Fencing friends, Las Vegas Sun, March 14, 1996

Dueling friends find fencing not so pointless Lisa Sciortino Thursday, March 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m. Sure, Lucy Harrison and Charity Bennett are best friends, but they're not above stabbing each other in the back. Or the chest, the arms, legs and feet. Of course, that's only when they're fencing together. "It's really lucky that we do get along really well," Lucy says. No kidding. A centuries-old artform, fencing was originally used as a method of mortal combat in some European countries. The fencer's goal was to touch or kill the opponent with his long, thin sword and come away from a duel unscathed. Fencing has long been fodder for folklore (remember "The Three Musketeers"?). Today, however, it's an organized sport, with competitions held at schools, colleges and the Olympics. Lucy and Charity, eighth-graders at Greenspun Junior High School, have been dueling on a team for a year and recently competed in the Junior Olympics in Louisville, Ky. Charity, 14, began fencing six years ago alongside her father. At the recent competition, she placed 29th in the epee sword (a triangular-bladed sword) and 74th in the foil (the basic fencing weapon with a thin, flexible blade) competitions in the 15-and-under age divisions. Lucy, 13, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer to the sport. She got turned on to fencing last year after tagging along to one of Charity's lessons at The Sporting House in Las Vegas. "At first I thought it was a pointless sport," Lucy says, "but I've gotten into it. It's become an identity of mine." And she's gotten good at it, too, placing 45th in epee and 54th in foils. The girls are coached by Mark Berger, who trained the Russian Olympic fencing team (1958-72) and the U.S. team (1975-77). Though they performed well at the Junior games, Berger says the teens still have some work to do. "They're not yet disciplined, it's not yet seriousness," he says. For the Junior Olympics, "I told them ... they should show power and they did." But fencing isn't all about muscle. The dueling duo say they actually prefer the brain strain that the sport offers. "You have to think about different strategies all the time while you're fencing, ... you can't stop for a minute. You're constantly moving or you're gonna get hit," Charity says. "You have to be able to understand what you're doing and not just flinging your sword." "Mentally, it totally stabilizes you and makes you think a lot more," Lucy agrees. "A lot of times you'll just step back and try to think about what you're gonna do against this person." And know where you're supposed to aim, something she forgot when she was dueling at the competition. "I lunged, and it would have been such a clean touch but I just lost it and I hit her off target." It cost her the match. Dangerous though it may seem, the girls contend fencing is a safe sport. For starters, the foils are equipped with rubber caps or spring-loaded buttons on the tips to assure ouchless stabs. On top of that, the fencers wear protective clothes -- pants, jackets, socks -- from head to toe. "There's so much protection, you don't feel it at all," Charity says.