Dyspraxia and fencing

I am a dyspraxic competitive Saber fencer which certainly comes with challenges. I train twice a week at Birmingham Fencing Club and have done so since 2022. I originally learned foil at the University of Birmingham Fencing Club in 2021 but did not want to stick with the style. Fencing is a strange enough sport without also throwing in dyspraxia, as movements have to be learnt specifically for fencing, which is unique to the sport.

Even simple aspects of the sport have to be adapted for me due to my dyspraxia. When I am in my engarde stance I cannot put my back foot directly behind my front ankle as I found the stance to be unstable causing me to fall over. I also have to have coaching sessions broken down into smaller amounts and repeated for months until I understand. When I cannot get even the simplest of tasks within the sport it can be disheartening. I am lucky enough that my coach will work with my dyspraxia and can tell the difference between when I cannot do something and do not want to do something. If I’m struggling, we will move on and try something else. If I am not focusing, we will do it more until I do it properly.

Dyspraxia is not viewed as a disability by fencing, or by any sport, leaving me at a disadvantage as I am fighting able-bodied individuals.

I struggled for a while with hitting too hard due to bringing my arm back rather than straight forward. This would then result in other fencers yelling at me which I often found confusing as due to my dyspraxia my brain was not registering that the hits were too hard. Annoyingly due to these hard hits, I was going through Saber blades rather quickly which is costly.

I have very much a love-hate relationship with fencing as I want to do better but struggle to do so. It is difficult to watch your peers improve at a rate that I will never be able to keep up with. I began competing in 2023 and have been to a variety of competitions within England.  I often do not succeed in these competitions and have placed either last or very nearly last in a large percentage.  While it is easy to feel that ‘it is the taking part that counts’ I often felt like a failure, especially in comparison to watching my friends winning medals.

While I do struggle a lot of the time with my fencing I do continue. As the quote says, ‘if it was easy everyone would do it.’  Nothing that is easy is worthwhile and even though I wish I could win more medals, be more like my peers and progress further and quicker it is something I am interested in so I will keep trying to pursue.

Competition can be infuriating because I struggle to engage my brain and do not utilise the parries, blocks and hits that I had been working on at training. I am yet to actually win a direct elimination fight in competition as I cannot follow through when it counts.

I have won a small amount of awards and the one that meant the most to me actually came from a friendly competition called the 'Presidents Cup.’ I was the Saber fencer for a team of three alongside a foilest and an epeeist. The epeeist was actually also dyspraxic and it was such a great feeling to fence on a team with someone else who understood. The reason the experience stands out is because we all supported each other and as a result of our teamwork we placed third. In 2023 I was also Wes Midlands Women’s saber county champion. I have also gained two third-place trophies from Leon Paul.

Fencing like many things in life is hard, especially for a dyspraxic female. I may have a love-hate relationship with it but I do not think I could actually fully quit. If you want to start something do not let your dyspraxia get in the way but do not think that it will be easy either.

Written by Charis Hawkley