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With Kendo President Mark Welsh and Fencing Men’s 1sts Captain Harry Whitwell
The desire to pick up a big stick and hit someone over the head with it, is perhaps more common than generally assumed. Certainly there seem to be enough sports at York where the desire to physically attack someone is key to success. Aside from the more traditional boxing, and the various subtly different types of martial art, there are at least three societies (Kendo, Fencing and the re-enactment societies) where the sole aim is to poke the person facing you with, effectively, a big stick.
And indeed, when speaking to the president of the Kendo club, Mark Walsh, and the Men’s 1st captain of the Fencing club, Harry Whitwell, both told me in their separate ways that the best part of their respective sports was, in Whitwell’s words: “We have swords!”
But is that the beginning and the end of the comparison? The overall aim is somewhat different, as is the general background of each sport, and the size and history of the clubs at York. Fencing is a western ‘martial art’ as such, stereotypically a sport of the public schools, and one of the original sports to feature in the Olympic Games. By contrast, Kendo is an eastern marital art, developed from Samurai fighting techniques, without too much of a stereotype, as far as I am aware, in this country. The Fencing club is able to field three BUCS teams this year; the Kendo club is trying to find enough people to send one team to competitions in the spring.
But is that all? Welsh explained to me that Kendo, like other martial arts, has a grading system like the coloured belts seen in Karate, but they are not worn. Rather, “the level of kendo should appear in how well they fence,” and the same principle applies to fencing. Ability is judged through achievement rather than grades.
And in both sports there is a need for tactics, agility, and co-ordination, but that similarity can attach itself between all sports. Whitwell feels that fencing is, “Not like playing rugby - every match is different,” and that despite what fencing looks like to spectators it’s not as simple as, “Just hitting your opponent.” I’m fairly sure that any rugby players will disagree that every rugby match is the same, and that the fencers poncing around in their all white outfits probably couldn’t take on the rugby team (swords or not) if they decided to defend their sport. But nevertheless, there is definitely something a bit different about the sport which encourages people to have a go.
Kendo, for all that the president can’t really see the difference between his sport and fencing, is a much smaller society. The costume is just as fancy and the people just as determined to hit each other, although the rules are of course a touch different. Or as Welsh told me, explaining why he loved it: “Because it’s one of the few sports where it is legal to pick up a big stick, scream very loudly and hit someone over the head with it.”
In any event, if there were to be an open competition between the two sports, Whitwell confidently informs me that YouTube faithfully shows fencing winning every time!
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