The 4 unforgettable life lessons I learned from a fencing legend
What my fencing master taught me about life
1. Never take democracy for granted
My old fencing coach, Master Cornel Vena, defected from Communist Romania at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. It was a heart-wrenching decision that involved leaving his entire family behind, not knowing what would happen to them, but having to assume they would be punished for his defection. As hard as it was, he always believed he made the right decision to live as a free man. When Cornel arrived in Australia, the two major political parties that form government (the Liberal Party and Labor) were then as they remain today, liberal and democratic. Long may that continue.
Cornel taught me that it’s possible for freedom to be taken away, and to never take democracy for granted.
2. There’s always someone better than you
Cornel still holds the Olympic modern pentathlon fencing record. People often describe fencing as a physical game of chess, and Cornel may well have been a chess champion too had he ever applied himself to it. He died with me never having won a game against him, but I am a better chess player for the time spent losing to him.
