For Parents Archives - Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

Lost bout: How to Cherish Every Fencing Bout Your Kid Loses

This post was borne out of my personal parental experience at 2019 Fencing Summer Nationals in Columbus, OH, watching as my kids lost their bouts. How they cried. How they struggled. How they processed their defeat. How they talked about their lost bout afterwards, never right away.

Inside a kid fencer’s mind after a lost bout

For a parent, it is always difficult to watch your child cry. You understand that they are crying out of frustration. You know that they put a huge amount of effort into their training. They are now asking themselves tough questions like these:

“Am I worth it?”
“Am I any good at fencing?”
“Is all of this hard work even worth it?”
“Am I doing anything right? Can I do anything right?”
“Why is she/he better than me?”
“Why does this girl/boy train for half the time that I do and still beat me?”
“Why are the refs so bad, calling for my opponent all the time?”

They might even start to ask themselves the really tough question.

“Should I just quit fencing?”

Eight ways to Improve Your Summer Fencing Regime

By Igor Chirashnya

On July 1, 2019

In For Parents, Health

Eight ways to Improve Your Summer Fencing Regime

Summer is here, school is out, and for fencers that means there’s a break in the fencing season. For those going to Fencing Summer Nationals in the middle of the summer, there is some major motivation to keep training until then. For those not going to Fencing Summer Nationals, or after the big competition is over, it can be a major challenge to find their way to keep it up.

Some downtime and recovery is good for athletes. Taking the whole summer off, or even most of the summer off, that can come back to bite you in a bad way when the season starts again. Now that the summer season has officially started (Happy Solstice!), it’s a great time to start a good summer fencing training regime. How can you know what a good summer fencing schedule looks like? Here are eight ways to make the most of the time you’ve got off during these warm months.

9 Reasons Why Fencing is Good For Kids

By Igor Chirashnya

On June 17, 2019

In For Parents

Fencing is quickly becoming a popular sport for parents to choose for their children for a number of reasons. It’s beneficial for both the brain and body, as fencing is one of the only sports that requires a mental skill that matches the physical skill that’s required.

The other major point is that fencing is a sport that nearly anyone can participate in. Whether you are big or small, young or not-so-young, female or male, or even in many cases if you don’t have much of a “natural” athletic ability. For parents looking for a sport that their child can play for the rest of their lives, fencing is it. For parents who are looking for a sport that can possibly help their kids get a scholarship for college, fencing is it too. For parents looking for a sport that will teach their kids profound lessons that will cross over into their academic and professional lives, fencing is definitely the way to go.

Fencing is an excellent option (and for good reason! Or how about for good reasons?)

Why Fencing Is Good For Kids

There are a ton of reasons why fencing is a great sport for kids. On this blog we’ve talked about how fencing can improve self-esteem, how it can combat kid’s constant longing for electronic devices, and even how fencing can improve behavior and academics at school.

Now it’s time to dig a little deeper into what the sport of fencing is all about, and what makes it perfect for a young person to participate in. Here are nine reasons why fencing is so very good for kids.

Better Fencing Parenting with Maslow

By Igor Chirashnya

On May 28, 2019

In For Parents

It’s obvious that parents want to do what’s best for their child. That’s the point of parenting isn’t it? But the answer to helping your child definitely isn’t in doing everything for them. And it definitely isn’t in leaving them to do everything themselves. Now what you’ve got to figure out is how you can balance the two.

You need a guide to help you know how to foster independence and fulfill those needs. Luckily we just so happen to have one.

Most of us have heard of Maslow’s hierarchy. If you haven’t, don’t worry, we’re going to to talk about what it is and how fencing parents can use it.

Everyday Eating for Fencers [with detailed plan]

By Irina Chirashnya

On May 14, 2019

In For Parents, Health

You get out of your fencing practice what you put into it. We all know that. We also all know that you get out of your body what you put into it.

Put in good hard work into your fencing and you’ll get good results on the strip.

Put good food into your body and you’ll get good results out of your body.

But what is good food? We’ve all heard about how you should be focused on your calorie intake when you’re in intensive training for a competition. Olympic athletes eat rigid regimens in the months before qualification and of course before the games themselves. However we fencers aren’t training for big competitions all the time. Even regular season fencing competitions are relatively sporadic – one or two per month. Eating good and healthy thru the day, especially when you have school and practice afterwards, is a whole different thing.