Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

The world of fencing saw a drastic decline with the pandemic. All sports saw a huge decline, with the world being pushed into unknown territory and an unclear path to recovery. 

With the cancellation of almost an entire fencing season and the forced shutdown of most fencing clubs, fencing went online and dormant for the better part of a year. There were times that it looked truly dire, and even the most optimistic of us wondered what things would look like when the world reopened. 

We are now able to see some hint of what will happen with reopening, how and when fencing might recover. Below, you’ll find a series of charts that break down the membership numbers from USA Fencing, followed by an analysis of what those numbers mean. Keep in mind, this is just the beginning. Right now, we have numbers from January 2021, at the height of lockdown, and June 2021, when reopening started to take hold. The numbers are encouraging.

Keep reading to see what’s been happening!

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It has been a long year of lockdowns, closings, and slow reopenings. What’s changed now is that we are in the bright sunshine of a new day and a new time! There is the golden opportunity to turn the page while still remembering the lessons of the book that we all just read together.  

While no one could call the process of the last year easy, especially for families with kids, we can all agree that reopening is a joyful finale to the tribulations that we’ve worked through together. We made it through all of this with the support of each other, and we will keep on moving forward with that same kind of support. 

Why fencing is important post-pandemic

The loss of in-person sports was tough on a lot of kids. Fencing provides a needed stress relief, emotional release, and physical outlet for kids.

Training through zoom and social distancing did indeed take us far! We are thankful that it dulled the loss and kept us going, but now that restrictions are lifting left and right and vaccinations are pushing case numbers down, we need to get back into the groove of what life can be like. The last year has been a fog that in many ways obscured the feeling of accomplishment and excitement that fencing brings. 

For many fencers, this is a hobby and also an identity. “What do you do?” “I am a fencer.” It’s not like “I play soccer” or “I do gymnastics” – “I am a fencer.” Without the ability to go to clubs and compete, they did not feel themselves. We worked hard to keep that connection online and with training through masks and outside, but without competition and in-person connection, it could not be as it was. 

Reconnecting with this identity is important for kids, and for adult fencers. For new fencers, this sport offers a place to reset and create a new post-pandemic identity. We get to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and learn more about who we can be. 

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Everyone says that “you can do anything if you put your mind to it.” What happens when you’re struggling to put your mind to it though? 

There are times that it’s easy to push through and keep on going, but there are also times when you need to find some new tactics because you get stuck. That’s especially true if you’ve failed recently, because failure challenges our belief that we’re capable. Tactical thinking is something that fencers are good at in general, it’s a skill that we develop as part of our training anyway. Just as we know that we can always look at a fencing problem in a new way, we can look at larger problems that aren’t on the strip in a different way. Make no mistake – there is always a way to keep moving forward. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Motivating yourself is mostly a matter of getting some new tools to refocus and keep going. 

Here are six ways to keep going when you’re down. 

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There are a thousand things that fencing moms do for us, from scheduling lessons to arranging our gear to cheering us on when we are competing. Our fencing moms make our world work, and we are so deeply thankful for them that we know we can’t repay their generosity and guidance. Fencing moms step in every day to keep fencers training, in a thousand little ways that we most probably don’t even know about. There is true magic around moms! 

Though there is not ever a way to totally repay them for all that they do, we do try our best. This year, we decided to give them some jokes that might make them laugh and also let them know how much we see all the things they’re doing. Though we might not say it enough, we appreciate our fencing moms every day of the year.

We are not utterly original in our jokes, and some of them are free improvisations based on timeless classics, but hey, we righteously stole them at a swordpoint. 🙂

Now for the laughs! 

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We all like to be comfortable. Especially in times when things out there are making us feel discomfort. 

In fencing, we see comfort in all kinds of ways. Fencers learn that certain things work and begin to rely on this kind of parry or that kind of footwork to give them a quick point. It’s possible to make this work for a while, but if you aren’t adapting and growing then it won’t continue to work for long. Staying static is the path to stagnating. 

There’s nothing wrong with seeking comfort in things that make life easier or allow us to recharge. However, there is also always room to push ourselves and improve our lives. Oftentimes we think that we need comfort when growth would actually make us feel better. Fighting the pull towards easing into social media, extra sleep, Netflix, or any other passive routine, does involve self-discipline and expansion. How can we do that?

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