Confessions of a Travelling Fencer: The Full Brazilian  

Now, Brazil is a long way from home. It was the first time I travelled to South America. I’m not going to lie, I was excited to rack up the miles and get out to Rio. 

This was the first time I was selected to represent Malaysia at the FIE training camp, thank you to MFF for putting my name on the list. It was a real honour and it has made a difference to my fencing. I didn’t know it at the time that I would meet legendary Coach Kuki and that this was his last time he would be doing this despite years of coaching thousands. A real privilege for me.  

Sometimes you get lucky, does everyone remember when the war in Iran started, well before that it was decided to send all the athletes who were going the camp and later World Championship through Dubai. Usually not a big deal. Then came the drone and missile strikes. We watched and waited, asked all our friends in the UAE what was going on.

Well, long story short, took off the last day of Ramadan, I attended my friends open house in Kuala Lumpur on the way to the airport, so I technically landed on the first day of Eid. No one is firing at each other on that day, right? Then on the way back it was the first day of the ceasefire, so while exciting to be traveling to the other side of the world, it was not straight forward. Yes, there were fencers who could not travel at all during that time, so I count myself very lucky.

I was told if it was really bad, that we would fly through Istanbul, which was fine by me too, it was all good. I remember my favourite thing I remember was that someone who lived in Dubai told us, don’t worry your flight arrives early and you take off again before the attacks tend to happen, I guess you have to be casual when dealing with these kinds of things.

One thing about being a travelling fencer is that you get a bit of “Forest Gump reality”, you never know what you are going to get. The camp was brilliant, skills, weapons checking, strategies, and more importantly lots of fencing. Wall to wall fencing with a group of fencers who are around your age which is perfect. Many of them have become good friends, still bumping into them at various tournaments around the world. Now, I would get a chance to put them to work straight away on the biggest stage yet, the World Championships, well for Junior and Cadet that is.

The story on the piste, for Cadet ended up ranking 24^th after ranking 18^th after poules had a tough match up with Tan Junghyun in table 32. Then in Junior 72^nd after ranking 37^th after poules another strong fencer from Korea in table 128, Jeong Yujun. I’m going to eat more Korean food to try to get into their mindset and a perhaps a training stint in Korea might be needed.

It seemed I kept bumping into Korean fencers, work to be done to match their level of fitness, that’s why we travel to see where everyone is, these guys are next level. Time to work harder back at the club. Touche Fencing Club in Malaysia working with Coach Andrew has become my laboratory for fencing experimentation.

For the team event I have the responsibility of fencing anchor, first up we had a good performance against Portugal, beating them 45 – 26 then we fenced Hong Kong and they beat us 45 – 26, overall team Malaysia ranked 29^th, something to build on in the future.   

No trip to Rio would be complete without a visit to Copacabana Beach. After all the training and fencing, it was great to experience one of Brazil’s most famous landmarks in person. The beach, the sea and the lively atmosphere were a world away from the intensity of the piste, a reminder that travelling for fencing is also about discovering new places, meeting new people and making memories along the way.

Back in Kuala Lumpur, we often go to Brazilian barbecue restaurants, so I was keen to try the authentic experience for myself in Brazil. I had to wait for my club mate and travelling buddy, Khalis, to finish his Epee competition first, but it was worth the wait. We finally got to enjoy the all-you-can-eat Brazilian barbecue experience, which I like to think of as the ultimate Brazilian protein recovery session after all that fencing!

A visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue was another highlight of our time in Rio. It wasn’t a religious experience for me, but it was an opportunity to appreciate a landmark that means so much to people around the world. One of our group members was from the Philippines, and even our friends from one of the Gulf countries joined us.

For me, that is what travelling is all about. In India, or even back home in Malaysia, I would be happy to visit an Indian temple or a Chinese temple, especially during weddings (great food). In Muslim countries, I would also make time to visit a mosque. You don’t have to share someone’s religion to appreciate their culture, traditions and places of worship. Travelling is fun, of course, but it is also about learning how other people live and seeing the world from a different perspective. And who knows? If I ever have to do a school assignment on another country or culture, at least I will have some real-life experience to draw on rather than just what I can find in a textbook!

My favourite experience was exploring Tijuca National Park this too was done with Khalis. Rio is famous for its beaches and city life, but the national park showed us a completely different side of Brazil. We enjoyed spectacular views of the city, walked among enormous trees, explored caves and even spotted snakes and monkeys along the way. It was quite an experience to find so much wildlife and greenery so close to a major city. I was quite the workout especially after just finishing what was a few weeks away, it’s important not to let these kinds of opportunities slip by, not sure when my next trip Rio will be.

Next morning it was straight to the airport. Back to reality, there were some exams waiting for me in a few days time, I did have some time to study, the good thing about long-haul flights is plenty of time to read. Another thing that I was going to need was some serious uruts (Malay word for massage) once back. I will want to get some serious O2, Japanese healing hyperbaric therapy as well. And some of the be recovery is done with mum’s cooking.

Until then, Rio de Jeniro, Cadet & Junior World Championships 2026, will remain a memorable page in the life of a travelling fencer, the food, the beaches, the natural beauty, some great fencing too.

NDA’s “Confessions of a Travelling Fencer” is a personal story of what a young Malaysian fencer, Saif Nordin, gets to experience off the piste, as he travels the world for the sport he loves. Saif believes it’s important to remember that “Not everything that glitters is Gold”. He said, “Even though as a fencer, we love the taste of victory and the gold around our necks.”