Governor Livingston fencers come out in force for Summit Medical Group Festival

A misty rain throughout the day kept neither fencers nor visitors from the Summit Medical Group's Livewell Sports and Health Festival, held October 6, 2013, in Berkeley Heights.  In partnership with Tim Morehouse, Olympic fencer and driving force behind Fencing-In-The-Schools, the  Festival gave the Governor Livingston athletes a chance to showcase their skills while also getting a new generation of youngsters excited about the sport of fencing.

Although fencing has been well-represented at the event each year, a great innovation this year was the development of "new fencer kits" which allowed children as young as three to safely and realistically try out fencing for themselves. Not unlike laser tag, the kits provide a battery-powered target area which instantly tells if the fencer has hit the desired mark and therefore scored a touch.   Although the kits use the chest area as target, the sport as practiced today is actually a sophisticated version of fencing descended from the middle ages (when it was used primarily as a means of settling duels) and performed with three different weapons:  saber, foil, and epee, each with its own set of rules and valid targets.   Foil and epee are considered 'point' weapons, used with a thrusting motion, and saber is a blazing fast, cutting weapon akin to a cavalry sword.  GL fencers worked with each visitor to show the basic 'en guard' position, footwork, lunges and hits. 

It wasn't just the youngsters that were having a ball.  Visitor Yvonne Lorenzo remembers having fenced years ago in her high school gym class in East Orange and stopped by to give it another try.  After fencing with GL epeeist Devon Mc Lean, she said "As soon as I picked it [the blade] up, it all came back - and it was awesome!" 

A big thrill for some was the chance to meet and talk with London Olympian Tim Morehouse.  A whirlwind of activity, Morehouse never stopped shaking hands, kneeling to talk with the little ones, demonstrating or coaching, and showing his Olympic medals to curious onlookers.  Visitors Lauren Ciemniecki and Riley Stanford, fencers from Somerville High School, were thrilled for the chance to fence with Morehouse, finding it both scarily intimidating and exhilarating at the same time.  Says Lauren:  "My heart was in my throat but it was absolutely amazing!"

Morehouse is nothing if not passionate about fencing and bringing more attention to the sport.  His organization, Fencing-in-the-Schools (http://www.fencingintheschools.org/), is expected to reach over 10,000 students in seven states this year with its mission of empowering youth to achieve excellence.  It was a perfect match for Governor Livingston, which was one of his stops last year.   As he says, "the number one thing to know about fencing is, it's FUN!  After all, where else can you really use a sword?"  

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the Governor Livingston Fencing team please contact glhsfencing@gmail.com