By Philip Chan, Mowglis Fencing Instructor
When I first came to Mowglis and realized the full extent of what I was being asked to do by starting the fencing program, I must admit I was nervous. I was not an experienced outdoorsman, and fencing is an indoor sport. I worried that I, and my fencing, might be out of place among all the outdoor activities that Mowglis offers. However, I soon found that Mowglis encourages, in its campers and in its counselors, many of the traits that the sport of fencing had taught me to value, among them sportsmanship, courtesy, focus, the drive to prove and improve oneself, and to overcome challenges. Fencing, to my pleasant surprise, blends seamlessly with the Mowglis experience.
I am both humbled and filled with a sense of pride when I consider what it means to be given the opportunity to bring fencing to Mowglis. That what I helped create is now part of such an established and exceptional institution boggles my mind. I have made every effort to hold the Fencing Industry to the high standards of those that have been around since the Camp’s inception, and I fervently hope that what I’ve built can stand as a new Mowglis tradition alongside the venerable century-old traditions on which Mowglis is built.
