Andrew Howitt: the master of fencing makes his skillful mark

MOKOPANE – “IN fencing, weight and strength mean nothing. The fencer need only know when, how and where he must thrust his blade,” wrote Aldo Nadi who is considered among one of the greatest fencers of all time, in his book The Living Sword, a fencer’s autobiography.

The very talented 18-year-old Andrew Howitt from Mokopane has mastered this skill of knowing when, how and where to thrust his blade. It is no surprise that in his 10 years of fencing, as member of the EreSable Fencing club in Mokopane, he has acquired various medals at various national events and that he was ranked number one in South Africa for Cadet u/17 Epee in 2013 and national champion in both Epee and Sabre.

Andrew represented South Africa in the junior African Championships in 2015, receiving one of the top accolades a fencer can receive, not just winning a bronze medal in the Sabre teams event but he was also awarded the Algerian Fencing Plaque.

This plaque, as the best South African fencer, is a great example of his passion, dedication, values and natural leadership skills that was recognised by the South African fencers and management. Each country is presented with this plaque and the South African team elected Andrew to receive this prestigious award for his contribution on the piste and off the pistes, for his performance in his events and his assistance and support in preparing each fencer of the team to compete in their own events.

Fencing comprises three weapons, Foil, Epee and Sabre and as junior fencers they can participate in two age classes internationally; cadets u/17 and juniors u/20. Currently modern-day fencers are encouraged to train and develop the skill in only a single weapon if they want to be at the top of their game. Historically fencers would participate in all three weapons. Specialisation is of now of primary focus.

With the above just said, Andrew is one of the very few fencers in South Africa who have managed to represent the country at the African and World championships in all age categories, in all weapons and in both formats. He was also elected as the team captain of the South African team that competed in Algeria in March.

Andrew, a very talented and skilled fencer has qualified as Epee fencing coach receiving the South African Sports confederation Olympic committee, (Sascoc), coaching certificate. He assists in coaching three of the provinces fencing clubs in Mokopane and Polokwane and has also been invited to join the high performance fencing programme in the Western Cape during May. Andrew has been shortlisted for the 2015 Junior Commonwealth Fencing championships in July as well as for the Senior African Games in September.

“We are very proud of Andrew and all of his remarkable achievements,” said Mark Howitt, father and chairperson of the Limpopo Fencing Association. Andrew was also one of the members of the EreSable Fencing club who brought home two gold-, three silver- and one bronze medal this past weekend in Polokwane.