Fencing takes a lunge at the Richmond World Festival

Anyone who wants to try fencing should head out to the Richmond World Festival.

Fencing is one of the sporting activities lined up in the inaugural event in Minoru Park (7191 Granville Avenue) on Saturday (September 5) to celebrate music, food and culture.

Included in every Olympics since the modern-day games began in Athens, Greece in 1896, fencing is an elegant sport that grew out of the lethal art of fighting with swords.

Fencing is also in the DNA of Igor Gantsevich, a former member of the Canadian national team.

It’s a passion he acquired from his father Victor, who coaches Canadian and B.C. teams.

Father and son are the driving forces behind the Richmond-based Dynamo Fencing Club, which will provide fencing equipment and instruction at the Richmond World Festival.

 People of all sizes and ages, starting from four, will be able to try the sport.

According Gantsevich, fencing is a “mind game”.

“It’s an exercise for the mind,” Gantsevich told the Straight in a phone interview Wednesday (September 2).

“If you take a look at chess itself, you have to maneuver the pieces to outlast your opponent with the chess pieces,” he explained. “Here you are the chess piece, and you are the mind.”

And the beauty about the sport, according to Gantsevich, is that there is no weight class: “You can be going in one match with a guy who is six-foot-nine, 250 pounds, or you can be going in the next match with someone who is five-foot-five and 110 pounds. Everyone has their weaknesses. Everyone has their strengths, and every match, every opponent is different.”