The Fairfax Challenge Winter RJCC/RYC is scheduled to take place on the weekend of December 19 in Fredericksburg Virginia. It’s a wonderful time to have a Fencing tournament. It’s cold outside, there’s Christmas music playing and holiday cheer all around. Fireplaces are burning. And almost 300,000 people are dead from Covid. Virginia Covid hospitalizations are … Continue reading The State of Virginia has prohibited the December Fredericksburg RJCC/RYC. USA Fencing doesn’t seem to care. →

Originally posted on Tim Morehouse's Fencing University. Re-posted on thefencingcoach.com with Tim's permission "There's a fairly strong inverse correlation between people who don't like yelling and fencing skill." -Nick Johnson Fencing has a unique dichotomy that distinguishes itself from other Olympic sports: on the one hand, it’s rooted in the values of sportsmanship and respect … Continue reading Why Fencers Yell (and Why People Should Stop Being Whiny Babies About It) →

Coming back to win It wasn’t looking good. I was fencing better than I ever had that day, but I let myself slip, and got down 14-9. If I won, I would get my first top 8 at a senior national tournament, and an important result toward making the national team - but that didn’t … Continue reading Winning at Fourteen-All (a Guest Post by Corwin Duncan) →

I’ll be the first to admit there’s an element of hypocrisy to this post. I probably use my cellphone too much to check my work email, catch a Pokémon or 30 in Pokémon Go, swap texts with friends, or make an occasional s***post on Reddit (okay, more like frequent s***posts on Reddit and a few … Continue reading Cellphones be Damned: Staying Focused in the Fencing Club →

As a lover of sports, I have played Football, Basketball, and Fútbol. I wrestled, I boxed (my brain works; I can still read good), and of course, I still actively fence. Each sport, though a potpourri of individual and team has provided me with a unique perspective on the virtues of being a good teammate. … Continue reading The Fencing Coach’s Guide to Being a Good Teammate →

Two weeks ago, the FIE Congress passed a series of new non-combativity rules that will bring material changes to Epee, and to a lesser extent, Foil fencing. There’s a lot to track here, so I’ve tried my best to break down the nuances of the rules below. I’d like to qualify this post with a … Continue reading The Fencing Coach’s Initial Reactions to the FIE’s new Non-Combativity Rules →

Part I - Not in Our Sport Part II - Tales of Sexual Harassment & Assault We now know there is a sexual harassment and abuse problem, so what can we do to fix it? My survey asked for solutions for creating a more positive and safe environment for everyone. Going forward, if you were … Continue reading Regarding Sexual Harassment and Assault in Fencing: Part III – We Can Do Better →

Part I - Not in Our Sport Part of this survey was giving women a safe space to anonymously share what harassment or assault they had experienced. This section of the series has given me the most anguish, for a couple of reasons. One, it was hard to know which stories to share. Harassment and … Continue reading Regarding Sexual Harassment and Assault in Fencing: Part II – Tales of Sexual Harassment & Assault →

Dear Fencing Community, Scandals of sexual abuse have rocked USA Swimming and USA Gymnastics, it’s not a stretch for us to wonder if USA Fencing has a similar problem which should be investigated and addressed. Sexual harassment and assault have become hot topics in the wake of the #MeToo movement, and we can’t assume fencing … Continue reading Regarding Sexual Harassment and Assault in Fencing: Part I – Not in Our Sport →

Albert Bandura, the famed psychologist and founder of Social Learning Theory (SLT) posited that our brains go through four mediational processes while learning: Attention: How one is exposed to and processes a behavior. Retention: How one remembers the exposed behavior. Reproduction: How one performs the behavior s/he’s exposed to. Motivation: How one develops the will … Continue reading How to Immediately Waste a Private Fencing Lesson →