En garde! New fencing club open to students, faculty and staff
 “I was in a tournament on Saturday and got it right in the throat,” said Mark Cotter, Pellissippi State’s fencing guru.
“He didn’t hurt me, but I laughed and thought, ‘Whoops! That would have killed me!’ I didn’t let him do that again!”
Cotter is director of TRiO Student Support Services, but he also has an alter ego that dresses in white and wields sabers, epees and foils.
As faculty sponsor of the College’s newly formed Fencing Club, he teaches students, as well as faculty and staff, proper stance, footwork and strategy. Cotter is president of the Smoky Mountain Fencing Club and has been involved in the sport for about five years.
Every Wednesday, club members practice, weapons flickering in the light of the Student Recreation Center. Cotter is teaching participants how and where to hit and how to win a match. Every jab is scored by sensors. A little electronic box will determine the winner of the three-minute bouts.
“When you make a proper hit, the scoring box makes a sound,” Cotter said.
Fencing is a mental challenge, he says.
“It’s called ‘physical chess.’ There’s a lot of strategy involved. You try to direct your opponent into certain moves and distances so you can try your offensive moves on them. I like to think of it as something you can do that’s Zen-like,” he said, “something you can do without thinking … become totally immersed in.”
David Townsend, a 28-year-old Video Production Technology major, is club president.
“You have to always be three steps ahead of the other fencer. You have to anticipate what they will do, how you will defend their move and how you will attack back. You also have the challenge of improving your game every time you fence.”
Destiny Miller, an 18-year-old Paralegal Studies major, was practicing her footwork at a recent club meeting.
“I’d always been interested in fencing as a kid,” she said. “You see it in pirate and samurai movies. I’ve seen it on TV, and I thought it was really cool.
“So far I like it a lot. Last week we practiced with the foil. Everyone had a sword. We were working on our footwork and sword movements. Today, we’re going to do some pairing up, since we just got all our equipment.
Cotter says he encourages the club members, as well as community members, to visit the Smoky Mountain Fencing Club, located on Downtown West Boulevard. Visitors can get a lesson for free at the Academy Ballroom 4-6 p.m. on Sundays.
He especially likes to encourage students to do something they normally wouldn’t do.
“Learning new things is contagious,” he said. “Once students try something different, they open their eyes to new possibilities in life and in the classroom.”
Reflecting on the last tournament and the hit to the neck, Cotter is philosophical and practical at the same time.
“The opponent and I went 15-12, but I don’t feel too badly, since he was a coach.”
Then, in a more ominous tone, he added, “I’ll see him again this weekend at practice.”
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