Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

Of all of the questions that I get from parents about their children in fencing, the one that I get the most is: “Will my child be a successful fencer?” This question comes up early and often from fencing parents, and it’s understandable that they would want to know whether their child will make it as a fencer. From my point of view, it’s better to pivot the question instead to:  “What are the necessary ingredients for your child to succeed in fencing?” There is, unfortunately, no way to tell...

For the most part, fencing categories are easily identifiable and distinguishable. It’s clear from the name what they are and what groups comprise their ranks.  Youth categories are labeled with age-specific titles - Y8 through Y14 are clearly moving up through specific ages. It’s right there in the title. Veterans are mature fencers, which again makes sense because a veteran indicates someone who has been around for a long time. Cadet, Junior, and Senior all sound like military ranks as well,...

When a fencer loses a match, one of the most natural things to do is to start looking for a reason why they lost.  What if my lunges had been longer? What if I had controlled the distance more effectively? What if I were more focused during the match? What if I had cross trained better? These are pretty standard questions that fencers ask themselves, but they aren’t the only things that roll around in the minds of athletes when they lose. The big question, the elephant in the room, is...