Jason Murillo is an FGCU student looking to bring something new to campus. Before attending FGCU, Murillo was a student at UCF, where he spent his free time fencing with other students.
“I started playing over there, and I learned quickly. I played for about two and a half years. I just decided to start a club here,” said Murillo.
Since its on-campus founding in September 2015, the Fencing Eagles stands as a Registered Student Organization but hopes to become a club sport in the near future, according to Murillo.
The sport originated in Spain sometime in the 1400s and has since become the sport it is today. Fencing is one of only four sports to be included in every modern Olympic games since 1896, although it has been an Olympic game since Ancient Greece first created the Olympics. According to Murillo, the Fencing Eagles do not yet qualify as a sports club because they are not “high risk.”
“It’s not a hard sport to learn, and it’s not really dangerous. The worst injury I’ve seen is maybe a sprained ankle because of poor figure,” said Murillo. “The tip of the fencing sword is the secondfastest moving object in any sport, the first is the marksman’s bullet. It’s still not dangerous because there’s a rubber tip and even the metal underneath is pretty dull.”
The Fencing Eagles first practice had a turnout of 6, but the club will be holding another meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26 in the auxiliary gym.
“I encourage anyone to come. You don’t need any previous experience and we will teach you,” Murillo said.