Past Glories

It was my sister who put the idea of fencing in my head. I have to thank her for that, because it created an important and memorable chapter in my life. I started practising fencing around 1979 or 1980. I had my first competition in the same year and began representing my school in competitions.

Below is the Gold Medal for Men's Team Foil Event at the 1982 Joint School Fencing Competition. This competition really made our name as formidable foil champions. Because of this championship, our team got first-seed in the Interschool Fencing Competition later that year.

In those days, medals were in the form of a key chain.

The reverse side of the medal showing Tuen Mun Fencing Association as the organizer of the event.

The bronze medal of Men's (Boys') Foil Team Event of 1982-83 Inter-School Fencing Competition. Assistant Coach Edmund Wong of then Jubliee Sports Center in Shatin, NT, Hong Kong named our "lost" as the "Battle of Waterloo." Everyone were expecting our team to capture the gold medal in this event, but in the final round, facing two left-handed fencers that we were unfamiliar, we broke. We managed to keep the third place and earned valuable points for the school in winning the Omega Rose Bowl. There is a trophy that goes with the medals. It is, I believe, still in the trophy display case at school.

Shortly after the "lost," I began learning the techniques of sabre fencing on my own, mainly from reading books on saber fencing. I had a more junior fencing buddy from school as a partner in helping me work out the techniques. After a few months of training on my own, I entered the 1983 Hong Kong Open Men's Individual Junior Saber Event. Lo and behold, I managed to get to the finals and captured the 4th place. Below is the trophy. When I received it from Head Coach of then Juliee Sports Center, Mr. Tom Norcross, the next day, he asked me if I was upset at being the Second Runners Up in the event and thus did not pick up my trophy at the ceremony. I told him that I was not expecting to receive a trophy for being the 4th place and so I left after my final bout was done. After that, Tom had me begun receiving training from a Hong Kong Team saberist.

This is the last medal that I received before leaving Hong Kong. I can no longer remember exactly which competition it was from, but I remember that it was a Men's Individual Foil Event and was a tough competition, and I finished the final round with terrible leg cramps. I was still very young and had quite a temper. I remembered throwing a fit and behaving like a spoiled brat at one point arguing with the president officiating the bout. This is the best gold medal that I ever received. It's actually made by the German fencing gear manufacturer Ullmann. It's big and came with a blue velvet display case. However, the organizer did not make any inscriptions on the back and I have lost the display case when I moved to the U.S.