Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

A person's hand holding a crystal ball against the backdrop of the ocean, creating a unique and artistic perspective of the horizon reflected through the crystal. There is a widely held misconception that training is preparation for becoming a master in fencing. We come into lessons every week and we work with our coaches in an attempt to learn and grow so that we can perform well in competition because the competition is the really important thing. Or is it? Is competition the most important...

It’s the seventh anniversary of the AFM blog! We launched this online resource on February 3rd, 2014, and it’s been a joy every step of the way, even as it’s been a lot of hard work. In that way, it’s a whole lot like fencing itself. From that time, we set out to be a resource for parents, fencers, coaches, fans, and those who were just starting to dip their toes into this wonderful world. We never could have imagined how much we would grow or how far our words would reach, but for every...

Thanks to pandemic lockdowns, we have been forced to think differently about the way that we approach our training. Though fencing is an individual sport, it’s long been one that we practice in group settings, with coaches, classmates, training partners, and mentors on the strip to give us active feedback while we are learning to fence. Rarely was a fencer off training alone in their sport. That is no longer an option, with pandemic lockdowns pushing our fencing at best to socially distanced...

beautiful young and sexy woman What does it take to become an elite fencer?  This is a question that just about every fencer wants to know, and it’s one that we are always on the hunt for an answer to. There is actually not a simple answer, not in the slightest. There are things that we know work, but one that cuts through them all is this simple mantra - trust the sweat. The grind? I am not a real fan of the idea of “the grind” because it sounds far too negative. Work is a daily grind....

Back of woman standing happily at the lake while waiting to watch the sunset at the campsite. Ideas of travel and leisure time during the holidays. A mercantile goal is one that is based on trading up. You want to progress from where you are now to a place that is higher, for whatever reason, and there is a tangible payoff when you arrive. In fencing, some examples of mercantile goals would include getting into college, earning a rating, qualifying for a specific competition, etc.  This...

A new year means new goals and new possibilities. Though the last twelve months have been defining and challenging in ways that we haven’t seen for decades on a global scale AND on a personal level, there is every reason to think that things the new year 2021 will be different and improved. This year is one that has the potential to be extraordinary, for many reasons. We have learned lots of lessons and explored so many ways of living that we didn’t know were even possible, and now we get to...