While we welcome the end of a fencing match, we also know that the ending is the hardest part of the whole process. The final minutes are always much more challenging than the opening minutes. Taking charge of those riveting and oftentimes overwhelming moments that...
There's an old saying that goes "Dig your well before you're thirsty." It's simple wisdom that applies to nearly every aspect of life, and it’s definitely relevant to competitive fencing. The moment you step onto a competition strip, your fate is essentially sealed --...
Three years ago one girl came to our fencing summer camp, clutching her mother's hand, eyes wide with uncertainty. She had never held a sword before. Never worn a mask. Never stood on a strip. Her mother whispered to me, "She's so shy, I'm not sure if this was the...
I recently stumbled upon a quote from Winston Churchill that stopped me in my tracks: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." These words resonated deeply with me, not just as a life philosophy, but as the perfect encapsulation...
In the demanding world of elite sport, careers are typically measured in years, not decades. Yet at 44, Estonian epee fencer Irina Embrich continues to compete at the highest international level, defying conventional wisdom about athletic longevity. From her first...
I want to talk about hope. Not the vague "I hope I win this tournament" or "I hope my fencer gets better" kind of hope. No, I want to talk about real, substantial hope – the kind that sustains us through the darkest moments in fencing and beyond. You might be...
I want to talk about planning for next season. Wait, you might probably want to say to me, it's still three months left in the 2024-2025 season, we still have a few regionals and the Summer National competition. Why should we plan the season so soon? And maybe you...
At March NAC I was standing near one of our students when I overheard a conversation between two fencing parents who discussed a child of one of these two parents when he was disconnecting from a reel after a devastating 0:5 bout. His mother was lamenting that her...
In fencing, as in life, our memories of how we felt during crucial moments tend to fade. The intensity of that devastating loss, the thrill of executing a perfect attack, the frustration of a missed opportunity—all become less vivid with time. As a result, we often...
One of the most frustrating moments for parents of USA Fencing is when their absolutely perfect video wouldn't be accepted by a referee as proof of a devastatingly wrong call the referee made. So often such crucial mistakes are made at every level of competition, from...
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