IT'S the cut and thrust of the world of fencing in this week s Backtrack, as Mike Amos meets up with a former Hungarian Olympic coach now passing on his knowledge to the people of the North-East.

A GILT trip down the years, the honours boards in the sports hall at Durham School echo with derring deeds and victors ludorum, sundry Westons and Roseberrys chief among the star players.

The sports hall itself echoes to cut and thrust, to foil (again) and to sabre, tooth and nail; to fencing.

It is also very cold, incorrigibly recalling the old joke about Geordie asking his mate to name a card game.

"Ice hockey," says his mate.

"Ice hockey's not a card game," says Geordie.

"Why aye it is," says his mate.

"It's the cardest game aa knaa."

This lot have long warmed to the task, not Durham scholars but members of Laszlo's Fencing, an unequivocal sporting success story.

There's Beth Davidson from Darlington, reigning British and Commonwealth team gold medallist, Chris Farren from Spennymoor, British sabre champion and current number one, Alex Craig from Hartlepool, national under 10 and NorthEast under 12 champion . . . bright articulate, confident to a point.

Where've they been? Why've we not hitherto heard of them, much less crossed swords? "We do send things out to the press," says Beth,"it's just that they don t'very often seem to get in. I suppose we can't all be Alan Shearer."

There too is Harry Pearson, award winning author of the Far Corner . . . the best football book ever written . . . and spirited ghost behind Andy Gray's new autobiography, called Gray Matters at the subject's suggestion.

"It s a very hard sport to be good at and quite a hard on 'to be useless at," says Harry, who took to fencing in an attempt to lose weight and now resembles a 6ft 5in spelk.

"I just didn't fancy five-a-side," he adds."All those old men chasing round and giving each other nicknames, thinking that that makes them footballers."

Other familiar names have been fencers, too. Winston Churchill was British public schools champion in the 1890s, Dr Livingstone discovered fencing before exploring further afield, Oswald Mosley is said to have qualified for the British team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics but, outvoted on the propriety of giving the Nazi salute, took his bat back home.

The British Fencing website has more history, an alternative view offered on www. fencingsucks. com . . . American, inevitably . . . which even has a fencers song to the tune of Monty Python's number about lumberjacks:

text to go hereHe's a fencer and he's OK

text to go hereHe feigns all night and deceives all day.

Laszlo Jakab . . . formerly a Hungarian Olympic coach, formally Professor Jakab . . . was invited to come to Britain in 1996, lives in the former Co Durham pit village of Esh Winning ("lovely place, a completely different world up there"), runs Laszlo's Fencing on a non-profit making basis and also coaches . . . a fencing contractor sans nails . . . at the centre of excellence at nearby Maiden Castle sports centre.

Maiden Castle also hosts next month's Five Nations championship, Laszio's lads (and lasses) represented in every squad and comprising the entire Northern Ireland team, thus lending new meaning to duel nationality.

"They asked me if I wanted to join because I have an Irish uncle, but I didn't'think I had much chance of a team gold with Northern Ireland," says Beth, a 35-year-old digital artist. Big Jack would be proud of them.

She first picked up a sword nine years ago, has been national champion for the last four, is moving into management and has become a veritable musketeer for the sport.

It used to be nicknamed physical chess, says Beth . . . petite, personable, perpetually in motion . . . and believes'the metaphor worth developing.

"I used to be a squash player and that was very much one to one, but this is much more mentally demanding than any sport I've ever done. I love trying to outwit people.

"Mentally 35 is a great age for fencing, physically it s a day to day struggle, but when the physical side goes down, the mental side kicks in.

"It's total concentration. Your opponent can be a perfect physical specimen but if he isn't mentally prepared for it, he can lost to a very basic person."

Chris Farren, a 40-year-old pharmaceutical chemist, agrees.

I m nowhere near as fit as most fencers are, but I m a very tactical fencer. I fence people a lot younger and fitter."

He won the British title last July and in the same month both topped the rankings and became a father for the first time."It was quite an exciting summer," says Chris.

They re a thoroughly mixed bunch, a masked ball, anxious to dispel any notion that fencing is elitist . . . Laszlo runs after school classes at Esh Wining juniors.

They re well protected, plugged into the mains and anxious to promote their own disciplines.

Foilists, it's said,'talk tactics; epeeists talk about their equipment and sabreurs talk about themselves. Beth Davidson fights with a sabre. "It s nonsense, of course," she says.

In common,they talk about the cost . . .the seniors not just ineligible for national funding but obliged even to pay their own competitive travel fees and entry costs. Few want to plough into sword shares.

Chris Farren has recently competed in New York and all over Europe and reckons his wife very understanding; Beth Davidson has cut back on international competition because the £8,000 which annually it costs her is countermanding her credit card.

"We need to train more than two or three nights a week, but we can't do any more. On the world stage we're against teams whotrain six times a week and the Chinese who train six hours six times a week. We need to develop the youngsters; if I was in charge, I wouldn't fund me, either."

She was miffed, nonetheless, when a local health club refused her . . . a Commonwealth gold medallist . . . free membership. "All those Porsches in the car park; they didn't want proper athletes."

Alex Craig took to fencing at six when, because there was no one to baby sit, she was taken along to watch her brother. Now . . ."I liketo be active, I'm very boring" . . . she's aiming at the Olympics.

"I'd seen lots of films with sword fighting in," she says."It isn't really like that at all."

Harry Pearson, humping his gear back to the railway station and thence homeward to Hexham, fenced at the Friends School in Great Ayton, returned to it 30 years later, says he'd be happy just to win a contest. "It s a wonderful sport; I've never felt better for years."

Others will be there until 10pm, when the School's finally out. As that feller in Hamlet observed, a hit, a palpable hit.

* Laszlo's Fencing meets in Durham School sports hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.15 pm, visitors and beginners welcome. Details on www.laszlos-fencing.org

Backtrack Briefs....

MARTIN Burleigh is alive and - well - thriving. Appeals in Tuesday s column for sightings of the former Newcastle United, Darlington and Hartlepool goalkeeper produced several: he remains hard to miss.

I should think he must be 18 stone but, as he always did, he wears it very well. He s just a naturally big guy" says one spy.

Still a painter and decorator in the Ferryhill area, Martin - 54 last week - can also be found most Friday nights lending his weight to the karaoke in the Manor House Hotel.

His Blueberry Hill is terrific, reports another reader - but that was Fats Domino, was it not?

THE question a couple of weeks back about the only English team unbeaten at home in European competition - allegedly Sunderland, all of twice - brings a remarkable reappraisal from David Blake in Durham.

David Blake, an Ipswich Town fan exiled to Durham, points out that his lads have played more than 30Z European games at Portman Road and have yet to lose one.

In the very first, the preliminary round of the 1962-63 European Cup, they beat Floriana of Malta 10-0 - Ray Crawford hitting five - which remains the club s record victory.

In the next round, the beat the mighty AC Milan 2-1 - but, sadly, lost on aggregate.

ONCE or twice banished for breaking the Queensbury Rules (administrative edition), our old friend Paul Hodgson is back in favour with the ABA hierarchy - appointed to the organising committee for the national Golden Gloves championships at Gateshead Leisure Centre on March 26/27.

It's because he can talk under water and sell sand to the Arabs," says North-East divisional secretary Ron Harvey.

Me and Ron are the Barnum and Bailey of amateur boxing," says Hodgy, secretary of Spennymoor Boxing Academy.

It's the first time the Golden Gloves, formerly the schools championships, have been held in the region. Last year we had about ten finalists, this year we re equally confident," says Ron.

They won't have so far to travel." Gateshead also hopes to host a televised England international in September.

Back with the Golden Glove affair, committee members were asked to suggest VIP guests. Someone proposed Sir Bobby, others Billy Hardy or Glenn McCrory. Hodgy's suggestion of Mad Frankie Fraser, twice a guest at Spennymoor s annual presentation, went down like a pole axed heavyweight.

I don't think he'll be coming," he says.

And finally...

THE correct name of West Auckland's "World Cup" (Backtrack, February 8) is, of course, the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy.

Martin Birtle in Billingham today points out that by coming on as a second half substitute in England's bore draw on Wednesday, Middlesbrough s Stewart Downing became the 16th player presently on Boro's books to win full international honours.

Readers are invited to name the other 15, nationalities a bonus.

A country diary on Tuesday.

Published: 11/02/2005