Art of Fencing, Art of Life

Month: August 2016 Page 1 of 2

The Importance of a Team in Fencing

The Importance of a Team in Fencing  – By Aditi Soin

The importance of a team in fencingWhen people think of fencing, they think of two people on a strip trying to stab each other. That it is an individual sport and fencers fence one on one. In fencing, we do have team events in addition to the individual events. But team events in fencing are very different than, for example, basketball games where each member is involved at the same time on the court. So even in the team events, it does become highly individual. Although this is the case, people generally overlook the team aspect of fencing.

Even though fencing is a very individual sport, a team can be extremely important. On the strip, it gives you a bigger group of people to train with, preparing you better for competitions. Without your team, your vocabulary on the strip may not be as large as it could be with a team. The more you practice, the better you get. Therefore, having a team can directly impact your results in a more competitive setting. 

Best Fencing Clubs 2015 – 2016 Award by National Club Rankings!

AFM Receives Best Fencing Clubs 2015 – 2016 National Club Rankings!

Best Fencing Clubs 2015 - 2016 Award by National Club Rankings!

This year has meant a lot to AFM – it’s been a season of growth and achievement for our fencers as we build on our success and push forward towards the future. And once again we’ve got some amazing news to share about our club, as again this year we’ve taken some amazing honors from the National Fencing Club Rankings (NFCR) organization.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, NFCR is an independent organization that looks at fencing clubs across the US and offers rankings based on performance and other factors. It’s not affiliated with any club or group, and so that means that they aren’t playing favorites at all with the lists that they put out. Why do they do this? To raise the profile of fencing and to help grow our sport.

The Rankings

This year we’re so proud to have improved even over last year’s amazing rankings!

Back to School for Fencers – How to Prepare

Back to School For FencersGetting ready for back to school is something that all families do, but for fencing families the whole process is doubled down as fencing competition season starts to get going in the fall as well. That means that we’ve got to worry about both our sport as well as all of the academic and social changes that come with the new school year.

Here are some ways that families can prepare for the back to school season to make things as easy as possible going forward into the new school year and the new fencing season.

A Day in the Life of an Olympic Fencer

USA Olympic fencers - men's foil team winning bronze at Rio 2016What does life look like for an Olympic Fencer? It’s one of those intensely burning questions that many of us have, trying to figure out how these amazing athletes get there so that we can try to emulate what they’re doing and get that much better ourselves. We’re intensely fascinated with what it means to be an Olympian, with what it means to take the sport to that kind of incredible level.

Before you read on, keep in mind that this is a sample training schedule. We’ve poured over interviews with world class athletes, particularly USA Fencing athletes and added it to our own experiences training fencers for high level competitions. Check out this piece about Time Morehouse and Race Imboden, or many other interviews with Olympic fencers. With all of this, we’ve compiled what a training day looks like for a high level fencer, based on what the fencers say themselves. While the hours or the specifics of any training schedule may vary, the essence of the whole thing is the same. One of the things about any sport is that it’s highly individual. Every athlete finds a training regimen that works really well for them, one that brings them to their highest level.

Why Loosing Is Important to Athletes

Losing important athletesI love losing. Don’t get me wrong, I hate it in the moment. I cry, I throw (mini) tantrums. I get upset at my coach. I get upset at my parents. I get upset at myself. But soon after, I no longer feel upset.

Losing always seems like a terrible thing to people. As if it is the end of the world and there is no way to make it up. But in reality, losing is one of the most important things to happen to an athlete.

During my senior year of high school, I had a month where I was doing really well. I placed really high at a division 1 regional event and the next weekend, WON Junior Olympic qualifiers. I was fencing really well and I thought I was on a roll. But as soon as all that was over, my fencing deteriorated. I couldn’t win anything. I lost most of my bouts and the ones I won were honestly just lucky. I lost at JO’s, I lost at North American Cups, I lost at division 1 regionals, I lost everywhere. I couldn’t qualify for events I was supposed to be really good at for nationals and the events I somehow did end up qualifying for, I bombed. For those seven months, all I really did was lose.

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