“Good fencers make good neighbors”

Okay, that’s not quite the quote by Robert Frost.  His reads, “Good fences make good neighbors”…but at {YEL!}, we feel good fencers can make good neighbors too.  Why?  Research shows that fencing, like other youth activities, leads to healthier (and thus successful) students and life long athletes.  Plus, watching your neighbors dual each other in their driveway while wearing full fencing regalia is, at least, a great conversation starter.  Trust me, I know.

Lets party…with swords??

Five years ago, we were celebrating a family birthday and decided to have an in-family fencing tournament.  Yes, that was us in the driveway shouting “I challenge you to a dual”, “Huzzah” and even “I volunteer as tribute!”,

 may have been shouted.  What followed was a three year run of family fencing tournaments.  It was fun and certainly lead to interesting conversation with our new neighbors.

Fencing Benefits

There are both physical and mental benefits in fencing.  The sport takes quick reflexes to be sure, as well as devising a strategy to succeed in each match. Many in the sport refer to it as “chess with swords” because you have to set up each point and devise alternate strategies point by point.  So, fencers learn to make quick, fraction-of-a-second decisions while on offense, or when defending themselves.

A sampling of the numerous benefits of fencing include:

• It appeals to the intellectual athlete

  • Many intellectual children gravitate towards fencing because of the strategy, technical moves, and individual and team components.

• It’s active

  • Fencers are active, doing something that helps build confidence, not sitting around playing video games or watching television.

• It can help with focus

  • Many educators believe that fencing helps children focus better, including kids who may have an ADD or ADHD diagnosis.

• It promotes self-care

  • With fencing being more of an individual sport with team components, it enhances individualism and responsibility for the fencer/student who has to count on their own training, strategy, and
    

           [Fencing Bout; one-on-one]

    technical skill to set up and score a point.

• It promotes fitness

  • Your child’s fitness level will improve because of fencing, as fencing bouts (one-on-one matches) require active athleticism.  Meaning students are always moving in fencing bouts, which is different from many sports like lacrosse, baseball, or basketball when players can rest when the action isn’t in their area.

• It promotes camaraderie

  • While fencing can be more of an individual sport, {YEL!}’s program can also provide a sense of belonging, as they will be participating in a group setting. They’ll learn about the importance of
    

    St. Peter Fencing Team

    sportsmanship, helping each teammate develop, and along the way develop new friendships, too.

• It helps athleticism

  • Fencers can also expect to notice improvements in their balance and agility as they learn the sport, since fencing requires agility in the upper and lower body.

• You can be a late bloomer

  • Olympic coach Ro Sobalvarro discussed in a previous {YEL!} Blog (https://youthenrichmentleague.com/benefits-of-fencing-with-ro-sobalvarro/) that even fencers who take up the sport in high school for the first time can be successful.  He mentioned Solomon Polansky who started in high school and went on to qualify for national competitions and was on the John Hopkins fencing team.

If you are like me, the first time I heard about the sport of fencing I thought of Zorro or Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (NOTE: Using the “Force” is not allowed in high school fencing competition:-)  But it is much more than that.  Because fencing appeals to the “intellectual athlete”, it is an ideal activity for kids who enjoy sports but flourish in a one-on-one match with team components rather than sports that require play-by-play teamwork, such as in basketball, hockey or football.

Take Away

So, if your child is smart, athletic (or wants to become more so), needs an activity to get away from video games, or wants to make new friends and join an individual and team sport…we highly encourage you to try out fencing.  If you can’t find a fencing class near you, contact us at info@yelkids.com to get ideas on how to start a class or club.

{YEL!}

* {YEL!} has taught fencing for more than 10 years to thousands of kids, opening their eyes to an exciting and challenging sport that is loads of fun.  Numerous {YEL!} fencers have won state championships and some have even been hired as fencing coaches.