I have been known to cause accidents around the house, particularly during my frenetic time as a teenager. One incident I recall as if it happened yesterday was an impromptu game of indoor cricket with my brother in the living room as we took full advantage of our parents deciding to pop out for the morning.

He runs in, bowls the ball and I can’t resist but to dance down the “wicket” and strike a shot out of the middle of the bat. Though I was pleased with the stroke, my smile soon faded to horror as the ball crashed into my families’ fine china, smashing dozens of glass items into smithereens. In a panic, we disposed of the evidence in a local bin and our parents were none the wiser when they returned.

Despite these traits, the kind folk at British Fencing thought it would be a good idea for me to put a sword in my hand and have a go at a sport which remains relatively niche in Britain, though its profile is certainly growing, earlier this week.

So off I went, down to the impressive Leon Paul Fencing Centre, officially opened in 2015 and located a short train ride away from Central London, to get my first taste of the sport, which has been part of every Olympics since the birth of the Modern Games back in 1896.

To many, fencing is an unknown. After all, it is not as easy to get involved in compared with Britain’s dominant triumvirate of football, rugby and cricket, and it is fair to say it is still trying to establish itself at grassroots level. You can’t exactly just pick up a sword and start fencing.

In Britain, fencing has a difficult reputation, with a common perception being that it is for rich, public schoolboys and that it fails to penetrate the working class, though there are signs that is changing.

The equipment itself, such as the variety of weapons and extensive yet essential kit, coupled with the electronic scoring system which registers hits and allows judges to see when a point has been won, is costly and is far less prominent in sports shops all over the world than bats and balls, for example.

This raises challenges for governing bodies in the sport across the world, but, in spite of this, gone are the days where the usual suspects such as Hungary and Italy monopolise the international arena. The likes of the United States and South Korea have emerged as serious contenders, while countries like Venezuela and Egypt tasted Olympic success at London 2012.

Centres like the Leon Paul surely help. The facilities are top-class and allow fencers of varying abilities, ranging from the complete beginners - such as myself - to the elite-level British competitors tasked with representing their country at the upcoming Olympic Games, to hone their skills out on the piste.

But before I made the step up to fencing’s equivalent of the start line, my speed was put to the test in a game designed to test reactions, similar to old-school funfair and amusement games like whack-a-mole. Featuring a board of five targets - one in each corner and one in the middle - the aim was to press firmly with the sword on the area as soon as it lit up, and your reaction times on each target were averaged out to give you a final score.

As will become a prominent theme in this column, I didn’t exactly excel at this, though I wasn’t the worst either. Anyway, I was allowed to be a bit terrible considering it was my first time, right? Compare this with my colleague Nick Butler, who wrote recently that he was overtaken by a Loch Ness monster during a marathon event on the Isle of Man despite the fact he used to be a keen runner.

It was during the next segment of the morning where I began to truly appreciate the skill, agility and speed needed to succeed in the sport of fencing. Firm-but-friendly Russian Andrey Klyushin, the coach of the Team GB foil squad, taught us everything from how to hold the sword to footwork and scoring techniques, first using targets placed on the wall before we were granted access to the piste itself.

In many ways, it is all about the footwork. Getting yourself in the right process to size up and negate your opponent's tactics are crucial - a message we were constantly reminded about.

Having exhibited a few moves, both with and without the sword, and with a pep talk from the coach ringing in our ears, it was time for the four of us to step onto the piste for a series of first-to-five, do-or-die matches. It was time for a group of total, hapless beginners to put what we had learned over the previous hour or so into action.

Unfortunately, it all rather went south from there from my point of view. My opening clash, against one of the women working for Mischief, the PR company partnering Wilkinson Sword, who have launched a sponsorship deal with British Fencing, began poorly as I struggled to find the balance between defence and attack and ultimately, I was outfought, suffering a disappointing 5-4 loss.

Even after the first match, I began to feel it in my legs. It may not look it while watching on a television set or in the arena itself but it is an extremely physical sport, where a whole host of muscles are given vigorous workouts. The poise, movement and constant toing and froing start to take their toll early, and in spite of all the protective clothing, you certainly feel it when you get hit.

To coin the favoured cliché of many managers and coaches, it was time to bounce back and go again in my second match-up with a journalist from British newspaper the Evening Standard, based out of London. I felt much more at ease this time around. Part of me thought I was getting the hang of it but the end result was the same - a 5-4 defeat. Back to the drawing board.

Sticking with the footballing analogy, I was taking each match as it came and was fully confident I could end on a high. These feelings intensified when I raced into a 4-0 lead in my third and final game, picking my opponent off at will with a series of well-timed and well-placed attacks which I’m sure would not have looked out of place at the Olympic Games.

But, stupidly, I rested on my laurels and suffered the same fate as the previous two contests, losing by the dreaded 5-4 scoreline. It’s the taking part that counts, and all that.

Results aside, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, though I can’t say I will be rivalling the likes of International Olympic Committee President and team foil gold medallist at Montreal 1976 Thomas Bach anytime soon. The challenge is there, Mr President.

It was fascinating to gain an insight not just into the sport but also of those who have taken it up from an early age, such as Marcus Mepstead, who will be a part the four-strong British contingent in the Rio 2016 fencing competitions along with Laurence Halsted, Richard Kruse and James Davis.

“I started at an after school club and I kind of went into it by accident,” the 26-year-old current British champion said.

“My older brother was doing it and had a really good after school programme where I tried all sorts like karate, swimming, boxing and fencing. I used to watch him have a go and think ‘I want to beat him’ so they’d give me the sword.

“I think I was about seven at the time and would start running at people, stabbing them, and the teacher would be like ‘you can’t do that!’

“They’d take the blade away and put me in the corner and I’d sit there and think ‘oh man, I want to do this properly’ but every time I go it’s not really happening.

“[I had] about a year of this and then afterwards they let me do my first competition and I won, and from then on I fenced for country and now I’m here.”

Perhaps there’s hope for me after all.