As a roaring crowd cheers on, Sophomore Aretha Gao breathes in behind her mask as she paces back and forth on a bright stage, gripping her sword tightly with her left hand as she prepares for a lunge. As her opponent backs away, Gao makes her move as her whole body rushes forward and her arm extends to score a hit on her opponent to win the bout.
“Fencing has shaped me to be more independent and more confident in who I am,” Gao said. “When you’re fencing, you have to be confident about yourself because, in the end, it’s you who’s going to execute that action to win the bout or to get the touch.”
Fencing uses three weapons: the foil, the épée and the sabre. Since fourth grade, Gao has fenced with the épée.
Each weapon has different points of contact to determine the victor and for the épée, a hit on any part of the opponent’s body is valid.
On the other hand, foil and sabre fencers wear electrical material called a lamé to detect hits.
For foil, the only valid point of contact is the torso, while the torso and the head are points of contact for the sabre.
“The higher you go, you meet more skilled opponents or people that might even be better than you,” Gao said. “I find it really exhilarating when I’m fencing them and I’m able to see what they’re doing. I’ve had really close bouts, but at the end I pull it together and then I go for the touch. When I get it, it’s a really exciting feeling.”
Gao has been fencing for five years, and practices at the Los Angeles International Fencing Center in Santa Monica. She practices for five hours three times a week but plans on training on more days.
“My favorite part of fencing is definitely meeting new people,” Gao said. “Most of all, I like being able to interact and fence with other fencers because everyone has a different technique and it’s like a puzzle. Fencing is like chess, but in sports.”
This year, Gao won gold with her team during the Junior Olympics, and in October she will be competing in the Austrian international competition.
TCHS School Newspaper