The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 20, 2004, Page 6, Image 6
Fencing club gives students fighting chance
By CARRIE GOODIN
THE GAMECOCK
It’s not every day USC students face
off in a duel — it’s every Wednesday and
Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m.
The fencing club’s president, Lee
Snelgrove, a fourth-year philosophy
student and third-year member, said that
aside from safety and basic fencing rules,
the club is relatively laid back.
“It’s a sport that people can compete
in and enjoy,” Snelgrove said.
Devon Bain, a second-year political
science and economics student, fences
epee in the club.
“It makes sense — if I poke you, I get
a point,” Bain said.
Several club members competed in a
regional tournament at Clemson last
weekend. The tournament paired fencers
of all levels. Fencers at the competition
ranged in levels from beginners to the
winner of the Algerian nationals.
Snelgrove said tournaments like that one
are relatively close by and are good for
members who haven’t been in
tournaments before.
Snelgrove said the club pretty much
always does the regional competitions,
but when summer nationals are near,
they try to do those, too. He said the
summer national tournament gets moved
around, so there is no set schedule for
when they will go.
“It’s a lot of fun. You talk to
everybody and you meet a lot of people,
but when you’re on the strip you want to
be competitive,” he said.
In fencing, opponents compete
l-—
directly across from each other. It is both
a mental and physical process in which
the athlete looks for openings to attack as
well as searches for the opponent’s
weaknesses, according to Snelgrove.
“It’s a competition with yourself. You
want to do better,” he said.
Fencing is a sport derived from sword
fighting that, Selgrove said, came about
after the necessity of sword fighting died
away. He said today’s fencing weapons
— the epee, sabre and foil — are versions
of the dulled alternative swords the
fighters used in training.
Snelgrove said in sabre fencing,
participants cut with the whole blade of
the sabre but may only target their
opponents’ arms, chest, back and head.
In epee fencing, the entire body is the
target and opponents thrust the epee at
each other and must only hit with the tip.
Similarly, in foil, fencers may only strike
with the tip of the weapon and can only
strike the trunk of the body.
Snelgrove said the club’s 30 to 35
members usually start out with foil but
often move on to epee or sabre. In
addition, he said anyone could join the
club, even without experience, although
it’s best to be a USC student.
Club members use jackets, swords and
masks provided by the club for $60 dues
paid each semester, but members must
buy pants and gloves themselves. The
dues also include lessons and a T-shirt.
The fencing club will host a regional
tournament at the Blatt P,E. Center.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockneivs@gwm.sc. edu
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FILE PHOTOS/THE GAMECOCK
Above: Keegan Reynolds, a third
year psychology student, right,
fences for USC at the chicken
Challenge last fall. Left: Derrick
Alsept, a third-year math student,
left, fences in the same tournametn.
The fencing team meets every
Wednesday and Thursday from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Blatt P.E.
Center.
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