Grassroots Games 2016: Wheelchair Fencing
The Paralympics is under way in Brazil, and the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) is focusing on the sports that you will see, hear or read about over the next two weeks.
With 22 different disciplines on show in Rio 2016, EFDS takes a look at grassroots participation back here in Britain.
Today it’s Wheelchair Fencing, with Rebecca from Cornwall telling us about adrenaline rushes and gaining confidence.
People think that wheelchair fencing is a bit like jousting.
That you wheel up and down attacking your opponent with a sword. It’s not like that at all. You sit in a specially made fencing wheelchair which is clamped into a fencing frame.
Wheelchair fencing is great fun and a great place to make friends.
My advice is: try it! Find a fencing club that can accommodate disabled people and go along. You won't need any equipment of your own at this stage as the club should provide it.
Non-disabled fencers love sparring with wheelchair fencers.
Not only is it different but it's great training for their hand/eye co-ordination as it's so fast. You'll never be short of a sparring partner.
Fencing has given me confidence, fitness, a determination and is a distraction from pain.
I may be feeling awful before I get onto piste (the fencing area), but as soon as I'm sitting in my wheelchair waiting to start I am distracted from any pain I might be feeling. It's such an adrenaline rush.
