Our coaching philosophy is to teach the true art of modern fencing along with a lot of fun.  All fencers training with our program are placed on the path towards competition. They are never required to compete but they learn a competitive routine that they can use and adapt as they grow in each level of their entire fencing career. Training is like studying and preparing for the test. The exam is the competition – where you see how much you have learned and are able to apply.

Modern fencing is more athletic than ever before. Fencers start training and specializing at the young ages of 8 to 10 years old. The goals of a training program are to avoid injuries, yet develop speed, strength, and power to improve fencing performance. Advances in training come from questioning the validity of previous programs and viewing new methods as an opportunity to upgrade skills and enhance a student’s results.

There are two main aspects to an athlete’s competitive orientation. They are ego oriented or mastery oriented. In ego orientation they want to win and do well because it makes them look good, how do I compare to others? Losing is to be avoided at all costs – a poor result will result in hurting their self image of always a winner. Mastery orientation means the fencer wants to be become excellent in the sport. Most important to this fencer is “how much have I improved my skills?” A win without fencing well will not be as important. Both orientations exist to some extent in every fencer. We believe that having a high amount of mastery orientation will promote long term fencing participation and growth as an athlete and person.

Using our backgrounds in sports medicine and psychology we have written two definitive texts on training young fencers:  Fencing Sabre: A Practical Training Guide for Coaches, Parents and Young Athletes and Fencing Foil: A Practical Training Guide for Coaches, Parents and Young Athletes. The two books are used nationally and internationally by coaches and fencers for the most updated information on how to train young fencers.

We incorporate the latest in training technology to develop a safe functional fitness training program for young fencers.  Our program also provides mental training techniques for each student as they move into competition.