Masuk Free Press

Masuk offers a variety of sports for students to partake in. From the basketball court to the baseball diamond, there really is a healthy variety of athletic programs for students to choose from. However, all the sports available at Masuk are not the only sports in the world – many are not available for one reason or another, and one of these sports just so happens to be fencing. 

Though fencing is not offered at Masuk as a school sport, one junior, Joaquin Dao-Crespo, is very involved in the world of fencing outside of the halls of Masuk. Travelling nationally, Dao-Crespo competes in a variety of fencing competitions, including competitions in Ohio and Wisconsin, and most recently in Missouri. 

“I think the biggest difference [between playing a sport independently and playing it with a school] is that the pressure to succeed is solely on you. You’re 100% responsible for every win or loss.” said Dao-Crespo. 

Of course, his interest in the sport did not suddenly emerge one day. “I got into fencing because COVID cancelled the rec basketball season, and my parents really wanted me to do a sport,” he said. “I also really liked Silver Chariot from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure at the time.” 

Just like any other sport, fencing does have a season. It lasts from the end of September all the way to July, when the summer national tournaments occur. There are also three different kinds of fencing; foil, epee, and sabre, with separate rules and blade types. Dao-Crespo is a foil fencer, and he drew some comparisons to other sports. 

“I’m not sure if I’m really qualified enough to speak on the differences fencing has from sports like basketball, but I do know that fencing is more similar to striking sports like boxing. In foil, you mostly rely on feints, distance, and footwork to score touches.” said Dao-Crespo. 

Something that many athletes do across all sports is watch game film. Though it can be to get an advantage on what an opponent may do or to hone their own skills, for Dao-Crespo, it’s the latter. 

“I don’t really watch film on my opponents because you don’t find out who you’re fencing at a tournament until, like, 30 minutes before it starts. The only film I really watch is my own in order to see my mistakes from an outsider’s point of view and learn what I need to focus on during practice.” Dao-Crespo said. 

Another commonality of sports is practice and injuries, and fencing is no different. “A regular fencing practice is around 10 minutes of warmups and dynamic stretches, 30 minutes of group footwork, and an hour of actual training.” Dao-Crespo said. “Some common injuries I’ve seen are tendonitis and pulling your hamstring, but fencing isn’t a sport that causes many injuries.”

Dao-Crespo also has his own method for tournament preparation. “For tournaments, I like to prepare by eating a light breakfast, drinking some type of electrolyte mix, and listening to music that I like. At an actual tournament, I like to show up an hour early to warm up and run some drills, as well as a few practice bouts. 

Ultimately, Dao-Crespo also recommends fencing to anyone who is interested. “I would definitely recommend fencing to anyone that’s interested in it.” he said. “The only thing I’d really warn about is that it’s definitely not the cheapest sport.” 

However, an opportunity came up for Dao-Crespo during the past weeks. “My coach told me that I could individually compete in a state fencing competition, under the school, and he told me it would be a good experience. All I had to do was reach out to the athletic director.” he said. 

Dao-Crespo competed in the Connecticut High School Fencing Association’s Championships in March, placing third in his category as a foil fencer. “I really enjoyed it. It was pretty challenging, but getting to the podium was super fun.” he said. “Placing third while representing Masuk felt great and I was very happy that I could make a name for myself at the tournament, seeing as I didn’t have a team or anything.” 

The experience was overall extremely enjoyable for Dao-Crespo, who learned a lot from competing at a state level tournament. “I learned a lot, how to better deal with pressure and stress from competing there.” he said. “If anything, I would hope that my performance inspires more people to take up fencing, because I truly love the sport from the bottom of my heart.” 

As Dao-Crespo moves forward with his fencing career, the experience he had in this tournament and many before will certainly continue to enhance his craft and demonstrates that success is not only to be had within Masuk, but outside of it too. Dao-Crespo will compete in another tournament in Portland, Oregon later this year.