Category: Fencing & Life
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Little Musketeers: Introducing Fencing to New Communities
Little Musketeers is on a mission to introduce the sport of fencing to children in areas where it remains largely unknown. The club is run by Becky Price, a former member of the GB Women’s Foil Team, and aims to spark a love for fencing among young people. Having retired from competitive fencing, Price is…
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Interview: James-Andrew Davis
James-Andrew Davis, the 2014 European Champion, has officially retired from competition. Based in the USA for a number of years, he spoke to BF just after returning from the USA Nationals where he was coaching athletes from the Massialas Foundation, known as Mteam. He spoke to BF in July. You’re calling time on your career…
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Oliver Lam-Watson: a family story
Wheelchair fencer Oliver Lam-Watson qualified for his second Paralympic Games in June 2024, after competing and winning two team medals at Tokyo 2020. “What’s different about Paris to Tokyo? God, everything, I guess, and also nothing at the same time. There’s gonna be a crowd this time. We didn’t have that in Tokyo. There’s almost…
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Fencing For Change: Tsavora Mtaani
Since 2021, in a poverty-stricken part of Nairobi, Kenya, the Tsavora Mtaani Fencing Club aims to deliver hope and change. Organised by Kenyan international Mburu “Faruq Brown” Wanyoike, who came from a tough background in Nairobi, the club offers direction for younger people and – just maybe – the chance of a very different life.…
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Great Britain’s fencing team at Stockholm 1912: Unseen Photographs
British Fencing received an email from Carolyne Redmayne about a set of around 30 glass plates from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, which show the British fencing team in action and at rest. We have reproduced a selection of the 30 images below, with some of the team identified where possible (with thanks to Malcolm…
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David Schalit: The Youngest Olympic Judge?
The Sword was recently contacted by the family of one David Shalit, who believed he was the youngest person ever to judge at an Olympics, when he officiated at the 1948 Games in London, aged just 17. We spoke to Mr Shalit and his daughter Belinda along with fencing historian Malcolm Fare in March 2024…
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Muslim Girls Fence: Into 2024 And Beyond
“I do think Islamophobia has affected young people’s mental health. I think that this is something that is rising sadly, we don’t feel safe, or listened to or understood, which kind of makes it worse. That’s why it’s so nice having this club, we can just be ourselves, say what we want to say…
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Welcome (back) to The Sword
Hello. Welcome to the new home of The Sword, British Fencing’s membership magazine. In comparison to five years ago, our members are now consuming our content in very different ways from before, engaging more with website news posts and articles. Some of our best performing news posts actually had more readers than any recent online…
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Belbouab and Contractor Receive Sportaid’s Backing the Best Award
Two young and talented British cadet foilists have received a SportAid Backing the Best award for their outstanding potential. Mohammed Belbouab and Khalam Contractor have received the award from UK Sport Aid because of their outstanding ability and now, thanks to the award, are able to compete in the Commonwealth Championships. The triennial (occasionally quadrennial)…
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‘Nobody’s Metaphor’: fencing documentary available to stream
British Fencing’s ongoing project with Maslaha called Muslim Girls Fence produced a documentary film back in 2020. ‘Nobody’s Metaphor’, produced by Chouette Films, has not been previously available for streaming online. The film traces the experiences of four teenagers from West London as they participate in the Muslim Girls Fence initiative. Throughout the film, the…
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“On The Edge” review: a startlingly good drama
A film about fencing that doesn’t involve Napoleonic uniforms, buccaneers or earnest young aristocrats defending a lady’s honour – surely not? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but yes. We all know that the Russians have always taken their fencing very seriously (just ask Jim Fox and Boris Onischenko!) and they just love to watch films…
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Why are young women leaving sport?
Last year the charity Women In Sport, on behalf of Sport England, painted a bleak picture of the exercise habits of the UK’s teenagers as the country left the pandemic behind. Via a survey of over 4000 teenagers, they found more than one million teenage girls (43%) who once were active in sport had disengaged…