The sharp clatter of foils and sabres echoed across the OCM Arena in July as 100 young fencers from 12 countries converged in Malaysia for the SFC 2025 International Training Camp – a week-long showcase of skill, discipline, and the future of fencing in Asia.
Organised by Taiwan’s Starry Fencing Club (SFC), the camp ran from 8 to 14 July 2025 and brought together cadet and junior fencers, with participants as young as seven years old. It marked the club’s first venture abroad, expanding beyond its established annual camps in Taipei, Taiwan, typically held in July and August. This year’s second edition was held in Taipei from 4 to 10 August, with 180 fencers from 10 countries joining the week-long training.
Held at the Tan Sri Hamza Arena (also known as OCM Arena), the Kuala Lumpur camp featured intensive training in two fencing disciplines: foil and sabre. Foil sessions were led by Italian coaches Simone Biondi and Alberto Dei Rossi, both decorated fencers with accolades across European and World Junior Championships. Meanwhile, the sabre discipline was helmed by a celebrity Korean fencer, whose high-profile involvement brought added excitement to the piste.
Coach Tse-Yuan (Johnson) Chen, founder of SFC, said Malaysia was a natural choice for their first overseas training camp.
“When Madam Sally Aramburo from the Philippines’ Canlas Fencing Club suggested Malaysia and introduced me to Madam Rusni of the Malaysian Fencing Federation (MFF), I was immediately intrigued. After our meetings and a site visit, I was deeply impressed by the warmth, hospitality, and professionalism of the Malaysian crew. We simply could not have organised this camp successfully without the immense support from Madam Rusni and her team,” Johnson said.
For Johnson, genuine partnerships were at the heart of the camp’s success. “Good partnerships are enablers – they make things happen. My friendships over the years with international fencers and coaches, including our Italian foil coaches and the top Korean sabre fencer, were key to bringing them on board. It’s the same with club heads around the region who sent their fencers here.”
Female coaches also play a vital role, not only to inspire more women in the sport, but because they understand female athletes’ needs in ways that enrich the training environment,” he explained.
Johnson sees his training camps as more than just skill development. “My vision is to help the sport grow across Asia, in awareness, popularity, and quality. By creating spaces for knowledge-sharing, exposing athletes to high-level competition, and fostering camaraderie, we give fencers opportunities they might not otherwise have. For example, our Taiwanese athletes can fence with peers from around the world and learn new techniques and strategies, and that exchange works both ways,” he said.
For MFF president Rusni Abu Hassan, hosting the camp was an easy decision. “We share the same goals – to grow fencing as a sport and to give our fencers access to international experience. Having such a programme here saves them significant travel costs while still gaining the benefit of training with peers and top coaches from abroad,” she said.
The MFF sees this kind of initiative as a cornerstone for Malaysia’s fencing ambitions. “We will continue to support programmes like this because they give our fencers valuable exposure without leaving home. I encourage fencing clubs and parents to let their children participate when such opportunities arise, and to enter as many ranking tournaments as they can,” she added.
She pointed to upcoming events as vital stepping stones for Malaysian fencers: the 2025 Asian Cadet Cup Fencing competition in Kuala Lumpur from 20 to 23 August, and the Asian Under-23 Fencing Championship, which will be hosted by MFF at the OCM Arena in Kuala Lumpur from 22 to 27 October.
Structured into two age-based groups, Group A (13 years and older) and Group B (7 to 12 years), the SFC International Training Camp offered a holistic experience that included private lessons, certification, insurance, and customised camp T-shirts. Beyond the piste, shared meals and team-building activities fostered friendships across borders, turning the training hall into a melting pot of cultures and fencing styles.
The second edition of the SFC International Training Camp for 2025, held in Taipei earlier this month, marked the conclusion of this year’s series. “Wrapping up our 2025 training camps in both Kuala Lumpur and Taipei has been an incredible journey. In KL, we achieved our goal of bringing together a truly international group of young fencers for our first venture abroad, and in Taipei, we welcomed 180 athletes from 10 countries to continue that momentum,” Johnson said.
“What excites me most is seeing how these camps are building bridges across cultures and disciplines, inspiring young athletes to aim higher while forming lifelong friendships. This is just the beginning; we’re already looking ahead to how we can make the 2026 editions even bigger and better,” he concluded.
As fencing continues to gain traction across Asia, events like the SFC International Training Camp are shaping a new generation of athletes – one parry, one lunge at a time.
Follow the highlights from the camp on Instagram: @sfc_international_fencing_camp | @starry_fencing_club
*This article was written by Ruzanna Muhammad, a writer, editor, and consultant with close to 20 years of experience working with Malaysian and international clients. Ruzanna has an educational background in Industrial Technology. She has an equal passion for literature and the arts, balancing the values of empirical knowledge and creative imagination, hence her foray into the fields of media, publishing and communication. Ruzanna is currently the Editor-at-Large for News Hub Asia.