Sanders: Fencing - the student’s best stress reliever

What makes fencing the most stress-relieving sport for a college student? First, for those of you who don’t know that much about fencing, it actually holds three different events for three different types of swords: foil, epee and sabre, sabre being the best of course! Presenting an aggressive and fast-paced duel, sabre exhilarates its combatants.
Right off the bat, the university’s own fencing club described the three swords perfectly during our first lesson, using an analogy that compares fencing with running track, sabre being a short distance run like a 100-meter dash, foil like mid-distance, and epee like long distance.
Out of the nineteen years I have been alive, I never thought I’d participate in fencing. Not only that, but I didn’t believe I would enjoy it this much. After fencing for a whole month, I contemplate whether or not just anyone can fence. Fencing requires a lot of foresight, focus and endurance, the most important aspect being quick reflexes.
Fencing lets you hit people as hard as you desire. You might want to show some restraint due to judges calling out excessive aggression in competitive swordplay. No need to worry about being on the receiving end since you have protective padding against a steel sword.

Unlike fencing, you can’t hit anybody in any other sport without being penalized in some fashion. I will admit, football is a worthy opponent in this aspect, as well as lacrosse. Yet, the objective of football and lacrosse isn’t to hit something, but to put a ball in a designated location. One could almost conclude that hurting someone is the point of fencing, which makes it the perfect stress reliever.
Still not convinced? Another reason is the amount of focus a combatant must harness during a duel. Life brings tons of work and drama that a human being must devote full attention to each day. These obligations stress out a college student. For five to 15 points, your full attention is distracted from stress of life and devoted to swordplay.
It takes a focused person to enjoy fencing. Just viewing a duel in progress attracts all of your attention. And it’s exciting to see other people enjoying the craft as much as I do.
They say that discovering something new is a key component of relieving stress. Fencing provides that new excitement and thrill no other sport could provide. The main team sports that are famous in our society basically have the same purposes of placing a ball in a specific spot. Yet, fencing provides a brand new objective adding to its appeal.
Finally, I found out that successful fencers are actually extremely friendly and goofy people, and I like that combination. The community of fencers is by far the most stress-relieving part of the sport. They desire to not only improve their own skills, but also to improve those around them. What can possibly beat that lesson in altruism?
Don’t get me wrong, not all fencers are as affable, loving and altruistic as the ones we have here at the University of Toledo. Yet, even the nastiest of fencers still has the same burning passion for the sport of fencing.
William Sanders III is a sophomore majoring in Journalism.