I would like to think that my sport, fencing, is fairly progressive when it comes to athletes with disabilities. While certain disabilities would not be practical in fencing, there is a wheelchair fencing division.
They hold national tournaments for wheelchair fencing as often as any other division. There is a national championship, though I am not familiar with how it is run, or if it is run at all, on the international level. Wheelchair fencing has been around since at least 1999, when I went to my first national tournament.
The athletes in wheelchair fencing have to have a qualifying disability for the national tournaments, though I have heard of local tournaments in which they allow anyone to participate in order to have a larger group.
For fencing at least, I know that the problem at the national level is not the availability, but the lack of those with qualifying disabilities to participate in the tournaments. One problem is likely the lack of coaches who know how to train for this, the lack of facilities at local levels for training, and other similar problems at the local level.
I don’t know of any famous fencers with disabilities, but then again, I am guessing few people know of any fencers period! As far as my personal experiences, I can remember competing against a few guys who did not have an arm. They competed in the normal competitions and the only accommodation was helping them get on the equipment and hook up to the scoring system. I’ve never participated in wheelchair fencing, but I have watched it and it looks difficult. It is much different from normal fencing, because footwork is such an important part of the fencing I have participated in and I can’t experience fencing without being able to move your feet.
If you watch the video I have linked, you can see that wheelchair fencing is far from stationary. They rock back and forth in the wheelchairs, use their bodies to dodge and are very quick. This video is probably one of the more boring matches I have seen to be honest. The competitions I remember watching involved a lot more rocking in the wheelchairs and sparing back and forth. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn38yRYUE88
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that video. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who know very little about fencing. It is just not a sport I was ever exposed to. However, I do know a little bit about athletes with disabilities. My uncle is a director for the Paralympics. During my undergrad, he came and spoke to my international business class about his time working with the USOC. Many of the athletes are actually soldiers who were disabled or paralyzed while defending our country. It is disappointing how little visibility these athletes receive. One of the articles we read this week paralleled more exposure for the sports to more respect for the athletes. The Paralympics take place the week after the Olympics and the games receive little to no airtime. It is truly amazing to me how these athletes excel at their sport. When watching them compete, it almost makes you forget they are disabled because you are so enthralled with their talent.
Thank you for sharing this video Anthony. I did notice the rocking back and forth but wondered if the chairs were secured to the floor. It looked to me like they were held in place to some extent. I also noticed that the fencer on the right seemed to extend further from his/her wheelchair, and I didn't know if this was allowed. Finally, it looked like both fencers had to keep their non-fencing hand on the chair. It would have been interesting to hear someone explain what was happening and how points were scored. I could not tell who the winner was. Do you know?
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I really liked the video, I actually found myself not only watching the one you posted but the related videos to the side. It is great to see that disabled athletes can fence because I never would have guessed that they could find a way to make that happen. I liked how the video said the sport was developed as a rehabilitation program. Coming from an Athletic Training background, this makes sense to me. I feel that it is very important for all athletes to be able to show their ability equally. I have said this before but i choose the term "differently abled" rather than "disabled. Everyone has abilities, and they should get the opportunity to showcase them.
ReplyDeleteAnthony-WOW! All I can think is the upper body strength these athletes have to have. To keep their torso upright and be able to lunge while fencing shows great strength. I hope the wheelchairs were secured to the floor or else I would think a lot of the fencers would land on the floor. I would think it would be difficult to find someone to know how to train a paraplegic in fencing.
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