I am dyslexic and at school my English teacher, in my last report wrote: “I wish Ben well….. as long as it is in another subject.” I once wrote in an essay that “Macbeth was very impotent in the play.” While we may never know if Macbeth had this problem I had simply meant to say he was quite a key figure in the book. So this may be the worst written blog you ever read. Let's see... For my first blog ever, I wanted to tell you something that has been bothering me. I invented the flag fencing mask and no one knows or cares. I feel better to get that off my chest because I think they are awesome and they helped get fencing lots more exposure in the 2012 Olympics and no one at the F.I.E. has sent me a thank you card yet. In the build up to the 2012 Olympics I saw a picture in the paper of the Great British cycling team and the flag helmets made me wish that fencing uniforms had more national identity. We had all seen masks painted before, I remember seeing the clown mask used by the Italian fencer Paolo Milanoli and thinking how amazing it was. So I went into the customization area in the Leon Paul factory and used masking tape and paint to create the first ever Union Jack fencing mask. [caption id="attachment_71" align="aligncenter" width="300"] British flag cycling helmet[/caption] 6 months later at the 2012 Olympics fencers from the UK and America took the press by storm and the standard faceless mask was the thing of the past. I now think that the idea could develop by having flags painted on the side of the mask and fencers having their own personal design on the front or possibly lighting within the mask that would show the fencers face but that is another story. So how do you paint your own flag mask….. Well here is a video I made earlier showing the basics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxhojjZbrgg You will need: Fabric cloth tape Thick silver Duct tape Spray paint (Car paint will work or buy if you can Krylon Fusion paint for the best adhesion) Cloth for sabre mask to rub of excess paint Patience