Behind the mask: Joy in persistence

 

By Amy Zeng

 

It was a Friday night, Ho Ka U was preparing for her routine fencing training in the Macao East Asian Games Dome, while her classmates were hanging out for fun. She double-checked her equipment, fastened shoelaces, and then entered the training room.

Ho, one of the key players in Macao women’s foil team, is a lucky and hardworking girl who has discovered that fencing is her own path to happiness.

Ho first fenced when she was still in middle school. However, she was not interested in fencing at that moment.

“My friend invited me to join a fencing summer program with her,” Ho explained. “I didn’t like it at the beginning. But I discovered that I had the ability to perform better at the end of the program, so I decided to stay [in the team] and keep training.”

Many people might consider that players, especially female, could easily get hurt when fencing. But Ho said that fencing is safe provided that you are being protected with the right equipment. “Sometimes my legs bruised during training. But it was not a big deal as the pain would go away two weeks later!” she laughed.  

Owing to an excellent coaching and hard training, Ho has played for Macao in many games including the 2014 Asian Games, National Games, SEA Pacific & ASEAN Fencing Championships in just six years’ time. Furthermore, she achieved very outstanding results in the Asian Games, in which she won the sixth place at the women’s foil team competition with her teammates and entered the top 16 at the women’s individual foil game.

Before devoting herself to fencing, Ho felt inferior and lacked confidence in herself. But fencing, before long, helped her to recognize her own value as a fencer.

Ho could still remember the first time she took part in the Asia Fencing Championship CADET&JUNIOR with her teammates. In this competition, they competed against the Taiwan team and entered the final eight. “We were extremely excited and happy,” Ho recalled, “we embraced each other, laughed and cried. For the first time, I knew what was the meaning of ‘wept for joy’.”

At that moment, Ho realized that all her hard work  paid off. “I excel  through fencing and I achieve good results. Only fencing could bring me this special kind of happiness, ”she said confidently.

Moreover, Ho met some irreplaceable friends on her team. They always give Ho full support no matter whether she wins or loses. Sweating, bleeding and winning together with her teammates is what Ho cherished through her  friendship.

Fencing as part of life

“Fencing has been playing an important role in my life and I have never ever thought about stopping fencing,” Ho emphasized.

As a Year 2 student in University of Macau (UM), Ho may not be a key player in the Macao women’s foil team, and she will have her full-time job after graduation. But Ho mentioned that she planned to promote fencing to Macao people as a fencing coach in the future.

“Persisting in doing the right thing you want to do, no matter in what way, you will feel happy,” Ho said.