A few weeks ago, USA Fencing published something that I’ve been waiting for — fencing safety in numbers. This is real data on fencing safety, Not anecdotal evidence, not comparisons to other sports based on small studies, but a comprehensive analysis of more than 637,000 direct elimination bouts spanning six full seasons. The report, titled Identifying Competition Safety Focal Points, was developed by USA Fencing’s Data Resource Team led by Marc Shull, and it confirms what those of us who have spent decades in this sport have always known: fencing is remarkably safe. Statistically inclined people are welcome to dig into this report.

Before I dig into the hgh level findings and what they mean for our community, I want to give sincere kudos to USA Fencing for doing this work. Gathering and analyzing data at this scale — 26,930 events, 44,527 unique fencers, six years of Fencing Time Live records — is no small undertaking. The fencing community is stronger when we have real numbers to inform our decisions, and this report sets a new standard. Well done, USA Fencing!

What the Numbers Tell Us

The headline figure is striking. The medical withdrawal rate across all those bouts was 0.338%. That’s roughly one withdrawal for every 296 direct elimination bouts. Of all the fencers analyzed, only 3.9% experienced even a single medical withdrawal over six entire seasons, and 83% of those fencers withdrew just once.

Let me put that in perspective. If your child fences in a typical local tournament with, say, four or five DE bouts, the chance of anyone in the entire event medically withdrawing from any given bout is vanishingly small. And remember — a medical withdrawal doesn’t necessarily mean an injury happened during the bout. It covers everything from dehydration to muscle cramps to a pre-existing condition flaring up.

For parents of younger fencers — and I know many of you read this blog because your child just started and you’re still a little uneasy about the whole fencing thing — the following finding should make you breathe easier: the youngest competitors, fencers age 10 and under, had some of the lowest medical withdrawal rates of any group. The Y8 category recorded a rate of just 0.102%, or approximately one withdrawal per 978 bouts. Athletes in their first year of competition were also among the least likely to withdraw medically.

The data showed that no single factor drives medical withdrawals. Instead, they tend to increase modestly as fencers compete more frequently, face more experienced opponents, and reach higher competitive levels — which is what you’d expect in any athletic endeavor. Even at the highest levels, rates stayed well below 1%.

Among weapons, epée had the lowest rate at 0.261%, foil the highest at 0.393%, and saber fell between them at 0.369%. So epee is the safest weapon among the three, by whooping 35% less injuries than in foil! Gender did not play a consistent role. And for those curious about the mixed-gender events that have been growing rapidly in recent years, the report found that the picture was genuinely complex and inconsistent across weapons — far from the simple narrative some might expect.

Beyond the Competition Strip: What Happens in Training

Here’s where I want to add something from our own experience at AFM, because the USA Fencing report, excellent as it is, analyzed competitive bouts. That’s the data that exists and can be tracked. But anyone involved in the sport knows that for every competitive bout a fencer has, there are many orders of magnitude more exchanges happening in training, in lessons, in drills, in sparring at the club.

We can’t know the statistics of what happens during training across all clubs — that data simply doesn’t exist and would be impossible to gather systematically. But I can speak from over a decade of running one of the largest competitive fencing clubs in the Bay Area, working with hundreds of young athletes.

Fencing in training is indeed safe. Honestly, the majority of acute injuries we’ve seen at AFM over the years haven’t come from fencing at all. They’ve come from kids participating in PE classes at school — rolled ankles during basketball, jammed fingers during volleyball, that sort of thing. Our fencers walk into the club already hurt from something else. This has been a consistent pattern for as long as I can remember.

That said, injuries in fencing do happen. They happen in every physical activity. The question isn’t whether they’ll ever occur but whether we’re doing everything we can to prevent them and respond properly when they do. And that’s where coaches, parents, and fencers all have a role to play.

Prevention: The Work That Keeps Fencers Healthy

Over the years, both in this blog and in our daily coaching at AFM, we’ve emphasized that the foundation of injury prevention in fencing isn’t complicated. It’s the same principles that apply to every sport, applied with the discipline our sport demands.

Proper conditioning is first. Fencing is a full-body sport that requires explosive movement, sustained endurance, and fine motor control all at once. A fencer who is physically prepared — whose muscles, tendons, and cardiovascular system are ready for the demands of training and competition — is far less likely to get hurt. This means regular strength training, particularly for the legs and core, and cardiovascular conditioning that matches the interval nature of fencing. You can’t just fence your way into fencing shape. The body needs preparation beyond the strip.

Warming up is non-negotiable. Every training session and every competition day should begin with a proper warm-up that raises the heart rate, increases blood flow to muscles, and prepares joints for the range of motion fencing demands. This is especially critical for the legs, hips, and shoulders. We see it all the time — kids rush onto the strip without warming up because they’re excited to fence. Coaches must enforce this, and parents should reinforce it at home.

Stretching and flexibility matter enormously. The lunge is one of the most fundamental movements in fencing, and it requires significant hip and hamstring flexibility. Fencers who don’t invest in flexibility work are essentially asking their muscles and ligaments to do things they’re not prepared for, over and over again. This is how strains happen. Regular stretching — not just a quick thirty seconds before practice, but dedicated flexibility training — can prevent a huge percentage of the soft tissue injuries we see in fencing.

Cool-down is the part everyone skips, and it’s a mistake. After intense training or competition, the body needs a structured transition back to rest. Light movement, stretching while muscles are still warm, and hydration are all part of this. A proper cool-down helps the body begin its recovery process and reduces the kind of stiffness and soreness that can compound into real problems over time.

Hydration and nutrition are often overlooked, especially at tournaments. A full day of competition — and I mean those long tournament days where your child has pools in the morning and DEs stretching into the afternoon or even evening — is physically demanding. Dehydration and insufficient fueling are genuine contributors to muscle cramps, fatigue, and the kind of decreased focus that can lead to injuries. Remind your fencer to eat and drink even when they’re nervous or caught up in the excitement of the event.

When Injuries Do Happen: Don’t Make Them Worse

The most common fencing injuries — bruises, blisters, muscle strains, tendonitis, twisted knees and ankles — are generally not serious. But they can become serious if handled poorly. We’ve written extensively about these over the years, and the principles haven’t changed.

The single biggest mistake I see is fencers returning too quickly. A strained hamstring that gets two days of rest instead of two weeks becomes a partially torn hamstring. A nagging elbow that gets ignored becomes chronic tendonitis that sidelines a fencer for months. The desire to push through is natural, especially when there’s a qualifying tournament on the calendar. But there are no shortcuts with recovery. Time is the treatment.

We always tell our athletes and their families that an injury doesn’t mean you stop training entirely. If you have a leg injury, you can still work on bladework and arm exercises. If you have an elbow issue, you can focus on footwork and conditioning. Use the downtime to strengthen areas you’ve been neglecting. Fencing is chess with your body — there is always something to work on.

And please, if an injury doesn’t improve with rest and basic care, see a doctor. There is no substitute for professional medical evaluation. Coaches and parents can offer guidance, but we’re not physicians.

Safety Is Everyone’s Responsibility

Back in 2019, I created a safety infographic for fencing clubs because I felt strongly that safety awareness needed to extend beyond the fencers themselves. It needed to include everyone in the venue — coaches, referees, parents, spectators, and yes, the athletes. The post contans large (I think it’s 6’x3′ high quality file for printing download and print for your club).

This remains just as true today. A few reminders:

For fencers: Never fence without full, properly fitting protective equipment. Check your gear regularly for wear. Report any equipment issues immediately. Never point a weapon at someone who isn’t wearing a mask. Respect the strip and the space around it. If something hurts, speak up — there is no honor in fencing through a real injury.

For parents and spectators: Stay behind the designated areas. Don’t crowd the strips. Be aware that fencers warming up may have weapons in hand. Keep younger siblings away from the fencing areas. And perhaps most importantly — don’t pressure your child to compete through pain. A tournament result is never worth a long-term injury.

For coaches: Model safety behavior. Enforce warm-up and cool-down routines. Teach proper technique not just because it wins bouts but because it protects bodies. Know when to pull a student out of competition, even when the student doesn’t want to stop. This is one of the hardest parts of coaching, and one of the most important.

The Big Picture

The USA Fencing report ends with a call for better data collection — capturing the specific reasons for medical withdrawals, recording scores and timing at the point of withdrawal, and extending tracking to pool bouts. These are excellent recommendations, and I hope the governing body pursues them. The more we know, the better we can protect our athletes.

But even without that additional data, the picture is clear. Fencing is one of the safest sports in the world. The numbers bear it out at the competitive level, and our experience confirms it at the training level. Your child is more likely to get hurt in gym class than at fencing practice.

That doesn’t mean we’re complacent. The reason fencing is so safe is precisely because we don’t take safety for granted. Every improvement in equipment, every safety rule, every coach who insists on proper warm-ups — these are the things that keep the numbers where they are. We owe it to the next generation of fencers to maintain that vigilance.

So fence with confidence. Train with discipline. Compete with passion. And take care of the body that makes it all possible.

The data is in, and fencing remains what it has always been — a thrilling, demanding, beautiful sport that is remarkably gentle on those who practice it.