Dream comes true for Portsmouth barber as he’s selected to fence for Great Britain
Watch our video interview with Portsmouth fencer Chris Jupp who is competing at the world championships this year.
A barber from Portsmouth has traded his scissors for swords and is now ranked in the top 4 for veteran fencing.
Chris Jupp, who is also a filmmaker, will be travelling to Bahrain this November to compete for Great Britain at the world championships.
Chris said: “I've just been selected to fence for Great Britain in the Category 3 fencing in the world championships in Bahrain in November which I'm really excited about because I've been dreaming of getting into the Great Britain squad since I was young so finally done it and really looking forward to the competition and fencing with the best in the world for the age.
“I did a bit of work with a film director called Michael Murphy years ago and it got me into filmmaking and then I started making my own films, started with Beast and then moved on and my last film Original Sin won Best Film at Making Waves Film Festival.
“I've always been interested in sword fighting movies, The Three Musketeers and Zorro and it's always been something that I've been interested in and so when I discovered this club, Seacourt in Hayling, it's just such a great club and suddenly I could do the thing that I've always watched on TV.
"It's footwork, it's fitness, you have to have fast reflexes but it's not all about the reflexes, it's also about tactics and strategy. They do call it chess on legs because you're not only moving, you're thinking and it's a little bit like rock, paper, scissors.
“To win a gold medal that would be absolutely fantastic. To become world champion in Bahrain would be a dream come true but just to be there is going to be fantastic. To see all the top fencers, some of which I've seen when they were in the Olympics.”