Mitchell Shulman is a sophomore in the UC San Diego fencing program. A strong freshman campaign for the San Francisco native on the Tritons' foil squad culminated in a ninth-place effort at his first NCAA West Regionals. "Mitchell was a tremendous addition to the team last season and continues to be a vital member of the team," says UCSD head coach Heidi Runyan. "He is a fierce competitor and astute tactician of the game. One of the things that I appreciate as a coach is how supportive he is of his teammates." Mitchell and the rest of the Triton fencers are looking forward to the 19th Annual BladeRunner tournament, hosted by UCSD inside RIMAC Arena, this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-16.
Q: When and how did you first get into fencing?
SHULMAN: I got into fencing when I was about 12 years old. Like most 12-year-old boys, I was super into karate at the time, but I was looking for something new. When my mom was growing up in the Soviet Union, lots of families would share apartments to split expenses. One of the families she shared an apartment with when she was eight years old, had a son who was her age and practiced fencing, fully equipped in the living room. My mom thought the boy looked really cute in the whole outfit, so when it was time for me to find a new sport, she wanted to dress me up. I gave it a shot and fell in love with the sport right away.
Q: Having grown up in San Francisco, what brought you to UCSD? Not many schools offer intercollegiate fencing. Was that a requirement for your college destination?
SHULMAN: Aside from the weather and the beach, UCSD seemed to be the perfect combination of academic prestige and athletic excellence. I was definitely looking to be a part of an NCAA team in my college experience. That was my goal for high school and all the countless hours of training that I put in.
Q: Describe for us a typical day in the life of a Triton fencer.
SHULMAN: Triton fencers are some of the most dedicated athletes at the school. Most of our practices are in the afternoon (3-6 p.m. on MWF) and 11-12 on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the trainers at Spanos. Our toughest days are definitely the killer, occasional four-hour Saturday practice. Most of my classes fall before practice, so I can save people in my classes from dealing with that post-workout stink.
Q: How about a typical practice session? Is it mostly bouts with your teammates of the same weapon? Or is their specific instruction, workouts, fitness training, etc.?
SHULMAN: We have a nice blend of bouting and physical conditioning. I would say that during Winter quarter, we focus more on bouts against each other to prepare ourselves for the high-pressure situations we face when competing against schools like Stanford, UPenn, Notre Dame and Duke. This quarter is all about getting into good shape, so our workouts are heavy on the conditioning. I'm definitely missing those lazy summer days when I could just stuff my face with California burritos and lounge around. We all have to make sacrifices though!
Q: You are a foilist for UCSD. How exactly does one pick a specific weapon in fencing?
SHULMAN: I'm only 5'9”, which is considered pretty short for fencing. Foil allows me to get scores on opponents who are way taller than me without them using their longer wingspan as a huge advantage. Generally, most of the taller fencers get funneled into épée, like my teammate, Sean Callaghan.
Q: For our readers who are new to fencing, can you please briefly explain the main differences between épée, foil and sabre?
SHULMAN: The main difference between the three weapons is their form of scoring. Sabre is the only slashing weapon, where any contact between the blade and the opponent's upper body counts as a point. Also, the target area is anywhere from the waist up. Épée and foil are “stabbing” weapons, where in order to score, you must stick the point. In épée, your whole body is a valid target, which means you can get hit in the hand, face, shoe, anywhere. To score in foil, you need to stick a point on the torso of your opponent. In general, I think most will agree that foil is the best.
Q: This will be your second BladeRunner. Does anything stand out in your memory from this event a year ago, and how do you hope to perform this weekend?
SHULMAN: BladeRunner is a great event with a lot of really strong fencers from all over the country flying in to compete. It's a great way for us to display our school to potential new athletes, and to represent UCSD beyond our NCAA reputation. I think I can speak for everyone on the team when I say that we're coming out this weekend ready to perform. We're hungry for medals and training hard to show our dominance.
Q: It says in your bio that you are almost fluent in Mandarin Chinese. When did you pick that up and what was the reason? How have you been learning it?
SHULMAN: Actually, I started learning Mandarin only in February of this year. My girlfriend is half Chinese, and what started off as me learning how to order food at our favorite restaurants, has developed into daily vocab lessons from her. My goal is to eventually be so good that one day I will be able to order without them laughing at me at the restaurant.
Q: Aside from obviously continuing your dominance of the conference on both the men's and women's sides as a team, what individual goals do you have for yourself for the remainder of this sophomore season, and for the rest of your time here as a Triton?
SHULMAN: The whole team is training exceptionally hard this year. It will be a great season for us both in conference and NCAAs. We have a lot of great freshmen, and the returners are in top shape. The goal this year is to knock Stanford off the top spot in our region, and get as many fencers to nationals as possible. In my time here, I want to bring our team closer, so when it's time for us to face some tough opponents, we can lean on each other to take those schools down. We're the team to watch this season, and BladeRunner is just the beginning. Go Tritons!!!
Previous Triton Q&A Features
Paul Li (Men's Swimming & Diving) November 1, 2014
Paige Hughes (Women's Cross Country) October 20, 2014
Danielle Dahle (Women's Volleyball) October 14, 2014
Tareq Alwafai (Men's Cross Country) September 25, 2014
David Higginson (Men's Water Polo) September 18, 2014
Matthew McClure (Men's Soccer) September 10, 2014
Caitlin Brenton (Women's Volleyball) September 3, 2014
Michelle Yasutake (Women's Soccer) August 25, 2014
2013-14 • 2010-13 • 2004-09
#TritonsRising
