r/Fencing

I started wearing barefoot shoes beginning of this year. I mostly like the fact that they have a wide toe box and are foot-shaped. Zero drop is a plus bit I don't need an ultra thin sole. I have some Groundies to wear casually. And if I need to walk longer I wear Altra Lone Peak (so these are not 100% bf because thicker sole).

For fencing I now have Nike Air Zooms. And my toes begin to hurt in them. I want a shoe for fencing with a wider toe box. But I still need some cushioning so no ultra thin sole like 100% barefoot shoes.

I came across Altra Solstice Xt 3. Has anyone used these for fencing?

Any other advise on which shoes to try? I am living in Europe so I need to find them here.

I think at this moment anything will feel more wide than the Nikes I have..

Hey! The epee I currently use is fitted with a visconti. I have been encouraged to switch to belgian or russian, because the visconti doesn’t fit my hand well, even after changing sizes.

I have also been encouraged to switch to french, which is my preference of the three options, but that would require purchasing and wiring a new blade. It would, supposedly, force me to be better with my point control, which I desperately need to learn

I would really appreciate folks who use french, belgian, or russian to let me know what they like about their respective style. Thanks!

So, my son (7) has been fencing for almost a year now. I fenced some in college, but haven’t in 15+ years. Little man convinced me to pick the sport back up again, and surprisingly I’ve been able to keep up with a bunch of teens and tweens. The one thing I’ve noticed, and so has the coach, is that my weapon arm keeps drifting in as bouts go on. Not sure if it’s a vision thing (my glasses don’t fit well in my mask) or an arm strength thing. Any help/advice is appreciated. TIA

Is it really necessary (from a technique and injury perspective) that your knee shouldn't extend past the knees? I have heard many coaches point this out for how it not only helps you keep balance, but also recover faster for remise/reprise opportunities. Also good for an injury perspective for not putting too much strain.

I've always had trouble with balance when lunging and many of it comes from knee overextending. If I keep my back straight sometimes it will be too straight and it leads to a leaning back motion which is bad in the middle as a saberist.

With the new USA Fencing trial points system, do we expect the converted points from tournaments in the 2025-26 season to roll off at the one-year anniversary of the event? E.g. if I have converted points from some events in August 2025, would I expect those points to expire this month?

I'm generally assuming so, but the guidance that was published so far has been quite fuzzy about details.

Just had to post about it because I'm honestly bursting a little. My 7 year old has been watching me fence for the last two years and is finally old enough to give it a try. Had his first class this week and LOVED it. Came down this morning with his fencing glove on lol.

I have to remind myself to tell him that he doesn't have to love the things that I love, and it's ok for him to stop if he really hates it, but holy crap am I excited that he's trying it out and enjoying it!

Just gotta stay cool and not install a piste in our basement... Or maybe I do install the piste... We'll see how lesson 2 goes.

My 11 yo just fenced his first tournament of the season yesterday, and the first where he was bumped into the age group that uses full-sized weapons. Going in, I cautioned him to temper his expectations because I knew he'd be one of the youngest / shortest- that he should just focus point by point and learn what he can, win or lose, and it didn't matter if he didn't make top 8.

There were 2 pools, and he surprised me by being focused and winning every one of his pool bouts, with multiple bouts against older boys a full head taller than him. He ended up winning his pool with a +15 touch differential, and being seeded 2nd overall (other pool winner had +16 touches). A bye for the first DE, a win in the next round. But this tournament had a Hoffnungslauf (2nd chance round after round of 16), meaning he then had to wait and face the winner of that. By quirk of numbers or whatever, he ended up having to fence the same kid, for the third time in the quarters (one he beat 5-0 in pool and 10-6 in round of 16). And I don't know, it's like my kid was maybe running on adrenaline that reached its end, because he just somehow checked out and fell apart. The other kid scored 2 quick touches, and my kid who had been calm in his earlier bouts even if he wasn't initially leading just got frustrated. I saw half way through he was in tears, but I really don't know why or when in the bout he started to cry. He didn't recover and ended up losing 10-8 and was devastated because that meant he missed the podium. The other kid is a year older and fair play to him for sticking with it and third time the charm to beat mine. But I feel like he didn't really win it, more that my kid lost it because he ran out of stamina. Of course my son was very upset, and it has been and is difficult to get him to properly process his losses as he gets very emotional.

I waited until today to ask him what he thought happened, how he felt different in the last bout, but he says he doesn't know. I feel like he probably got tired (also, it was really hot 35 C / 95 F outside, no AC in hall), and maybe he just doesn't have the mental / emotional maturity to stick out long days. Also, instead of focusing on how well he did in the pools and that I think he should be proud of his overall performance, he seems to only focus on the fact that he lost the last bout and missed the podium. So how do I help him? Is it about stamina? Is it something that gets better with age / experience, or is there something specific sports psychology wise that we can do to help him?

Thanks for any insight!

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some advice from parents or fencers who have been through this phase.
My son is Y12 Foil and has been fencing for about 2.5 years. He currently trains quite a bit: 3 private lessons and 3 group classes per week.

The problem is that there is a massive disconnect between his lessons and his actual bouts (both at the club and in tournaments). In his private lessons, he learns great skills and actions. But the second he hooks up to the strip for a bout, all of that goes out the window.

Aside from having a much higher capacity than most of the ones I've seen, I also wanted to make the blade removal as easy and comfortable as possible.

There's a lot that could be improved with this design, and the welding is pretty terrible, but overall, I'm still fairly happy with it.

I have been setting up foils with titanium barrels, NEPS tip screws, and outside hex nuts for attaching the grip. I've been doing all that because I thought they were all good choices for various reasons:

• titanium barrels for lighter tip and theoretically better point control (given no flicking as part of my game)
• NEPS screws because my ol' peepers really struggle with the standard slots screws and NEPS has made assembly and tip cleaning so much faster
• Outside Hex nuts because they never cause any trouble if a blade has longer than expected tang and are slightly lighter

However, I am now noticing each of these choice has caused me trouble when on the go if I dont have my tools with me. Whether at a camp or tournament have had to:

• buy a replacement blade when all 4 of the ones I brought either broke or needed a re-wire. Needless to say, none of the pre-wired blades available from vendors used titanium barrels. So had to use a blade with different balance point and then decide after event if worth it to rewire just to keep consistent with others
• clean a tip/barrel, but left my NEPS screwsriver at home, and the armorer didnt have a NEPS with them
• needed a quick tightening of the grip mid bout, but pool mates only had inside hex wrenches and once again - I left my outsidie hex wrench at home (same tourney)

All this to say… at what point do folks just settle for most common set up because it means replacment parts and tools are more likley to be available vs optimizing your gear but needing to always travel with your own tools?

I'll be competing in some upcoming satellite events specifically and I've seen conflicting answers on the topic. Any help in clearing it up would be much appreciated

This thread highlighted the variance in "dry" (US) versus "steam" (Aus, UK) fencing. I'm interested to hear how other parts of the world refer to non-electrical fencing, in any language.

I'll add to this collected list following suggestions. Italics denotes a single data point.

• Danish: manuelt (manual) / damp (steam)

• Egyptian Arabic: offline

• English (AU, UK): steam

• English (NZ): visual / dry

• English (US): dry

• Finnish: kylmillä aseilla miekkailu (fencing with cold weapons)

• French: en pointe sèche (with dry tip) / tirer en blanc (to fence in white)

• German: mechanisches Fechten (mechanical fencing) / Trockenfechten (dry fencing)

• Spanish: tirar mudo (to fence mute) / tirar blanco (to fence white)

• Swedish: manuell (manual)

Now that Uhlmann has gone out of business, I want to figure out alternate jacket/knickers brand since I will need some new ones soon. Anyone have recommendations on other brands/lines that fit similarly to Uhlmann for mens whites?

I am a US/Canadian dual citizen looking to compete at the Canada Cup/Senior National Championships in September. I live in the States and it would be my first CFF event. Before I proceed to register, I would love to know more about other dual citizens’ experiences fencing CFF events.

What I mainly want to know is:
- Besides the CFF license and event registration, is anything else missing? How did you decide which CFF license to get if you don’t live in Canada?
- Do I need to demonstrate Canadian citizenship at any point to register?
- Since I’ve only competed in the States, does my participation in CFF tournaments impact my standing with the USFA? I’d like to be able to participate in events in both organizations in the future.
- Will it be an issue if my gear says “USA” on it? (This feels like a silly question)

Thanks in advance for answering everything! Hope to be fencing in Canada soon!

Why are all of the cadet and youth 14 epee and foil events doubled up so that multiple weapons are on the same day? We have fencers in both genders who fence both and are qualified in both.

If we're going to double up why not do saber and epee? Why can't we just flip flop with cadet in 14 so that they're picking an age group not a weapon?

I know there's always going to be a gripe and you can't make everyone happy but doubling up age groups seems absolutely ridiculous.

Earlier today I went into Leon Paul and asked for a "steam foil" with a leather-wrapped French grip. The sales assistant went to the back to put one together and, a few minutes later, handed me an electric one (with the correct grip). The correct foil was swiftly obtained when I specified that I meant "non-electric".

I wondered, therefore, if the term is not in as widely-used as I thought. I picked it up 30+ years ago when fencing in Scotland and assumed it was common. Do you still use it?