A Times sportswriter’s fencing journey and how L.A. became a ‘hotbed’ for the sport

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Tuesday, Dec. 6. I’m Ryan Fonseca.

Our Golden State, particularly SoCal, is an ideal environment for an array of sports and athleticism. Outside of the big leagues and their organized youth and adult versions, it’s a hot spot for swimmers, surfers, skaters, pickleballers and, as I learned this week, fencers.

Times sportswriter David Wharton is one of those modern swordsmen. He became enamored with fencing after seeing it live during the 2012 London Olympics. He initially pushed his son to try it but soon picked up a sword himself (a foil, technically) in his mid-50s.

David explained that L.A.’s fencing scene can be traced back to the golden days of Hollywood, when movie studios were producing a lot of swashbuckling films and needed to capture convincing swordplay.

“These former European champions moved here and got jobs showing Errol Flynn how to fence [and] how to do these sword-fighting scenes in the movies,” David told me. “They stuck around and they opened clubs, and it grew from there.”

These days, Hollywood isn’t churning out as many sword-swinging romantic adventures, but L.A. remains a “hotbed” for fencing, David said, with a long history of sending local fencers to the Olympics.

“Now, you not only have all these clubs, but you have a high school league, with a number of high schools that are very active during their season,” he said. “And you have sanctioned tournaments two or three weekends every month. So there’s really a lot going on here that maybe people don’t see.”

At first, David wasn’t sure he could stick with fencing, but he’s now competing in tournaments regularly. He told me he’d learned a lot about himself through starting a sport later in life.

Here’s a bit more from my conversation with David about fencing, his journey — the subject of a new feature he’s written — and his advice for anyone interested in trying anything new later in life (edited for clarity and brevity).

You noted in your piece that fencing can be expensive to keep up with. In your reporting, did you come across people trying to change that and make the sport more accessible?

The high school league that exists here in L.A. is made up of some private schools but also public schools, where they try to collect as much equipment as possible so that the kids there can fence [and] don’t have to buy their own equipment, which can be very pricey.

People also try to donate secondhand gear not only to schools but also individual centers and to clubs, so that if kids show up and want to take lessons or want to join the group lessons, they’re moderately priced, and all the clubs have racks of secondhand clothes and blades that the kids can use at no cost. And then if they want to get more serious about it, and they’re able to, they can spend more. [As far as kids getting into the sport] there are lots of opportunities out there to get involved without putting out all that cash.

One thread that stands out to me in your piece is that it’s never too late to try something new and discover a new source of joy. What advice can you offer to readers who may be interested in trying a new sport?

It goes back to that idea of humility. If you’re willing to take your lumps at first and you’ve found something that you really like, just keep going. It will get better.

And don’t feel bad if you look foolish at the start, because you can get a lot out of sticking with it and getting better. And that’s the whole point of it.

It’s not really winning or losing, it’s all about just picking something you really like and trying to get better at it. They always say it’s the journey that’s most important.

So I skateboard and that’s forever changed the way I see the world. I just instinctively size up the built environment for the potential it holds for me. I’m curious if fencing has done something similar to your brain.

I think fencing is more kind of an internal journey. The more you fence, you know how difficult it can be.

It’s not a big fancy sport that everyone knows about, that you see on TV all the time. It’s sort of a labor of love for everyone who does it. I think the way it changes you is the way you think of yourself. You get some satisfaction from doing better, and you get satisfaction from being part of a tight-knit community where people understand how hard it is but also how joyous and satisfying it can be.

How does it stay with you after you’re done with the actual fencing? Do you find yourself actively trying to improve your game mentally?

If you did well, you try to think about: “Well, what did I do? What was a little bit different? What gave me the edge today? And what can I try to replicate the next time? How can I hold on to that really good performance?”

And if you did poorly, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll be so frustrated during the day, and then you’ll get in your car to drive home and you’ll think, “Oh, yeah, I should have done this, I should have done that.” Or you’ll be lying in bed that night before you go to sleep, and you realize, “Oh, that’s what I was doing wrong, or that’s what I could do different.”

That’s the part that kind of keeps you going. The addictive part of fencing is that, afterward, you’re going, “Oh, yeah, I can do this,” and now I can’t wait to get back into practice, or get back to the club and try it out to see how this works.

It’s like a puzzle that never ends.

You can read more in this subscriber exclusive feature about David’s fencing journey (and watch a video of him in action).

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing.

L.A. STORIES

Goodbye, h̶o̶r̶s̶e̶s̶ ponies. Griffith Park Pony Rides is hanging up the saddles later this month after more than 70 years. The owner of the local attraction — which also features a petting zoo — said the city of L.A. declined to renew the business’ contract. The historic pony rides had drawn criticism from animal welfare activists recently, who claimed the ponies were overworked. Los Angeles Times

Ponies rest in their enclosure at the Griffith Park Pony Rides on a rainy December day in 2021.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Honestly, I forgot about the Real ID and the constantly moving date to get one in order to fly domestically. But once again — and unlike my writing deadlines — I (and everyone else) can put it off for another couple years. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has pushed the deadline to May 7, 2025, two years later than their previous aspirational enforcement date. Los Angeles Times

CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING

Even before 2022 ends, the number of hate crimes reported in Los Angeles has exceeded any previous year’s total since the city started making those figures public. LAPD crime reporting data analyzed by Crosstown through Nov. 21 this year showed 620 hate crimes reported in the city. That represents a 260% increase since 2010. Crosstown

Dozens of California Highway Patrol officers stationed in East Los Angeles were charged with fraud and felony wage theft earlier this year after a state audit found they were grossly exaggerating overtime hours. But last week, a judge dismissed charges against all but two of them. The officers defended their actions by claiming it’s a widespread, common practice at the CHP to lie about overtime. Sacramento Bee

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Winter is coming and so is the “tripledemic” of COVID-19, RSV and seasonal flu. One thing that could make the difference for COVID patients this season is the fact that treatments and antivirals such as Paxlovid are more widely available. But many patients still aren’t using them, according to state health officials. CalMatters

Air regulators in Southern California adopted a rather detailed plan (almost 5,000 pages) aimed at cleaning up our region’s infamously smoggy air. But to meet federal targets for reducing ozone levels, local officials say the EPA needs to step up efforts to curb pollution at the smog-spewing sites the U.S. government has authority over — like ports, rail yards and airports. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Erick Tamaypo, left, and Roberto Torres struggle to move a platform shrine past a rut during the Virgen de Guadalupe procession Sunday in East Los Angeles.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Inflation has come for the parades. For decades, East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue hosted car floats as Catholic Angelenos marked the local Virgen de Guadalupe procession. But on Sunday, risings costs of city parade permits sparked a shift to people-powered andas — wooden platforms adorned with flowers, statues, paintings and saintly murals. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: chance of showers, 61. San Diego: chance of showers, 61. San Francisco: showers likely then mostly sunny, 56. San Jose: showers likely and patchy fog, 55. Fresno: chance of showers and area fog, 55. Sacramento: chance of showers then mostly sunny, 55.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory is from Matthew Noel:

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.