Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson May Compete for Royal Air Force Fencing Team
Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson is a man of many talents, and two of them appear to be converging for the singer in the upcoming year. As many know, Dickinson is a pilot, and he's now been attested into the Royal Air Force. However, he's also reached out to the Royal Air Force about joining their fencing team as well.
A posting from RAF Fencing states, "@brucedickinson_ has officially been attested into the @RoyalAirForce and is now Hon. Group Captain Paul Bruce Dickinson. We look forward to fencing with him soon," with a hashtag representing #RAFOpen20.
According to the Forces Network, Dickinson is now an Honorary Group Captain in the No. 601 Squadron. The multi-talented rocker reportedly reached out to the Royal Air Force about fencing for them back in December and he could compete in the RAF Championships on May 16 and 17 and attend the Royal Air Force Fencing Open the following month. Depending on his performance at the RAF Championships, Dickinson could be selected to represent the RAF at the Inter Service Championships, which takes place July 13-16.
For those unaware, Dickinson is quite accomplished at fencing as well. He once ranked at number eight in the country at foil - one of three weapons used in fencing.
Back in 2013, Dickinson squared off against Olympic silver medalist Bartosz Piasecki ahead of the Norwegian Fencing Championship. "I had two points in a row," the singer revealed about his match, but not soon after the much-taller Piasecki managed to finish off the heavy metal legend.
Piasecki said of Dickinson, "He's kick-ass. He is short but incredibly fast. That's his weapon. He looked like Rocky when he arrived in a brown robe with the fencing kit in a shoulder bag." After Dickinson's quick start, Piasecki took five points on Dickinson and the vocalist failed to score a point in the final round.
Dickinson told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, "For me, fencing is training. I gave up competing in tournaments when I was 23. At that point, I was ranked No. 7 in Britain. I fence because I enjoy it and the by-product is that I end up getting in reasonably good shape. Actually fencing is very similar to the way I run around onstage. Or maybe I run around onstage like that because I fence. Either way it works for me."
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