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Post by schlager7 on Sept 20, 2009 9:37:15 GMT -6
From Arizona Channel 12.
Proboards does not accept html within posts, so I could not embed the video in this post. However, I have embedded it in the header on the main page of the "Wheelchair Fencing" board.=========================================== Fencing in a wheelchair Fencers with disabilities discover surprising advantageby Bert Sass Special Projects Producer Sept. 18, 2009 08:23 PM 12 News Wheelchair fencing has been recognized as a sport for more than 50 years. But a Valley organization is trying something different: allowing wheelchair fencers to face off against able-bodied competitors. The regular fencer sits in a chair with legs strapped down. That chair and the opponent’s wheelchair are held in place by adjustible metal brackets, so the fencers are just within striking distance of eachother. Able-bodied fencers are no longer able to use their legs for attack or retreat. Ewan Douglas, involved in a fencing club in Mesa, says “it makes you think in a different way, so it changes your tactics.” He adds, “Your reaction time is faster. Your parries are better. Your point control is much better.” Wheelchair fencer Sonya Perduta believes that fencing in a chair that doesn’t move demands “more agility and speed and tactical strategies.” In matches with Sonya, regular fencer Glynis Thompson, 13, says she learned to do more movement of her upper body, leaning to make an attack or avoid an opponent’s thrust. Douglas, Perduta and Thompson are all involved with the Grand Canyon State Fencing Foundation.
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