Seacoast fans unite to promote the growth of their sport

Popular culture is filled with sword swinging heroes from Robin Hood and Peter Pan to Zorro and Westley to Captain Jack Sparrow and Hit-Girl.

And yet the sport of fencing doesn’t appear to be all that popular. It’s one of the things Mike Grosse hopes to change by increasing accessibility with his TV show “Bladework.”

The Newmarket resident is the creator, director, editor and producer of the show, which concluded its first season on NBC Universal Sports Boston on Feb. 18. Reruns are expected to air over the next few weeks, while Grosse is in the process of securing a second season.   

“Bladework” is part fencing instruction and action and part reality show, hosted by athlete and actor Nick Apostolides, of Peabody, Mass. Over the course of 12 episodes, or one training session per week, Apostolides goes from having zero prior fencing experience to competing in a tournament.

Grosse began fencing during his sophomore year at the University of New Hampshire, where he is now a volunteer coach for the Fencing Team. Despite the relatively low attention fencing gets, it is one of the most attended clubs at UNH with about 40 members, he said.    

Another 100 people between the ages of 7 and 73 are involved in the Seacoast Fencing Club, which has locations in Rochester and Manchester, said owner and head coach Chris Pullo. Eleven members have gone on to win 27 national championships, and six of them have represented the United States in world championships.

Pullo gave lessons to Apostolides during the filming of the show, teaching him that fencing is a way to test yourself one-on-one.

“It’s clean. It’s you. It’s one opponent,” he said. “There are no teammates going to save you. You either win or you lose.”

But, he said, it’s important to also learn values.

“It’s not just about winning,” Pullo said. “How do you handle yourself in victory? How do you handle yourself in defeat?”

Though fencing is sometimes thought of as an elite hobby practiced in colleges and castles, Pullo said it’s an inexpensive and accessible activity. Lessons start at $85 per month.

The initial appeal of fencing for Grosse was a connection to its long history and its prevalence in our culture, he said. But he quickly found his own reason to do it and developed his unique style.  

His weapon of choice is an epee, which is used to score “first blood” on any part of the body, as in a traditional duel. There’s also the sabre, used for fast cuts and parries with a target from the waist up, and the foil, a thrusting weapon used to score points only on the torso when attacking. Grosse said the different types appeal to different people. 

He likes that the sport is both physical and mental. He said fencers are continually learning and gaining from every level of training. He learned early on to recognize his strengths and weaknesses and make the most of the former, a lesson that carries over into daily life.

For Apostolides, learning to fence was an opportunity to get more experience as an actor. But, he said, “I always thought fighting with a sword would be cool.”

He said there’s more to the sport than he thought, both in terms of technique and strength.

“It’s a very physical sport,” he said. “I’m a runner and I still found myself winded.”

There isn’t much time to strategize or even think about the next move, he added, so it requires practicing good habits and instilling instinct.

In the season finale of “Bladework,” Apostolides fenced in a tournament at the Seacoast Fencing Club’s Manchester location. He was up against competitors with much more experience and still managed to win one bout out of five. Then, he went on to win all four bouts in a practice round with others who didn’t place. 

Apostolides said testing the skills he learned ended up being the best part. He’s happy with the results and said the greatest compliment he received was that he didn’t look inexperienced. But he plans to refocus on his acting career now that his lessons are over.

Since the show covered the basics of fencing, Grosse said a second season would be more like a news magazine show with feature interviews.

“I want to go out and tell stories with a camera,” he said.

Grosse is interested in capturing the grace and power of the athletes in motion, as well as their emotions and strong focus.

He hopes fencing gets more coverage in the Olympics next year. During the 2008 games, it didn’t get much airtime, perhaps because the U.S. team only won one medal in 2004. However, in 2008, the team won six, tying for the most of any nation. A second season could include interviews with Olympians such as Tim Morehouse, Grosse said. 

Grosse was a journalism major with a cinema studies minor at UNH. He spent a couple of years making short how-to videos for an Internet company before working with producer Chris Murphy of My TV New England, which features Universal Sports. 

He pitched the idea of a fencing show and established his own production company, 2:17 Studios, to make it happen.
For more information on the show, visit www.bladework.tv, and find “Bladework” on Facebook to vote for which episodes will rerun.