The next two weeks are the last to be qualified for summer nationals in some categories via a regional tournament or divisional qualifier. In other words, this is your last chance to evaluate your current standings including how many regional points your child has,...
Tournament seeding in fencing can be a confusing and complicated concept to grasp and understand. Especially for a first time competitor or new spectator to the sport. Hopefully I can help you break down what you need to know in a simple and concise way. Seeding is...
Recently, the FIE officially approved a rule change that would allow wearing only a specific type of chest protector in the foil category of fencing, which was also adopted by the USFA. The rule is dictated by the following: Per Section m.25.4(c): “At all...
The final stretch leading up to USA Fencing Summer Nationals is here! Most of the qualifying tournaments are behind us, which means that most fencers know where they stand in the path to qualification. But there are a few qualifying events still left! There are...
The Junior Olympics are not just a little Olympic Games! The name is just a nice name (and many US sports use this name for their respective championships). A nice name that confuses people who are new to the sport, but again this competition is not intimately tied to...
The rarest and most serious penalty in fencing is the black card. Novice fencers might not understand the consequences of a black card. For instance, if a fencer gets a black card for acting out after a match that they lost anyway, what does it matter? First off, it...
Change is coming to the world of epee. A recent meeting of the FIE rules committee saw a proposal that will drastically affect epee fencing. The proposal was accepted and will begin to be integrated into international competition starting this coming January 2018...
Every year, the USFA makes changes in national level events in an effort to make national fencing more competitive at the international level. These changes do contribute to the significant improvement of USA fencing and we love seeing them. This year one of the most...
It’s that time of year again – time to figure out the qualifying paths for US Fencing Summer Nationals! Every year there are tweaks to the rules that mean we all need to bone up on what’s going on. This year there aren’t too many changes, and really the ones that we...
Being in Salt Lake City at the US Fencing Summer Nationals gives a fencer and their parents a lot of experience. It’s the kind of experience that’s very difficult to acquire in any other venue. This experience is invaluable and cannot be substituted, either by private...
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