“When he was in his late 60s, he was still beating us young kids who thought we were hot stuff, but was still nice enough to work with us and help us along. So I always had it in the back of my mind that there was this Zen kind of philosophy, this martial arts aspect to fencing.”
“If you watch a football game or a baseball game, you don't see sportsmanship like this. In fencing you've got to salute your opponent before every match, and you've got to shake hands. These are the rules.”
“I've actually seen kids who have bad attitudes or temper problems come into fencing and I've seen them leave with much more self-control and self-respect. I've seen them go from really lousy kids to pretty nice people, people I could respect. I think fencing can have an uplifting effect on the soul. It's very much a Western martial art.”
“We are a member club of the United States Fencing Association, which governs fencing throughout the country. That means we can hold tournaments and our members can go to tournaments. Many clubs throughout the country host tournaments on a fairly regular basis. Most tournaments are in Pittsburgh or State College, a few in Cleveland and Harrisburg or anywhere that's got fencing. We also go down to West Virginia frequently.”
“We don't require that people compete here. I'm here for the people who want to get really, really good at this and compete in it, but we're also here for the people who just want to come in and get some exercise, blow off some steam, or just come in and have a really good time.”
“How you like to style your fencing is really up to your temperament. Some people are aggressive and tend to move around a lot; some people are very passive and let their opponents make the first move. No two people fence entirely alike. It's one of the things that makes it so interesting.”
“In fencing, it's just you and your opponent. You don't have teammates you can blame. You usually don't have a referee to blame. You either win or you don't. Every time you go out there, it's a test of your own skill and ability and how hard you work.”
“The best thing about this sport is that you can do it all your life. I know people who started fencing when they were 70 years old. This is a sport where using your head really counts. 'Physical chess' is a term that's been frequently applied to fencing. Really, the mind is the most important weapon you have in this sport.”
