A new fencing season is upon us and that means it’s time to start preparing for a fresh round of competitions! The first SYC (Super Youth Circuit) in Texas and the first Y10MF Bay Cup tournament (Youth Under 10 Men's Foil) are both coming up in just one month. Some of...
Academy of Fencing Masters Blog
Art of Fencing, Art of Life
Month: July 2014
IMPORTANT: Renew your USFA Membership THIS WEEK
The current fencing season ends in just one week and the 2014-2015 season starts on August 1st. Remember to update your USFA membership this week if you haven’t already! After August 1st, you can’t fence without it. All fencing clubs require USFA membership: it...
How to Plan Your Child’s Fencing Competitions for Next Year
For many of you, fencing is a new passion for your child and a new frontier for you as well! With the lack of mainstream knowledge, it can be a tough sport to jump into when it comes to supporting your child and figuring out the best choices for attending...
New qualification rules for Y10 and Y12 fencers for 2015 Fencing Summer National Championship
With recent changes to the USFA qualification rules for Y10 and Y12 fencers, many parents are confused and we’d like to do our best to clarify the new rules and answer some common questions. We know that you are working to plan your next year of fencing competitions...
AFM Beginner Fencing Camp Graduates: “I love fencing!”
It’s not easy to put into words the excitement and pride we feel after a wonderful five days last week at the AFM Beginner Fencing Camp. This was the first of our summer camps for the year and we’re off to a great start. It’s truly amazing to watch these young fencers...
Following the Action: Tips for watching (and enjoying!) a fencing bout
Have you ever seen someone sit through a football or baseball party bored and uninterested in the game? It’s usually because he or she doesn’t know the rules and can’t follow along. When it comes to a lesser-known sport like fencing, most parents come to the table...
Competitive Fencing Equipment for Children: What do you really need?
Many novice parents want to know what fencing equipment is really required for fencing competitions. They look at the heavy bags and cases carried around by experienced fencers and they see dollar signs. All of that stuff looks expensive, doesn’t it? Buying fencing...
Fencing Rules for the Novice Parent: Strategy differences for foil, epee, and sabre
When you attend big fencing tournaments with events occurring simultaneously for multiple weapons (foil, epee, and sabre), you will notice how different the bouts are to watch depending on the weapon. You will see epee fencers jumping in place for a long time until...
Fencing Rules for the Novice Parent: Rule differences for foil, epee, and sabre
We know the rules of fencing can be confusing when you’re only talking about one weapon, then you add in three different sets of rules for three different weapons! Well, first, many rules are exactly the same for all weapons as covered in our last blog. Second, most...