First fencing academy opens in #Gurgaon, hosts friendly bouts

GURGAON: It`s not difficult to get drawn into a sport like fencing, a somewhat elegant mode of combat. Fencing`s as old as humanity itself, for it was with swords that scores were once settled. “It fascinates a lot of people – I was certainly fascinated by it!” says Rachna Sharma, who quit her job in 2012 to give this passion of hers time.

“And it isn`t that difficult to learn!” Incidentally, fencing is one of only five disciplines that has been a permanent part of the Olympics, since the Games were first held in 1896. Having gotten to grips with it, Sharma proceeded to win three straight golds in the Senior Delhi State Fencing Championship, then joined forces with Harpreet Singh, a former national fencer, to open the Deuce Fencing Academy, first in east Delhi (Yamuna Sports Complex) and now in Gurgaon, at DLF5 Club. Fencing first came to prominence in Spain, during the middle of the last millennium, though it was in Italy that its modern avatar took root.