By Lorraine Meier

Fencing is often referred to as “physical chess.” Much like chess, the sport requires strategic thinking, and the fencer is responsible for his or her success.

It is a sport for all ages and can be especially impactful for high school students. It is one that is not only challenging, but one that can begin as early as 8 years old and be continued throughout life.

Susie Smith has been coaching youth fencing for 35 years.

“Fencing is an excellent extracurricular sport that requires discipline, focus and dedication,” she said. “It requires skills that are attractive to colleges and will help guide students throughout their lives.”

Students from both the Sunset and the Richmond districts competed in a fencing championship on May 3 at University High School in Pacific Heights. The event was sponsored by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the governing body for high school sports. All teams from both public and private schools in San Francisco are invited to the All-City CIF championship. Each athlete must have competed in one bout.

Lowell High School student Bailey Hughes placed third in the girls’ individual championship and Trusten Luk and Justin Lui tied for third in the boys’ individual championship.

Representing University High School, Andrew Ng, boys fencing team captain, ushered Sunset residents Rion Park and William Liu, and Richmond resident David Chen, to an undefeated season winning back-to-back overall CIF league championships. The individual championship was won by 15-year-old Rion Park.

Park started fencing when he was 11 years old. Three months after he started, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and he had to start training online.

“Eventually things started to go back to normal, and I started fencing competitively around 12,” Park said.

Currently, Park trains at the Massialas Foundation (M-Team) that was founded by three-time Olympian Greg Massialas. He practices a total of eight hours a week.

“I try to train outside on my own techniques, both physical and mental,” he said. “I try to make sure my footwork and my bladework are always in tune so that I can execute them at practice well. Also, I like to practice the advice I get from my coaches so I can get better and incorporate it into my own fencing.

“Aside from technique, I have been trying some mental tactics since competing can be stressful,” Park added. “Things like meditation and visualization are mental techniques that I’m currently working on so that my mind can stay calm in pressure situations.”

Park said he always enjoyed the strategy elements of the sport.

“Each opponent has their own set of strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “Trying to figure them out is like a puzzle, and some are harder to solve than others. Also, just the feeling of competition is what drew me into the sport. Especially since it’s an individual sport, the spotlight is on you, and you are the one always in the driver’s seat, which is different from other sports I have previously participated in.”

It is still a few years off, but Park said his goal in fencing is to get recruited to fence in college.

“I haven’t really thought too much about what specific college I want to attend,” he said. “However, I do understand how competitive it is to be recruited since typically there’s only one spot available and not all colleges have a fencing program.”

Park expressed his passion and appreciation for fencing.

“Even if I don’t get recruited, fencing has given me a lot, and I want to give back to the sport,” he said. “I want to still be a part of the fencing community. I want to give back by continuously mentoring and helping out upcoming fencers. Also, I am a certified referee, and I help out with refereeing at tournaments.”

Smith believes with his strength of character, dedication and passion, Park could go on to the Olympics.

“I think Rion Park will be the third athlete to win the individual championship four years in a row. Heather Logas of Lowell High School was the first to accomplish this feat from 1992-1995. Graduate and current math teacher at Lowell, Alex Cheng, was the second to accomplish this feat 2009-2012.”

The overall CIF championship is decided by the combined points of both the boys’ and girls’ teams during the season as well as the CIF championship event. This year, University High edged out Lowell High School by two points.

Learn more about the CIF at cifsf.org.