Fencing and Armizare Programs for Middle School and for Grades 2-5
Learn Traditional Fencing and Armizare in a professional, safe, structured, goal-oriented, and supportive environment! When properly taught, fencing allows children to learn to integrate mind and body; as a result, they gain increased balance, coordination, reflexes, and confidence. The class also teaches children the respect and discipline that have always been important aspects of fencing.
Our Fencing Program is a blend of traditional Italian fencing of the 17th through 19th centuries. Our students learn to fence through organized drills, exercises and fencing games designed to be fun while they learn. Games support and further develop the skills the fencers have learned, develop coordination and strategy, and teach the fencer greater control of his or her body. Our fencing program employs the level advancement program developed by the Canadian Fencing Federation, an excellent system for rewarding skill development.
Our Armizare Program teaches kids the use of the two-handed longsword, single-handed arming sword, dagger, and polearms. Exercises from Fiore de' Liberi's l'arte dell armizare are adapted to the needs of young martial artists, and are designed to emphasize development of balance, coordination and strength. As with our fencing programs, kids progress at an individual pace through drills, exercises, games, and fencing with specially padded swords. Armizare level advancement follows the same path as that of Adult/Teen Armizare.
The overall design of the programs allows students to progress at an individual pace while working, interacting, and having fun with their peers, and teaches discipline and respect of one’s self and of others. Our programs offer a fun, structured, goal-oriented, and supportive learning environment for children. Parents are encouraged to stay and watch!
We use the Classical Instructional Method, a traditional European system created for the complete physical and mental training of a fencer, and still used in the best European Academies. This method relies on skill progressions developed over time, and runs in parallel with the development of the student's understanding of tempo, measure, and the tactical applications of the techniques learned. Fencing skills learned include a proper guard position, advance, retreat, and lunge, followed by simple attacks and parry-ripostes, compound attacks and compound parries, actions on the blade, actions in time, and counterattacks. Armizare skills developed include proper guard positions, as well as attacks, remedies and counters at longsword, dagger, spear and poleaxe. These skills are developed over time, with in-depth instruction and continued practice: there are no shortcuts to skill-building! The direct benefit of this structured approach is increased coordination, strength, ability to analyze new situations, self-control, and respect of self and of others.
Fun - we learn to fence and play fencing-related games
Structured - we learn through an organized series of skill progressions
Goal-Oriented - students learn to set goals and mark their progress based on those goals
Supportive - we maintain friendly and respectful environment
Safe - we learn control, discipline, respect, and proper use of equipment
Equipment
Students should initially wear sweat pants and a t-shirt. Basic tennis shoes or basketball shoes are just fine, but please: no wheelie-shoes or shoes with lights! The former are unsafe for fencing and the latter are distracting.
For traditional fencing our younger fencers use plastic foils, while the older fencers use traditonal steel foils with flexible blades and safety tips. For armizare, we use safe bamboo and wooden swords as well as masks and jackets for practice, and have the chance to fence with safe foam padded swords. All students use masks, gloves and jackets. We have a limited selection of masks, jackets and swords for class use.
After the first month, students should acquire either black sweat pants or martial arts pants and a white t-shirt (these available at the academy). Students should plan on purchasing a maks and glove in their third month, and a jacket in their fourth month. For the Children's Program, we use specially designed plastic foils that are lightweight, very flexible, and appropriate for grade-school children. Students in the Children's Program will be able to do solo drills periodically with the steel foils. For the Youth Program, standard steel foils are used. Both programs use foam swords for various games and drills as well.
We also sell most of these items, or we can recommend several on-line fencing vendors.