Art of Fencing, Art of Life

Month: September 2018 Page 1 of 2

4 Things Fencers Can Learn From Serena Williams

Four Things Fencers Can Learn From Serena WilliamsFencing and tennis are not entirely different sports. Both are individual, with two opponents and a referee required. Both are prized sports in the Olympics. Both invoke a great deal of passion from their athletes. Both are famous for their grunting and yelling during matches. While we might not have a ball and they might not have a sword, the dynamics of the two are similar.

The furor surrounding tennis superstar Serena William over the last few weeks is almost impossible to ignore. From her Black Panther inspired catsuit that was banned from the French Open to her showdown with a referee in the U.S. Open Final that seemingly cost her the Grand Slam title, she has been an athlete swirling in controversy.

No matter where you fall in terms of her behavior or the behavior of the judge during that U.S. Open Final, we can all agree that there are plenty of lessons that athletes, including fencers, can learn from what happened.

Why do Experienced Epee Fencers Sometimes Lose to Beginners?

Why do Experienced Epee Fencers Sometimes Lose to BeginnersRecently I had a thought-provoking conversation with a mom of one of our serious epee fencers. This experienced epeeist had gone to a fencing competition where he’d won all of his bouts against A and B rated rivals, but oddly lost two bouts against relatively “beginners”. How could this happen? The mom thought that it came down to nerves, however there’s much more to it than that.

This outcome, while it doesn’t happen every day, is at the same time not at all uncommon. How and why experienced epee fencers specifically can find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard against beginners is threefold.

How to Hack your Fencing Schedule and Duties

How to Hack your Fencing Schedule and DutiesWhen I look at our own family and its fencing schedule, with four kids attending fencing lessons, classes, camps, travelling to different competitions, ranging from local to nationals, I can feel totally overwhelmed.

And I realize often, that I need to figure out what the most stressful things are, and how I can manage them more simply?

I am sure as a devoted fencing parent you also may experience a lot of stress in your fencing parenting that you would like to avoid or at least handle better. Know that you aren’t alone in this, and hopefully I will address some ways that you can manage this stress  based on my own experience and on what I see other parents do.

Create a Fencing Scrapbook to Capture a Whole Season of Memories

fencing scrapbookEvery parent wants to capture the memories that their children make, it’s part of being a parent! But what to keep and what to get rid of can be a big challenge, especially for fencing parents who follow their children from season to season. Organizing your child’s fencing career into a scrapbook or a series of scrapbooks is easy and it takes the guesswork out of the whole thing. Not only that, it’s something the kids can get involved with and make their own!

Here are few tips for creating a fencing scrapbook to help preserve the memories of your young fencer.

Why Do Parents Pay So Much for Fencing?

Why Do Parents Pay So Much for FencingSomething that we’ve heard people ask, more than once, is “Why should I pay so much for my child to do fencing?”

Let’s be real, fencing can be an expensive sport. Compared to soccer or track, there’s more equipment to buy and a wider range of competitions to go to. Unlike school sports, parents are footing the bill all on their own. Classes, camps, and private lessons all cost. Those bills add up, and for families that matters. So why do fencing parents do it?

The secret answer is – they aren’t paying for fencing.

That’s right, no one is paying for sword fighting lessons. They aren’t paying for trophies with fencing swords on them. They aren’t paying for cool jackets or coaches with exotic accents. They aren’t even paying to be part of a centuries old art of chivalry.  If it’s not any of those things, then what is it that they’re paying for?

Here are ten things that fencing parents are paying for when they sign their kids up for fencing lessons.

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