Within the confines of the Touche Fencing Club, duellists – armed with rapiers – have a go at each other as they strike, parry and dodge.
For most Malaysians, fencing is often viewed as a foreign pastime favoured by aristocrats. This misconception is exactly what fencing coach Mok Chek Wlong hopes to dispel.
And he would know all about fencing, given that he has about five decades’ worth of experience practising his bladework.
In fact, Mok has represented Malaysia on the international stage multiple times – and his first instructor was none other than Ronnie Ignatius Theseira, a Malaysian Olympian!
When met with FMT Lifestyle at Touche recently, Mok was coaching students with his son, Andrew, himself a professional fencer and instructor.
Mok recalled that he had been studying at St David’s High School in Melaka when Theseira came around to start a fencing club there.
“I was a young boy then, who had watched too much ‘Zorro’ and was very excited,” he said with a laugh, adding that he enrolled almost immediately.
As most male students back then would’ve played football or badminton, fencing was a novel sport to the then 13-year-old.
Now 61, he still loves the sport as much as he did then. “By the time I was 15, I was already a Malaysian champion, having beaten all the big boys,” he said proudly.
In 1989, Mok would represent Malaysia in the SEA Games, a year that saw substantial success for the national team: “We won one gold, two silvers and five bronzes. That was a very good result.”
Three years later, Mok would establish the Touche Fencing Club – and with good reason for doing so. “I felt I had crossed swords with so many people that I just wanted more challenges. There was not enough challenge in Malaysia,” he quipped.
What better way to churn out more challengers than to train them himself? Thus, Mok went from school to school recruiting students to be the next fencing generation.
“When I first started, not a lot of people had knowledge about fencing,” he recalled. “It’s not that difficult to learn; in fact, it’s very easy!”
The real limitation faced by the sport is that it largely remains inaccessible. According to him, venues for the sport are not as numerous as football fields or badminton courts.
So, how many people has he taught over the years? “Thousands.” Many of them have gone on to become professional fencers themselves.
In fact, Mok has trained students as young as five and as old as 69. “She’s a lawyer,” he said, referring to the latter candidate. “She’s so used to fighting with words, now she wants to fight with a sword!”
That said, he is happy to introduce the sport to anyone who walks in, and even holds trial classes at Touche. It’s important, after all, to have the guidance of an experienced hand.
Mok also wishes to assure nervous first-timers that despite the presence of swords, the sport is safe. In all his time running his fencing club, he has never seen a case of serious injury among his students.
In addition to protective gear and helmets, Mok gave assurance that broken swords are blunt and incapable of hurting anyone – assuming you don’t go poking at unprotected eyes.
Finally, asked what it takes to become a fencer, he noted that fencing is a sport with “many things going on”. As such, a good fencer has to be physically fit and mentally sharp.
After all, being able to strike fast is one thing, being able to tell what your opponent is thinking is another.
“A good fencer should adopt both offensive and defensive styles,” Mok concluded. “You can never know the strength of your opponent at first.”
Touche Fencing Club
Lot L2-10, 2nd Floor,
Jaya Shopping Centre,
Jalan Professor Khoo Kay Kim,
Section 14, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Training hours:
- 5.30pm-9.30pm (weekdays)
- 10am-6pm (Saturdays)
- 10am-5pm (Sunday)
- Closed on Mondays
For more information, check out Touche Fencing Club’s website and Instagram profile, or contact 019-339 8491 / 012-905 8464.