Max is a University of Oregon sophomore and is a member of the UO Fencing Club. He has been fencing since grade school and views fencing as a healthy form of exercise. Max has no intention of taking his fencing to a higher competitive level, he sees fencing as a lifelong hobby.

Kim Walsh: How did you initially get involved with fencing?

Max: Well I actually started fencing when I was very young, I must have been in grade school. Then I didn’t get a chance through middle school and high school, so when I came here and I went looking for it.

K: In what aspect would you describe yourself “living on the edge” when you play this sport?

M: We are not living on the edge. The best metaphor for fencing is dancing for two hours in two tuxedos while your partner stabs you with a stick; or as I like to call it high school senior prom.

K: What is your favorite part about fencing?

M: It is just good exercise. I think of it like fight club, there is a line in it where the narrator says, “Afterward nothing matters” and that is kind of it. Once you have been stabbed in the throat three times in a row, that paper you have due tomorrow really doesn’t matter.

K: What initially was the hardest part about first starting to learn fencing?

M: To not be afraid of being hit. Because it does hurt, you will get bruises all over your body but you just have to learn to not be afraid of it. Particularly since I am shorter than most people, when someone tries to lunge at you and they’re really tall it’s painful and terrifying you just have to stare that down and hold out your sword and stab them right back.

K: What direction do you see your future with fencing heading towards?

M: I have no intention or dreams of doing professional fencing; I have no dreams of going to tournaments. I do this as a form of exercise and a way to socialize.

K: Do you do anything outside of fencing to stay in shape?

M: It’s great exercise; like I said it’s like dancing for two hours while wearing two tuxedos. I don’t do any exercise outside of fencing but before I came here I lived on Mt. Tabor in Portland and my school was over a mile away and I would walk, so that’s a lot of exercise. I live in the Barnhart dorm right now and that’s about a mile from the student recreation center and since I’m constantly coming and going, I’m getting in a few in miles everyday that helps.