It was the final round of the men’s team sabre at the 2012 London Olympics. The Korean team, comprised of Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jung-hwan, Oh Eun-seok, and Won Woo-young, defeated Team Romania 45 to 26 to win Korea’s second gold medal in fencing at the London Olympics.

Their gold medal was the first team gold won by Korean fencers and the country’s 100th gold medal earned in all the Summer and Winter Olympic Games combined.

In women’s sabre Kim Ji-yeon, an Olympic rookie, fought her way to garner the first gold medal in fencing for not only Korea, but for Asia. Choi Byung-chul grabbed bronze in men’s foil despite injuries, and women’s epee team seized Korea’s first silver, giving Korea two gold medals, one silver, and three bronze medals in the fencing event alone and putting Korea behind only Italy in medal count. Such stunning performances came as a pleasant surprise to many Koreans, because there are not that many fencers in Korea and the sport itself is not very well-known among ordinary Koreans. However, the Korean athletes demonstrated to the world that they have the skills to be among the very best. Here’s KBS fencing commentator Oh Kyung-seok.

Korean fencing is among the world’s best. The three strongest fencing nations are Italy, Russia, and France, although France was subpar this year. It hasn’t been publicized that much in Korea, but Korean fencers have won a number of titles in international competitions. Korean fencers’ skills are better known overseas. The Korean fencing team’s performance at the London Olympic Games was not a fluke. They owned the game at the Olympics this year.

Blades flashing around like lightning! Quick and intricate steps! Sudden blinding attacks! Korean fencers have captivated the audience in London and won a new legion of fans back home. Even before the Olympics was over Koreans were completely taken by fencing and its popularity has not waned one bit.

Mr. Yoon Nam-jin was a coach for the Korean fencing team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and currently runs a fencing club in southern Seoul. He is amazed by the recent fencing boom in Korea.

The difference in people’s interest in fencing before and after the Olympics is amazing. Fencing wasn’t that popular before, but now it’s a hot sport. A lot of people want to learn it and visitors to my fencing homepage have increased considerably. Before the Olympics I had about 60 or 70 visitors per day, but when the Korean team won medals I got 1,400 hits a day. I still get about 200 to 300 hits daily, indicating that people are still very much interested in the sport. Membership at my fencing center also rose, especially elementary students. Many middle or high school students want to competitive fencers. They watched the Olympics and realized how dynamic and awesome fencing was.

Fencing is still not a sport for the masses. There are not enough facilities with fencing pistes or training programs. But demands are rising. Fencing centers are seeing their memberships jump significantly since the Olympics. Here’s Yoo Ji-hyuk, a ninth grader who came all the way from Ansan to learn fencing.

I came from Ansan. I saw Jung Jin-sun compete in the epee competition this summer. It was awesome and exciting to see him take lightning-fast steps and stab an opponent in milliseconds. My dream is to become a competitive fencer. It’s so fun. I’m going to work hard to become a great fencer.

Parents, who couldn’t tell the difference between epee and sabre, have become hearty supporters of their children’s dreams.

My daughter used to play golf, but she was growing tired of it and taking some time off. But then she suddenly decided to take up fencing after watching the Olympic Games. She is very athletic, so I am fully behind her. We travel all the way from Yongin in Gyeonggi Province to here. We were not that familiar with fencing, but we found it really interesting and fun while watching the games in London. I fully support my daughter and the instructor said she certainly is talented. Being a tenth grader, she may have started a little later than usual, but she’s doing her best.

This mother vows to give her full support, even if her daughter is a late starter. The girl shows total concentration as she gets ready to attack.

I didn’t know much about fencing before, but I got very interested in it after watching Korean fencer Choi Byung-chul compete in the Olympics. You have to use both your brain and your body, which is what makes the sport so fun. It’s very demanding and hard on my legs, but I can tell that I’m growing stronger and more agile. Fencing makes me more competitive and focused. I’m trying to become a competitive fencer. I’ve been training for only a month, but I plan to enter a competition, perhaps an amateur competition in October. I’m getting myself ready for it now.

The origin of fencing is traced back to France. The history of fencing is just as long as that of swords. But the first recorded fencing club in Korea was the Goryeo Fencing Club formed by Kim Chang-hwan in 1946. Fencing was adopted as an official event at the 43rd National Sports Competitions in 1962, but has failed to win broad recognition. There have been only some 1,500 fencers in 186 teams, from middle and high schools, colleges, and corporations. Since the talent pool was so small, Korea had made little impression in international competitions. Prior to the London Olympic Games, Korea had won only three Olympic medals in fencing – a gold medal in men’s individual foil by Kim Yeong-ho and a bronze in men’s individual epee by Lee Sang-ki at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and a silver medal in women’s individual foil by Nam Hyun-hee at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But things were about to change drastically at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Korean fencers’ biggest strength was their quick steps. They are not as tall as their European opponents, who often have a longer reach by more than ten centimeters. The only way to beat them is to move quicker. So, Korean fencers worked on their footwork to make their steps lighter and faster, and finally overcame their physical weakness. Here’s KBS fencing commentator Oh Kyung-seok again.

Korean fencers have superb focus, agility, and speed. Our opponents may have started fencing earlier, but they don’t train as much as Korean fencers. They can’t move as quickly as we can. Korean fencers use their quick steps to control the distance between them and the opponents, which put them where they are now. It is important to close the distance when playing against a tall opponent and stay far apart against a short opponent. One way to control the distance is to have fast and intricate footwork and Korean fencers can do that better than anyone else.

Although young students look to become competitive fencers, most adults take up fencing as a hobby. Office workers say fencing is a perfect way to release stress at work.

I wanted to learn fencing for a long time. I started after finding out there was a fencing center nearby. I fence for fun and to get into shape. Playing against another player fires up my competitive spirit and helps me de-stress. I plan on forming a fencing club within my company, and there are already a lot of applicants.

“En garde” means to prepare, “marche” to advance, and “fente” to lunge. To Koreans these fencing terms are alien and fencing rules hard to understand. Yet children who have wielded the blades go wild about the sport.

- It was new and fun to try fencing. I only saw it played in the Olympics.
- I thought fencing was easy, but it’s not. I realized how hard the athletes trained for this Olympic Games.
- I’ve been learning for about five months. My dad suggested fencing and I’m glad he did. It’s fun to attack with the blade, and I’m excited that Korea won many fencing medals. I’m thinking about entering competitions.

Another appeal of fencing is that it’s a brain game. Here’s tenth grader Kim Ji-sol to talk about it.

It’s been about a year since I started fencing. I think my personality is a perfect fit for this sport, which requires focus and quick attack. Its appeal is that I have to use my head to design strategies and carry out attacks. It sure is fun to analyze other players. I realize that my concentration is better, particularly when I have to study at school.

This is why fencing is used as therapy for adolescents with attention deficit problems. Here’s former fencing coach and fencing center director Yoon Nam-jin.

Fencing is great for enhancing children’s concentration. Students who had trouble paying attention find their ability to focus increase significantly after a year of training. Fencing is a brain game. It requires quick thinking. It also demands much energy, both psychologically and physically. A player competes for three minutes per round and has to give total concentration for all of those three minutes. It’s really difficult for a beginner to do that, since focusing that hard for so long expends so much energy. But the sport gives so much in return, a healthy body and a sound spirit.

Sweat covers the whole body after a bout, but a player always feels exhilarated and refreshed at the end. Another middle school student has visited the center to talk to Yoon Nam-jin about training to be a competitive fencer.

The Korean fencers at the London Olympics showed the world that fencing is no longer a European sport. Nimble footwork, effective strategy, and relentless training brought the Korean athletes the medals they so richly deserve. Now fencing is one of the most popular sports in Korea, with young students training to become world-class fencers and office workers practicing to get fit and relieve stress. We hope to see this nationwide passion for the sport lead to more medals and worldwide recognition for Korean fencers at the next summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.