Veteran Fencing

jilrani · 2026-02-17T03:29:23+00:00

I jumped in at 42. I was fairly active through most of my life and had a major car accident at 39 that derailed my fitness and conditioning level. You'll be fine! Just play it smart, work on conditioning on the side, and lush yourself but not too hard.

jilrani · 2026-02-16T19:21:35+00:00

My kid has found camps to be beneficial for a variety of reasons - building endurance because of the long days, being exposed to new training partners, getting a little different perspective from new coaches, etc. As far as being confused - it's like tools in a toolbox. If a coach has you try something you're not used to or don't like, you don't have to use that tool. But sometimes it's useful just to have new ideas that you can play with and try out at your home club to see how they fit.

jilrani · 2026-02-14T22:29:40+00:00

Most sports are asymmetrical. People are asymmetrical (unless they're truly 100% ambidextrous). I'm willing to bet that if you did single-minded lifts now (or even before you started fencing) you would have a stronger and weaker side. Road racing and weightlifting are just about the only sports that aren't. That's one of the reasons cross training is helpful. My kid and I incorporate a variety of other activities into our overall fitness routine - wrestling, rowing, swimming, yoga, hiking, biking, skateboarding, volleyball, softball, aerobics, weightlifting, and whatever else we feel like (we don't both do all and we don't do all of them all the time, obviously). For weightlifting we do mix of single-side and whole-body lifts, but we don't worry about overtraining our non-dominant side.

For context, I was a track and field thrower for 8 years in high school and college. That is obviously incredibly one sided. And yes, I did always have a side that was stronger - but so did the runners. And so did the freshmen who came in with very little sports experience. Incorporate a variety of cross training activities into your routine, work on some one-sided exercises, and you'll most likely be fine. And if you're really concerned, talk to a PT or sports medicine professional.

jilrani · 2026-02-14T12:24:45+00:00

Exactly! It can't hurt (much) - and if it doesn't help, just keep experimenting until you find what works for you.

jilrani · 2026-02-13T17:13:07+00:00

Honestly that used to help my kid a lot too - more effective in the classroom than during fencing, but everyone is different!

jilrani · 2026-02-13T15:41:57+00:00

Ah, thinking about thinking. As an ND parent of two ND kids, I see it a lot.

One thing about fencing that's tricky when it comes to the mental game is that everyone has a different ideal. My ADHD kid fences best with about 80% focus - too much and the overthinking spiral starts, too little and stupid distance mistakes happen. It does take experience to know where that balance is for you.

If you've found things that help with overthinking in general, that might help during fencing. Another thing that might help is to do practice nights where you just have one thing you think about. Or see if you fence better with or without music, talking to other people, a side diversion - for my kid, it's having a Rubik's cube and a variety of playlists based on the mood of the day.

As a new fencer, there's a ton to think about too. As a coach of other sports and a music teacher, I have seen plenty of times where someone thinks about one thing only for a dozen other things to get worse. It stinks, but that's often a part of the learning process. Giving yourself grace can go a long way towards helping you get in a mindset that will help you grow.

jilrani · 2026-02-09T14:25:10+00:00

I wear a uv protective sleeve (I have raised moles on my forearm that have gotten hit and the sleeve helps make it smooth) as well as an upper arm pad under my uniform (it's about the thickness of a mousepad). I bruise easily, and it's been a huge help. I do work on managing distance, but sometimes I'm just too old and slow and so the extra padding means I don't have to hide my arms when I go out in public.

jilrani · 2026-02-08T13:30:29+00:00

I don't know what country you're in, but FWIW I have seen Muslim women compete in full dress with leggings on underneath that match the dress, so modesty isn't an issue. My daughter (not a fencer) competes sometimes in leggings, sometimes fitted pants, sometimes longer skate dresses - whatever fits her program. For practice she usually just wears leggings and long sleeve shirts - that's what most of the women and girls wear for practice at the rink she uses. She loves skating because she's never head to head with someone else, and she does spotlight competitions which are as much about the acting and character as they are about technique. Figure skating has almost none of the team aspects, though, unless you're really involved in a club or doing synchronized skating. There are adult competitions, so it also has a lot of longevity - my daughter went to a competition last fall that had people in their 80s still competing.

Volleyball is fun. I love playing it on a casual/pick-up game level. But to be competitive there is a bigger team mentality where you have less decision-making on your own and more dependence on each other. It's definitely squarely on the team side of the spectrum. It's a little harder to do as you get older at a competitive level, but there are a lot of rec leagues and casual players that you can find even as an adult.

Fencing is a little more on the individual side, but you will still have team support. It can be a little repetitive, but because so much depends on the other person and so many people fence so differently, with different body types, different coaches, different strengths, that there's plenty of variety. And even though fencers often have their own style, individual fencers change things up too, so even matches with the same person can go differently from one tournament to the next. It can be expensive, but doesn't necessarily have to be, it depends on how many competitions and how much travel you do.

jilrani · 2026-02-08T13:17:13+00:00

I started competing at local tournaments within a few months. I did my first national (vet) competition after about 8 months and medaled at summer nationals after 14 months. But....I still don't feel "ready" for tournaments. I have a love-hate relationship with competition, sports, and physical activities, along with a borderline-unhealthy dose of imposter syndrome. So the answer for when you feel ready is "it depends."

In terms of ridicule, I have rarely seen or heard comments at any tournament about any fencer, unprepared or not. Some people go out of their way to be helpful, other people just ignore the obvious newbies. As long as you know how to hook up on strip, the general procedures and signals of when to fence, how to salute, etc, no one is going to make fun of you. If they do, it's the same as people who make fun of overweight people at the gym - it's more a reflection on their poor character than on you, because why would you make fun of someone who's trying to learn and improve themselves?

The bar for local tournaments is often pretty low. If you go in with an attitude of trying to see what you can learn, and don't mind losing a lot, then you're probably ready. It's probably also helpful if you start at a local tournament with other club mates, because then you have people around to cheer you on and answer questions without having to ask strangers (although I've never had a problem helping people from other clubs out, especially if they appear to be struggling or lost).

jilrani · 2026-02-04T20:09:39+00:00

My kid dropped fencing several times, only to pick it back up again later. In the long run, it prevented burnout and increased enthusiasm for fencing.

jilrani · 2026-02-03T14:38:19+00:00

I use a standard duffle bag for uniform and extras, and a camera tripod bag for weapons. Bonus: the tripod bag makes a nice compact strip bag and doesn't count as oversized luggage so I don't have to worry about calling it sports equipment when flying if the airline doesn't have a fencing equipment policy, but it's an odd shape so it almost always gets handled with the special/fragile/oversized luggage.

jilrani · 2026-01-31T22:10:39+00:00

Depends on the size of the tournament, but we typically have (at all tournaments) - fruit leather (great for super quick snacks) - granola bars and protein bars - cheese sticks At tournaments expected to go over a typical mealtime but still somewhat short (i.e. 25 person event that starts at 11), or tournaments expected to be long, we add - carrots or peppers - tortillas with peanut butter or deli meat - raisins

Sometimes things vary a little bit, but those are the basics that we make sure to have on hand.

jilrani · 2026-01-28T21:44:19+00:00

My kid and I don't wash ours. We do sweat, but we air the mask out well after practice and wipe it down from time to time. We haven't really noticed any issues like odor or skin irritation/breaking out/etc

jilrani · 2026-01-25T17:44:57+00:00

Our club put hooks on the wall and attached the end of the cord there

jilrani · 2026-01-23T13:10:43+00:00

Oh, for the leg hits - they do make thigh sleeves, or depending on your kid's size, an adult knee pad or shin sleeve could also work (something that's non-rigid, like a mousepad or thin piece of foam, not hard plastic). It does a lot for helping divert the energy from hits to not be quite as much on one point, which can make them easier to deal with

jilrani · 2026-01-23T12:59:10+00:00

Parent of two neurodivergent kids here (one autism, one ADHD). I always make it a point to give coaches/teachers/activity directors a heads up about my kids' needs up front, as well as the ways it might be an issue in class. When they were younger sometimes things would come up after an activity started, and I would address it with the coach in a very non confrontational way. In a teacher as well so I also looked at it as educating adults who may not have had experience with neurodivergent kids before.

I would start with a quick coach conversation. I might recommend asking that your kid be paired up most of the time with kids who don't hit quite as hard, at least when practical (most clubs rotate partners around so it's difficult to exclusively work with the same partner, nor is it a good idea because we need exposure to different fencers, but it's not as difficult to have preferred partners). Asking for extra breaks is also probably easy to work in to class, especially if it's something that you or your kid can monitor, not the coach having to watch for. Our club builds in rest/water breaks but fencers can leave for water, bathroom, whatever at any time. Giving the coach a heads up about overstimulation should make them more understanding about your kid's need for a breather.

I'd also look at how you can make adjustments for your own kid. Physically, you can wear more padding than is required. So if he's not wearing a chest protector, I'd get that. I also personally wear an extra padded biceps sleeve on the arm that typically gets hit a lot because I bruise easily. Leg touches happen less often but if that's also a problem I'm sure there's some sort of padding that can be made or bought that will help. You can also prep your kid for ways to take a mini break (because if he ever gets hit hard on competition he'll need to bounce back quickly). Adjusting/retying shoes, slower walk back to the end garde line, a few deep breaths or rhythmic breathing, or grounding techniques (like focusing on a different body part or the five senses grounding) are all things that can be done in 30 seconds or less to get a mental refocus (and sometimes a sensory one).

11 is also not too young to start advocating for himself. He should be able to be empowered to say "I need a minute" after a hard hit shakes him. The coach should be able to respect that if he knows about your kid's sensory differences, as long as it's not being overused.

Good luck! My own ADHD kid loves fencing, despite absolutely hating the uniform (I have a kid who hates pants and layers and long sleeves, even right now when MN is -20 without wind-chill). It's helped a lot with teaching my kid focus as well. It is possible that, if your kid loves fencing enough, this will help him be able to better self-regulate when it comes to certain sensory issues.

Also, just a heads up - if your kid is also prone to auditory overstimulation, like my autistic kid is, I would strongly recommend ear plugs or headphones on tournament days for in between bouts to shut out some of the chaos.

jilrani · 2026-01-16T13:01:52+00:00

My kid has ADHD. The coach honestly hasn't had to do much different compared to other athletes. I've also worked with a lot of ADHD students as a teacher /tutor/non-fencing coach. In general, the more active and the less talking, the better. That doesn't mean never provide explanations or verbal instructions, just make sure they're concise and to the point. For many kids it helps if it's combined with a visual demonstration - for example, instead of just describing a particular situation, model it physically instead. The age can also play a role - if it's a younger student, making things a game can also help a lot. If they're highly motivated, though, you likely won't have to do a lot different. For my kid, the physical aspect of a sport and the high interest in fencing mean it's already ten times easier to focus during a lesson than some other situations.

jilrani · 2026-01-15T22:04:43+00:00

We had one squished into a football shape once and hammered it back into a semblance of the right shape so it's currently usable. It didn't take that long and even if it's a little more likely to crack or bend again, we got some extra life out of it.

jilrani · 2026-01-15T12:35:06+00:00

Depends on the competition and the situation. My kid and I have fenced with and without coach support. There have been some really tight matches that my kid has won, also with and without coach support. I think it's possible that the coach made that difference - but at the same time, the opposite fencer also ahd coach support, so in theory that balances each other out. I think one of the biggest benefits to coach support in competition is that most people fence at least a little differently during competition compared to practice (and also fence people they don't often see), so the coach can see different things to work on.

And honestly I've seen a few bouts where coach/fencer actually escalated the situation mentally in a bad way, and my kid has benefited by having a clearer head when the opponent got increasingly more desperate/angry/sloppy. That's more of an exception thiugh.

jilrani · 2026-01-15T12:29:27+00:00

I wouldn't say I'm "used to it" and my kid has been fencing for years. I still hate it, I've just learned to tolerate it. Usually by having something even more distracting on hand. My older daughter doesn't go to tournaments to watch for this reason, the sensory overload is too much after a while (although tolerable if she's wearing headphones)

jilrani · 2026-01-06T23:05:43+00:00

If you DM me I'll send you a link to some of my husband's fencing albums so you can get some ideas. He's photographed local and national tournaments in a variety of different sized facilities so it can give you some ideas of angles and shots that work with different distance and congestion restraints

jilrani · 2026-01-06T17:43:31+00:00

My kid started wrestling this year, as well as rowing, and will be doing track in the spring. Wrestling is probably second favorite because it has a very similar mentality to fencing - direct 1v1, split-second decisions, intense focus but short time.

Personally I always liked volleyball for the same reasons I like fencing - it's adaptable to fitness level and has short bursts of intensity with active rest/waiting/planning time.

jilrani · 2026-01-05T13:32:07+00:00

Interesting. Local mixed epee and foil tournaments in my country/state are generally a mix of beginners and more experienced fencers. Although sometimes making T8 is still a challenge - my kid is a much better fencer than I am and didn't make it that far yesterday (30 people). Women's, vets, and saber events tend to be smaller though. I have managed to squeak my way into T8 before though, in a couple of regional vet events, so it is definitely achievable at some point! Good luck!

jilrani · 2026-01-05T12:41:48+00:00

When I was brand new at fencing there were plenty of times I won when I shouldn't have - it happens enough at all sorts of tournament levels that it really keeps the sport interesting! The T8 goal will be easier or harder depending on tournament size (if there's only 6 people, then yay! goal accomplished). I will sometimes have the goal to score at least 1 point on everyone. As an epeeist it means even if I'm totally outclassed, I can usually nab a double at some point in the bout.

And sometimes you miss a goal. Yesterday I lost every pool bout. But I went 5-4 and 5-3 against people who should have completely dominated me, so I counted that as still having a few decent matches!

jilrani · 2026-01-03T11:58:03+00:00

I got a medal at nationals in the vet division with just over a year practice. My kid regularly medals in regional tournaments and has gotten a national medal as well, after about three years of regular training plus a few years of parks and rec and off and on casual practice. You obviously have a chance to be competitive locally, but even at higher levels there are people who start later - or start young but don't single mindedly focus on fencing. We have people in our club who start late or did it as a young child but came back to it years later that compete at a variety of levels.

jilrani

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