Talk to Enoch Woodhouse 3d about fencing and he gets right to thepoint.
'It's not like any other sport. There is strategizing. You aretrying to anticipate and adjust to your competitor,' says the MissionHill teenager, describing how a fencer must retreat at times toprepare for his attack, as in a chess game. 'It's something that Iwork hard at. It's something I enjoy.'
And excels at.
Woodhouse, 17, ranked sixth in the Junior World Cup games in thejunior men's foil competition in September in Kentucky and capturedninth place last April in the Junior/Cadet World Championships inTurkey in the youth-under-17 foil.
At the Boston Fencing Club in Waltham, there is a special pridethat Woodhouse has joined the fencing elite.
'He's come very far over the years,' said Linda Merritt, theclub's president. 'He has pretty much grown up here.'
Curiosity as a youngster - and a father who once fenced - ledWoodhouse to the fierce but elegant and artistic sport.
At age 7, Woodhouse was 'fooling around with some of my old foilsaround the house,' said his father, Enoch Woodhouse II, a formerofficer with the Tuskegee airmen of World War II fame and a fencerduring his Yale undergraduate days. 'I told him, `If you want tofence, it's a discipline. You have to work hard and it takes a lot ofpractice.' '
The senior Woodhouse enrolled his son at the Boston Fencing Club,and watched from behind a glass window as young Enoch climbed inlocal and national competitions in foil events. (In the foil event,a point is earned when the tip of the sword lands on the opponent'storso).
Woodhouse emerged in the sport when he won second place in theunder 11-foil competition during the 1996 Junior Olympics inKentucky.
Although most of his classmates at Roxbury Latin prefer othersports, fencing is closest to Woodhouse's heart. 'It's a littleunorthodox because it's not the classic football or basketball, butit's normal to me,' he said, adding that the sport has been enjoyingan urban renaissance in recent years, and in pop culture, as well. (Isn't that Madonna dueling herself in her newest video, the themefrom the James Bond movie 'Die Another Day'?)
Fencing has also taken Woodhouse far - to Spain, France, Germany,and, on this side of the Atlantic, to South Carolina. It was therelast year, at the age of 16, that he took 15th place in the 19-and-under foil field and tied for third place in the 16-and-under foilcompetition at the US National Fencing Championships.
He spends at least three days a week at the fencing club inWaltham, training for about two hours a day with his coach.Sometimes, he passes on his fencing prowess to younger fencers on theweekends.
His style tends to be more offensive than defensive in the duels.In his practices, he often charges, dashing like a young Zorro.
When he's not fencing or 'kicking it back' with his friends, thesenior at Roxbury Latin is focusing on what he will do after his highschool graduation.
He is applying to colleges and although he isn't sure where he'llend up, the school has to have collegiate fencing.
'It's a part of me,' said Woodhouse, as a chorus of clashing foilsclick-clack nearby. 'I cannot imagine myself not fencing.'
Johnny Diaz may be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.
