If you have always been interested in movies about fierce kings and competent queens, who fought for their loved ones and their kingdoms, if you loved watching the epic sword fight sequences in movies, then Fencing may be the right hobby for you!

Let’s learn about F for Fencing.

Fencing is a combat sport, which involves sword fighting and is also an Olympics recognized sport. Although it is not popular or widely known in India, it is an interesting sport. You will need safety gear and a sword for Fencing.

There are three types of fencing swords and the target areas differ for each.

There is also a French connection with Fencing, since most terms used in the sport are French. (I only know Touche, Allez!) I have come to love the sport, thanks to the Korean Drama Twenty Five Twenty One, where the main female lead is a world famous fencer.

If you have a new found interest in fencing, why not try watching some old Olympic matches to learn more about it. Or better yet, go ahead and watch the K-drama too! (It is an absolute favourite of mine. It has my favourite Korean actor Nam Joo‑hyuk as the male lead.)

P.S:

  1. India has a lone fencer, C. A. Bhavani Devi, who represented India in 2020 Olympics. I hope the sport gains more popularity.
  2. In Tollywood, during the Golden Era of superstars, there was an actor  who was famous for his sword fights in movies! He was Katthi Yuddham Kantha Rao. In almost all his movies, he would surely have a sword fight scene with the main villain. (He acted mostly in fantasy movies, with kings, Naga Kanyas, magical super villains etc)  Kantha Rao and Rajanala sword fight sequences were very popular in early 1900s. This has little relevance in a post about fencing, but I wanted to give Kantha Rao an honorable mention, because he was under rated in the industry.
  3. The other hobbies which start with F are Fishing, Flying Kites and Figure Skating. But I picked Fencing for obvious reasons. Till the next hobby post, cheerio!