Fencing Club at Community Park:

The goal of this program is to introduce the fundamentals of fencing to a group of students at Community Park and Little Brook Elementary Schools. I really enjoy teaching these elementary school groups and exposing new athletes to the sport of fencing. We will learn basic footwork, basic blade-work, strategy and tactics in the framework of foil.

A quick note on attire, basic athletic attire for the class is perfect.

  • T-shirt (I prefer the polyester ‘wicking’ variety under my fencing jacket), long sleeve shirts or hoodies get really hot and bulky under the fencing gear
  • Sneakers, court shoes are great but any athletic shoe works well enough
  • Leg covering, sweatpants, leggings or trainers, anything that covers the legs even though they are not valid target, they will get hit and need protection

One last note about safety, Fencing is an incredibly safe sport, one of the safest there is.Scientific American Article on Head and Leg injury in sports (link) while serious injuries are uncommon, there will be bruises, possibly some scrapes. Hard hits happen, especially with beginners and they can hurt and potentially leave a mark, the good news is that small bruises are probably the worst we will see. The main thing that prevents serious injury in this sport is adherence to protocol and proper use of the equipment and safety gear.

The sport of fencing is engaging and exciting in many ways and helps teach skills that serve as a strong foundation for all aspects of students life: determination, good sportsmanship, problem solving and how to handle success and failure.

Fencing is a Varsity sport at Princeton High School and Princeton Interscholastic Fencing is working to develop additional training and feeder programs in the middle schools.

I am very much looking forward to this developing program with the Princeton Elementary Schools.