There are currently 24 members in the Korea University Fencing Club (KUFC). About 12 of them attend all practice sessions. A third of the club members are female, which shows that the club is open to female students also. Fencing is a sport that can be played by anyone of any physique. Moreover, male and female participants can play a game against each other in the amateur level.

 

 

The club was established in 1957. The club’s OB (old boys)––the common expression of alumni––members are generously funding for their juniors who are passionate towards learning fencing. They have irregular gatherings to play against their juniors as a mean to encourage Senior-Junior friendly matches. Though they have left the university after graduation, they have “left” their passion towards fencing in the club.

 

There are three types of games in fencing; fleuret, épée, and sabre. The three different types of games have different rules to gain credits for their attacks. The most distinctive features among the three games are the areas allowed to attack for credits. Club members learn the rules and words used in judging the games.

 

Competitions cannot be missed out in a sports club. There are largely three competitions held for amateur fencing. Fencing clubs of Seoul National University (SNU) and Yonsei University (YU) also participate in the competitions. The three clubs gather and exchange useful information as much as possible to vitalize fencing among all students of all universities. KUFC has never missed getting a trophy every year. Since last year, KUFC has been getting trophies in female fencing competitions, too.

 

There are several competitions held annually. Some of the primary schedules of KUFC are of the following: the New Year’s match, held in January; the OB Annual meeting, in March; Senior- Junior friendly matches, in May; and Kim Yeong Hwan competition, in October. There are also the Jook Yeong competition and the Seoul Mayor’s matches. KUFC joined and is currently a part of Fencing Confederation of Asia, Korean Olympic Committee, and Fencing Internationale D’escrime (FIE).

 

The newcomers of the club are called “trainees” who will be assessed if they are qualified by trying out two to three weeks of training in the beginning of a semester. It is a sport that needs a lot of time investment. The club members gather for practices every Tuesday and Thursday evening, and Saturday afternoon for two to three hours. Members comment on each other’s performance and they are professionally taught under their supervising coach.

 

The coach of the fencing club is Kim Seong Ryul (53, Seoul), who was the Korean fencing team coach in the 1988 Olympics. “Fencing might be the best thing that suits today’s people; choosing, deciding and competing in a very short time,” Coach Kim explained. “Looking into some aspects of fencing, such as attacking, defending and ambushing, we learn how we should live our lives, since we know that just trying hard and doing skillfully are everything,” he added. The charming point of fencing is that,“Fencing is also one of the combating sports, but it has different characteristics. It is elegant, genteel, and decorous. Still, it has the essence of combating,” Coach Kim concluded.

 

A member of the fencing club, Jeon Jin Eung (’09, Business Administration) said, “Intense training to learn and fence is better than it sounds. One does not have to be worried about the burden of practice sessions. The amount of practice is just about right that it will not affect one’s academic works negatively.” He wished to see many applications in their next recruiting period.

 

The club members had to stay up late to watch the fencing games in the 2012 London Olympics. However, they were so fascinated and enthusiastic to see the games that they talked about the games on Kakaotalk (mobile messerger in Korea) in real time. The club captain, Son Sang Hyeok (’08, Business Administration) describes, “Once the match is over its tipping point, it becomes a game of devilry.” Then comes the time to think, “I want to do this by betting everything I have,” he added.

 

KUFC has a variety of members from many different majors. The number of female students is one third of the total club members. Moreover, foreign students are welcomed as a club member, too. “We have firm bonds among all club members, since we are also one of the sports clubs where members bump into each other and have physical interactions,” described Son. Many have become interested in learning fencing since watching the great games in the 2012 London Olympics. He stressed, “We recruit those who are willing to do this sport with endurance.”