After many years in Paris, Paul Pillar made his way to the less full-on lifestyle that is our happy lot on the Côte d’Azur.
Paul is a fencing referee. Although he speaks French fluently, which he had to learn to become an official referee, his voice betrays Australian roots. He was born in London, but grew up in Australia. It was in Australia and at university there where Paul first took up facing, which has been his passion ever since. It is no mean feat to come from a country where the sport of fencing is niche to becoming a referee in France, where fencing is a national sport. Paul has been, and continues to be, active at international and Olympic level as a referee.
Hitherto, what I actually knew about fencing could be put down in one sentence. I have learned a lot! For example, there are three types of sword used in competitions – Épée, foil and sabre. The one that fascinated me was the sabre as this is a derivative of the sword used by the cavalry. In competition the target is the top of the body as if someone was riding a horse! The other two are a lot gentler, not sure that is the right word.
Video via FIE Fencing Channel on YouTube
I have also learned that duels were not fought to the death, rather they were fought until someone suffered an injury no matter how minor (kind of cute) as opposed to pistols at dawn where the idea was to turn and kill the other party (maybe not). An interesting fact is that the person injured in a fencing duel died, not from the injury itself, but through blood poising from the rusty blade!
Happily this is very much a sport these days with a high level of skill and athleticism, after all it is a major Olympic sport. The reach of fencing includes the USA, Japan and Korea, so it is growing in its appeal. In Nice it is possible to watch tournaments for free. In January each year an international competition is held in Monaco.
Useful links – OGC Fencing Club Nice | Monaco Fencing Club
Paul also recommends a book by Ricard Cohen – By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions
PHOTO CREDITS
- Lead image by Nathanaël Desmeules on Unsplash, licenced under he Unsplash License
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