Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

How to Prevent Burnout

On May 4, 2018

How to prevent burnout in fencing A few weeks ago, for the first time in four years of writing and operating this blog, we didn’t post a blog or send an email. This was both nerve wracking and also somewhat of a relief. While we always have many blogs that Igor and I are writing, we chose to take a much needed break for us, for our family, and actually for the first time in a very long time…go on a vacation.

Our fencing kids, all competitive youth fencers, train about four or five times a week, sometimes up to 3 hours, and in addition to their training and regular competitions, as every other child they have their homework and bunch of other extracurricular activities.

As a fencing family, we are particularly aware of the concept burnout as it applies to our fencing kids, and to ourselves as parents of fencers. For us, taking a vacation was an important step to preventing a scenario of burnout that could affect the whole family.

What Happens As You Age Into New Age Category in Fencing?

By Igor Chirashnya

On April 30, 2018

In For Parents

What Happens As You Age Into New Age Category in Fencing? As your child advances and grows within the sport of fencing, they will encounter physical and mental hurdles that will be difficult, but not impossible to overcome. They will become stronger. They will become more competitive. But surprisingly, there is one hurdle that many parents and fencers do not anticipate, until they are met with it: Aging into a new age category of fencing, and eventually, aging out of youth competitions altogether.

Plan, But Validate Your USFA Rankings Are Official

By Igor Chirashnya

On April 26, 2018

In Rules and Regulations

Plan attending USA Fencing National Championship, But Wait Until Your USFA Rankings Are Official 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, which events you need to register for, and if there’s a chance for you to improve your standing by attending another event.

Parents, it’s important that you make a careful plan for the next steps of attending Summer Nationals, as time will quickly run out if your fencer still wants to qualify.

Five Ways Beginner Fencing Summer Camp is Different from other Summer Camps

By Irina Chirashnya

On April 23, 2018

In For Parents

Five Ways Beginner Fencing Summer Camp is Different from other Summer Camps

Beginner Fencing Summer Camp is Different from other Summer Camps. Here is why –

There are 13 summer vacations in a kid’s life.

That’s all! Just thirteen. What a child does during those two months can enrich them, expand their minds, and open doors to new experiences that they’ve never imagined. Filling that time between the end of school and the beginning of school can be tricky. We want our kids to continue to be engaged intellectually and physically, but we also want them to have that sense of being a kid while they can. It doesn’t last long!

Summer camp is a perfect way to fill some of those weeks, because it gives kids an intensive chunk of time to focus on learning or improving a skill or activity. Summer camp is summer camp right? Wrong! Not when it’s fencing camp! Beginner fencing summer camp is an experience unlike anything else your child can participate in during those summer months.

Here are five ways that beginner fencing camp stands out as a way for your child to get the most out of one of those thirteen summers.

Tournament seeding – what it is and how it is done

By Igor Chirashnya

On April 19, 2018

In Rules and Regulations

Fencing Tournament Seeding 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 conducted several times throughout a competition. There is a preliminary seeding that happens before the pools begin, and another seeding after the pool round.

Seeding occurs in order to create a sense of balance and order. Stronger opponents will be scattered equally amongst other less strong fencers. If there is no seeding, it’s possible that all of the stronger fencers could be fighting against one another within one single pool or the same branch of a tableau. Spreading them out in this way allows for a more fair competition, and allows other less higher seeded players to compete against the higher seeded fencers.