-coded lights.” The object of a fencing match, called a “bout,” is to score 15 points (through hits) in direct elimination play, or five in preliminary pool play. Fencing began with the Egyptians as early as 1200 BC and was included in the Olympics in 1896.
There are three different swords used in fencing: the foil, the épée, and the sabre. With the foil, the target area - the area of the body where hits count for points - is the torso. While the target area for the épée consists of the entire body, with the sabre, the target area is limited to the upper body, “from the bend of the hips” to “the top of the head.”
If you are interested in joining the club, contact Lisa Fazzino ’08.
