Fencers enjoy challenge of 'chess with knives'

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It's a bone-chilling January night, but at the D.C. Fencers' Club in Silver Spring, Dana Czapanskiyis beaded with sweat. For nearly two hours, the 60-year-old Takoma Park psychotherapist has kept a succession of sparring partners at bay with a fencing sword called an epee.

"Ready? Fence" is the cry in the makeshift gym. Amid the metallic clank of swords and the beeps from electronic scoring machines, Mr. Czapanskiy charges his opponents, trying to score a "touch." As they come back at him, he parries their attacks.

All this after only 14 lessons in the sport of fencing.

"It's like chess with knives," says Mr. Czapanskiy. "There's an incredible psychological component to the sport, which I really enjoy, and it's increased my energy level. And I just feel healthier."

Each week, Mr. Czapanskiy and more than 1,000 other Washington-area residents, from ages 9 to 80, fence at more than a dozen fencing schools and clubs around the region. They are among an estimated 100,000 fencers who train in the United States, recreationally and competitively. Roughly 20 percent of those belong to the United States Fencing Association and participate in tournaments.

Some people fence for fun, others for fitness, and still others enjoy the competition. Area fencers, in fact, compete in national and international events, from the Junior Olympics to the World Cup Championships.

In the United States, however, fencing is still a relatively underappreciated sport, even though American fencers compete in the Olympics. When the average person thinks of fencing, he or she likely conjures up movie images from films like Errol Flynn's "Robin Hood," George Lucas' "Star Wars," or the more recent "Pirates of the Caribbean" and Tom Cruise's "The Last Samurai."

But instead of swinging from chandeliers or jumping from balconies like film stars, competitive fencers perform a very controlled and elaborately fluid dance with swords on a 6-by-40-foot rubber strip. In most bouts, the first fencer who scores 15 points, or touches, wins. And a touch is what it sounds like -- a light touch of the opponent. Fencing is not a brutal sport in which one's life or limb is at stake. In fact, when the best fencers land a touch, their opponents may not even feel it -- though it is nevertheless recorded electronically.