Academy of Fencing Masters Blog

Fencing is chess on the feet, or so they say. Many parents, and many novice fencers, are clueless as to what that means. It’s a conversation that I have with a lot of new parents and new fencers because they don’t really understand the importance of thinking in fencing. It isn’t like other sports, it’s truly a unique venture. With the right thinking, you can outplay opponents who are physically stronger than you are. This aspect isn’t always easy to explain, but my hope is to break it down...

Can you train to win in sports while still building positive relationships with your opponents, and be a compassionate competitor? The answer is a big, bold, YES! Competitive sports, even at the highest levels, don’t have to mean throwing your opponent under the bus to win. Too often today we see fierce competition devolve into schoolyard bullying or sometimes worse. Not just in sports, but in our wider culture as well. People can feel disconnected from each other anyway, and when you add on...

Relating the unfamiliar to something that is familiar is a powerful way to change the way you see it. Sometimes it’s really helpful for us to stop what we’re doing and think about things in a totally different way. Looking at fencing from a different angle, one that’s outside of our usual box, can make training better and success closer. This is especially true when we’re talking about something that’s new to us, like the way that fencing competition is new for novice fencers and their...

Congratulations! Your child has received their first full set of fencing gear and now they’re eager to dress up and start training. You’re probably a little nervous about the gear, because of course you want your child to be safe when they are fencing, and that’s a reasonable concern. Excitedly, they open up the fencing bag that they received from their fencing club or from a fencing shop and suddenly it hits you - how do you put all of these things on? Fencing gear is here to help keep your...