Jacksonville Fencing Club hosts 10th annual Duel Til You Drop tournament.
Dagger Fencing uses two weapons and allows competitors to move around freely, not attached to a tether. First ever tournament held in Jacksonville.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Fencing Club hosted the "Duel Til You Drop Tournament", an event which has grown very popular over the last ten years.
Fencers came from all over the southeast to participate, from New Orleans to North Carolina.
"We started this 10 years ago with 25 fencers, now we have 225," said the club's coach, Raul Toro.
Fencing is one of only four sports to be in every Olympics since 1896.
It is growing in popularity because it offers a high degree of exercise, both physical and mental.
Princess Rashid described the mental and physical workout fencers endure.
"It's like physical chess and ballet mixed together," said Rashid. "You really get to be aggressive and show sportsmanship. It is a real mental game. You're exerting yourself mentally, but also physically. It's an awesome workout"
For the first time ever, there is dagger fencing where the competitors use two weapons. They use an epee, a longer weapon, and a shorter dagger.
New technology helped develop a shorter weapon that was safe.
Scoring is done by wireless equipment that allows fencers not to be attached to a tether.
They can move around a square pist in any direction they want .
Organizers hope it can soon be a part of the Olympics.
"We hope one day dagger fencing will be the first Olympic sport to be non-gender specific, where women and men can compete equally," said David Falcon of the Dagger Fencing Association.
For more information about fencing you can contact the Jacksonville Fencing Club at 904-579-6858.
First Coast News
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