A young woman with shiny blue hair stood in the north courtyard of the St. Charles Mall Sunday afternoon, garnering not so much as a passing glance. All the double-takes and looks of bemusement were reserved for the h alf- dozen sword-wielding swashbucklers who, clad in masks, jackets, foil gloves, white knickers and knee-length stockings, looked as if they had just stepped from the pages of history.
Instead, these six musketeers, in town for the United States Fencing Association National Championships this week at the nearby Pheasant Run Resort, were there to demonstrate the sport of fencing.
The mall, where normally the only hand-to-hand combat waged is when you try to return something without a receipt, served as yet another venue to expose the complex and little-understood sport to the public. Another demonstration was held Saturday night at a local movie theater before the showing of ”Robin Hood.”
”For fencing to increase in popularity, the public has to be educated about it and given an opportunity to see it,” said Michel Mamlouk, USFA president. ”I must confess, the sport is not easily understood.
”It used to be an upper-class thing, but it no longer is. It has become a professional sport that`s seen a broader base of fencers.”
Attracting greater numbers, especially at the youth level, is the sport`s No. 1 challenge. Although nearly 9,000 fencers are registered with the USFA, there are only about 600 active fencers in and around Chicago, a figure that has doubled over the last decade. In the United States, the sport is most popular on the East and West coasts.
Internationally, European countries dominate the sport. The U.S. has never won a medal in the 95-year history of the World Championships.
Locally, the problem is not one of acceptance but of introduction. That`s why establishments like the Illinois Fencing Club, the Chicago Fencing Club and the Discovery Center Fencing Club stage demonstrations at local junior highs and high schools. Only five Chicago-area high schools offer fencing programs.
”Once people see it, they go wild about it,” said David Littell of Park Ridge, a 1988 U.S. Olympian in men`s foil. ”It`s the coolest thing in the world to them. They usually go out and join a program.”
Fencing has three disciplines-epee, foil and sabre. They are distinguished by the size and weight of the sword and by the different areas of the body that a fencer can attack. All fights end when one fencer has scored five touches, or when six minutes have elapsed. Touches are recorded electronically by wiring in the fencers` vests.
Long considered an elite sport, fencing has transcended its romantic and mysterious past, when matters of personal honor and disputes were settled by the sword. Fencing caught on as a sport in the 18th century, but its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Its heroes, such as Robin Hood, Zorro and the Three Musketeers, used their superior swordsmanship to rescue damsels in distress and defend their honor.
In those days, all the champions were undefeated. The rest were dead.
”There has always been a type of mystique and adventuresome spirit associated with swords and swashbuckling,” said Fernando Delgado, Illinois divisional chairman and director of the National Championships and New Trier High School fencing coach. ”It gives a feeling of long-ago days, when things were done on an individual basis using individual skills.
”Kids simply like the sword. We just tell them that this is an organized endeavor.”
This week`s organized endeavor, the National Championships, celebrates the USFA`s 100th anniversary and features a record 1,300 entrants from 38 states competing in five weapons-men`s foil, epee and sabre, and women`s foil and epee. Organizers expect about 3,000 people to attend the weeklong tournament. Most fans, however, are relatives or friends of the competitors.
Aside from the public clinics, other measures are being taken to make fencing easier to understand and appreciate. Scoreboards, complete with competitors` names and hometowns, are being employed, and fencers will soon have their names stitched across the backs of their uniforms.
”A person walks in and sees a bunch of monkeys in white suits jumping up and down, and they don`t know who they are,” Mamlouk said. ”We must identify the individuals.”
Fought on a 45-foot-by-6-foot strip, fencing requires both a disciplined mind and a trained body for lightning-quick acting and reacting. Fencing is the blue-haired discipline in a world of crewcut pastimes, a combat sport that doesn`t require brute force but agility and concentration.
”It`s a very intense aerobic sport,” Delgado said. ”You must be in very good shape. But besides needing a lot of endurance to handle the sword, you also need to develop your mind. You`re always watching your opponent, seeing his patterns of behavior and trying to outthink him.”
