For Parents Archives - Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

A common question that I get from fencing parents is this one: “Which fencing weapon is the most prestigious?”

It makes sense in a way. It’s a kind of logical question when you think about it, because these people don’t know a whole lot about fencing, and so they’re trying to make sense of something that they don’t have a reference for. They know that there are three different weapons. They know that their child is going to have to choose one. They want to guide their kids in the right direction, but they don’t know at all how to do it. So they ask questions that make sense to them. It’s a good thing.

Which one is it? Is it epee, foil, or sabre? Which fencing weapon is the most prestigious? It’s a big question that there must be an answer to! People who are new to fencing rightly want to have some understanding.

How Fencers and their Parents Can Live Like Olympians

By Igor Chirashnya

On January 6, 2020

In For Parents, Spirit

How Fencers and their Parents Can Live Like Olympians

How do you train like an Olympian? This year, we are going to see the biggest sports stage in the world, with fencing taking center stage more than it does at any other time. Naturally, many fencers and many fencing parents are wondering how they can train like these incredible Olympians.

The Olympics are very cool because we have so many resources to learn from these athletes. They don’t keep secrets about how they got to where they are. You can literally just go and listen to them, soak up the information. When you talk to Olympic fencers, they tell you how they got there and what their lives were like. There are similarities that run through their stories, and these are some of the themes that are very common.

How to Put on Fencing Gear, With Illustration

By Igor Chirashnya

On December 13, 2019

In For Parents

How to Put on Fencing Gear, With Illustration

Congratulations! Your child has received their first full set of fencing gear and now they’re eager to dress up and start training. You’re probably a little nervous about the gear, because of course you want your child to be safe when they are fencing, and that’s a reasonable concern.

Excitedly, they open up the fencing bag that they received from their fencing club or from a fencing shop and suddenly it hits you – how do you put all of these things on?

Fencing gear is here to help keep your child safe on the strip, and many parents are already a little concerned about their child picking up a sword. Though it can look a little intimidating, it’s actually not that intense! Like anything else, learning to put on fencing gear is just a matter of breaking things down.

Critical Preparations Before Each Fencing Bout

By Igor Chirashnya

On November 4, 2019

In For Parents

Critical Preparation Before Each Fencing Bout

Just before you step onto the strip for a bout, what’s going through your mind? In those few minutes before the bout, as you’re ready to step onto the strip and face your opponent, there are a lot of things to consider. How can you maximize your preparation? That’s exactly the question we are going to answer.

What we’re talking about here aren’t the big, sweeping parts. We’re not talking about what you need in order to prepare for the fencing competition, like how to pack your bag or what you need to do in the days before. This is right in those few moments before the match itself, the heat and height of the competitive experience. These things go for bouts that you might experience in your club on a daily basis, but they also apply to big bouts that you participate in at regional or national tournaments. This is what you do each time, every time before you go to fence, no matter where you are.

This has got to be a habit. Just as you want to get your footwork or your form so ingrained into your mind that you don’t give it another thought, so too do you want to get these things to be automatic. Doing so is going to free your mind to focus on other things like strategy.

We’re going to break down fencing bout preparation into two parts here – the small physical things and the mental. Each of these is important in its own right and has to be taken into account, and when you put them both together it’s absolutely wonderful.

Fencing Parents & Patience (or Lack Thereof)

By Igor Chirashnya

On October 16, 2019

In For Parents

Fencing Parents & Patience (or Lack Thereof)

Patience is a virtue, but it’s one that many of us struggle with.

I know that I struggle with patience, particularly when it comes to things that I don’t feel like I have a great deal of control over. I get frustrated when I get stuck in traffic or lose my patience when I get stuck on hold with my cable company. It’s a tough thing. I get that.

Patience is something that I see a lot of other parents struggling with as well, particularly as I watch parents navigate their kids in beginner fencing. How a child progresses in fencing can be frustrating for parents, in large part because it is out of their control. Whether your child “gets” it and moves forward in the sport isn’t anything that a parent can do for them.