Putting students to the sword

Students can now engage in deception and assault for degreecredit — the wellness department has put fencing back intothe curriculum after six years without an instructor.

SMU junior soccer player Amanda Clark is enrolled in the classthis semester and says it’s fun and interesting.

“There aren’t many places where you can play withswords,” Clark said.

Professor Adrian Colcsica, a former member of the Romaniannational fencing team, will be teaching SMU students thefundamentals of the sport, such as weapon techniques and footworkdrills. Colcsica, who graduated with a fencing master’s inFrance and has competed for 30 years, believes that fencing has theability to become more popular at SMU and throughout America.

“I really like working with American competitors becausethey have a lot of potential,” Colcsica said. He also teachesfencing classes at St. Alban’s School and St. Marks School inthe Dallas area.

Wellness chairman Peter Gifford is excited about the fencingclass and thinks students will like the class because it isdifferent.

“This class section filled up almost immediately,”Gifford said.

Clark said that it is a physically demanding class that youcan’t coast through. Two in-class competitions have alreadytaken place and additional matches are scheduled for later in thesemester.

The university has been involved in fencing for over 30 years.The institution supports a fencing club, but it hasn’tcompeted in a tournament since February 1998.

Any student can compete on the club team, but unlike theWellness II class, degree credit is not given.

Officials hope to increase interest in the program with therebirth of the wellness class.

The class meets from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.Students interested in enrolling in the class next semester cansign up for it on Access once registration begins in the comingweek.