Experience

Fencing is a very uncommon and newly introduced olympic sport in Bangladesh.

Playing Fencing beyond the Borders

Sajid Iqbal
Photos: Sajid Iqbal

Fencing is a very uncommon and newly introduced Olympic sport in Bangladesh. It is the safest individual sword fighting sport, and it is very popular in European countries. General Secretary of Bangladesh Fencing Association, Major Qamrul Islam (retd) and President Lt Gen ATM Zahirul Alam took the initiative back in 2007 to introduce this sport for the first time in Bangladesh. The Ansar and Village Defence Police Club has started their journey from 2008 with more than 40 fencers. Currently there are five clubs and more than hundred trainee fencers and a well trained National team of men and women of 24 fencers.

The 1st Asian U-23 Fencing Championship took place in Manila, Philippines from June 2 to June 9, 2012. It was organised by the Asian Fencing Confederation, Philippines Fencing Association and Philippines Sports Commission. More than two hundred and fifty fencers from 25 Asian countries (Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Korea etc) participated in this tournament. Individual men's and women's events were held from June 2-5, 2012 and team events from June 6-9, 2012.

I have been playing in the national team of Bangladesh from the very beginning in 2008, when Bangladesh Fencing Association had just started its journey. After becoming the champion in the 1st National tournament back in 2008 and runner-up in the 1st South Asian Fencing Championship-2010, in Chennai, I got the opportunity to participate in the 1st U-23 Asian Fencing Championship-2012, Manila, Philippines. I felt grateful that I was selected because it was a great opportunity to meet so many other talented fencers from all over Asia. I felt proud and honoured to represent my country at an international event. Asian Fencing Confederation and Bangladesh Fencing Association have sponsored my participation for this tournament.

Sajid Iqbal representing Bangladesh at the international Fencing competition.

I played against Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Saudi Arabia and China and obtained 10 scores whereas I needed 15 to go to the next round. It was not easy to win against China and Korea, who had very strong teams. Unfortunately I did not win, but I have gathered many experiences from the tournament that will stay with me for many days to come.

Bangladesh Fencing Team has participated in various international tournaments and also achieved several good results. Our Association is trying its best to improve the skills of the players as well as to spread this sport all over the country with very limited budget. This has been possible only because of the dedication and contribution of the players and the members.

(For more information and to support the Bangladesh Fencing Team, contact Sajid Iqbal at sajid.env@gmail.com)

DID YOU KNOW?

M C Escher

Graphic Artist specialising in drawing and printmaking, Maurits Cornelis Escher, nicknamed "Mauk", was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on 17 June, 1898 (today would have been his 114th birthday) and died on 27 March, 1972 (aged 73). He was born in a house that forms part of the Princessehof Ceramics Museum today. He was the youngest son of civil engineer, George Arnold Escher and his second wife, Sara Gleichman. In 1903, the family moved to Arnhem, where he attended primary school and secondary school until 1918. He was a sickly child, and was placed in a special school at the age of seven and failed the second grade. Though he excelled at drawing, his grades were generally poor. He also took carpentry and piano lessons until he was thirteen years old. In 1919, Escher attended the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts. He briefly studied architecture, but he failed a number of subjects (partly due to a persistent skin infection) and switched to decorative arts. Here he studied under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, with whom he remained friends for years. In 1922 Escher left the school, having gained experience in drawing and making woodcuts. In 1922, an important year of his life, Escher traveled through Italy and Spain. He was impressed by the Italian countryside and by the Alhambra, a fourteenth-century Moorish castle in Granada, Spain. The intricate decorative designs at Alhambra, which were based on mathematical formulas and feature interlocking repetitive patterns sculpted into the stone walls and ceilings, were a powerful influence on Escher's works. He came back to Italy regularly in the following years. Escher's first print of an impossible reality was Still Life and Street, 1937. His artistic expression was created from images in his mind, rather than directly from observations and travels to other countries.

Information Source: Internet.

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