Dating back to about 1190 BC, fencing developed into a practice of swordsmanship to prepare men for duels and warfare. It is characterized by images of armor-clad knights and their swashbuckling romantic adventures. Polner first started to train for this combative sport when she was only eight years old. She has indeed come a long way from her thirty-second rank in Hungary to her current status. Why didn't she pursue the sport professionally? She answers, `There were very few competitions held in Hungary at the time. Who knows? If things had been different, I might not be studying math right now.'
Polner loves the sport not only for its physical challenges but also for its demand for absolute concentration to strategize winning moves. She explains the three types of weapons used in this sport: saber, epee and foil. The saber was originally a heavily curved sword used by cavalry soldiers. Over the centuries, the blade has become much lighter, thinner and perfectly straight. The target area for a saber bout is anywhere above the waist. Points are scored with the front of the blade in a cutting motion or the tip in a thrusting motion. The epee is the same length as the foil and saber, but the blade is much thicker. The target is the entire body, but points may only be scored with the tip of the weapon in a thrusting motion. There is no `right to attack' in epee - the first person to hit the opponent scores a point. The foil came to be used by duelers to practice their art; it is much lighter than the epee. Foil bouts are different from epee in the following aspects: gaining the right to attack, gaining the right to reply to an attack and a restriction of the target area from the entire body to just the torso.
Polner fences with foil and feels that her short stature (160 cm) is a disadvantage, but she reasons that in fencing, training can be molded to one's features so as to capitalize on strengths and work with weaknesses. Polner compensates for her natural shortcoming with strong footwork to enable her to get close enough to the opponent and make her moves. She mentions another Hungarian not much taller who is ranked number five internationally. Polner practices in the UT sports center twice a week with the fencing club DSV Gascogne. She says, `Initially I was not very confident of my abilities, but the club coach, André Ligthart, taught me to trust myself, be bold and dare to put my knowledge to use. I am in my final year and I can forget about work for three whole hours when I practice - it is a wonderful way to relax.'
Polner's achievement is nothing short of a marvelous feat, considering that she was down with the flu on the day of the Championship. She says, `I was quite sick and my aim that day was simply to survive! But I reached the quarterfinal and started feeling better. In fact, I became rather complacent that I had got so far. Maybe that is why I came second.'
For more information on fencing at the UT, visit www.student.utwente.nl/~gascogne
Hometown: Carei, Transylvania
Languages: Hungarian, English, Romanian, Dutch
Favorite movie: The Godfather
Favorite music: Rock
Dream destination: Indonesia
Currently reading: The Secret History by Donna Tart
Best part of living in NL: Meeting my boyfriend
Worst part of living in NL: Making appointments for everything
