Earliest age to start

[Musicfencer]

I personally found it quite nice to start at age 11. I was old enough to actually put lots of time and dedication in to the sport, between lessons. I do fence with kids starting at age 8 I do believe and I myself have been begging to get my parents to get my younger siblings, 7 and 9, in to fencing. What my parents response was just worried about the hours, here in Vermont it is around 7-8:30. They both do karate and have been doing it since ages 5 and three and I think if they are able to tackle karate then they can handle doing fencing. I personally don’t think 3.5 is too young to introduce them to the sport, but seriously, start it I think you should wait until 6 or so.

[MdA]

I agree with stritti. When we lived in Germany, our fencing club, the Fechterring Albstadt-Ebingen had several 6-7 year olds for my sons to fence.

At my club in O'Fallon, IL (near St. Louis), I had to recruit kids their age for them to fence. There was no club near us with youth fencing so I had to start one.

The moral to this story is that 6-7 year olds should practice and fencer with others their own age. In my experience, it is not very productive fore them to fence with fencers who are much larger than they are...it is discouraging.

It is hard to keep 10-12 year olds from beating the crap out of the little ones. Adults and teens are better with the little ones.

Our experience in Germany was great. The club was there and there were many U-10 tournaments that were well organized with good referees. As Stritti said...they start at 6-7 and the system is well established.

When my kids came back from Germany, they were ready for U-10

[thisissparta514]

No age is too late for fencing...my old coach started at 15 and was on the Olympic Team by the time he was 20.

I started at age 7 (16 now) and have yet to earn my D...age really doesn't affect very much. It's quality and frequency of training.

Brooklyn Fencing Center is a good club, and if you're worried about affordability, they cost around half as much as EUF. It's probably worth the wait, especially considering your son is very young.

[Jason]

David Abramovich Tyshler recommends 12-13 due to maturity level of psychological well being necessary, to accept instant defeats and victories.

Czajkowski recommends 12-14 for similar reasons. He also notes, particularly, that younger kids won't be able to really understand tactics.
However, he's mentioned that starting kids earlier might be necessary, from the point of view of coaches and clubs, so as not to lose potential students to other sports.

[sleepsheep]

Thanks to all for your responses - they have been quite informative. I just want to clarify that I am not seriously thinking of starting my 3 year old in fencing. I realize that the concentration and the physical requirements of the sport make such an early starting age nearly impossible. And I see that 6-7 might be a more appropriate age, which is when most clubs in our area start their kids anyway (with the exception of Empire United, which has a program for 4 year olds).

Of course, I understand that the goal of sports for children is fun and social/physical development, but I do want to make sure that my son will have the opportunity to advance competitively in the sport, should he have the desire and ability to do so. That's why I want to start planning (financially) now for when we can enroll him in this expensive sport.

In meantime, he is involved in karate and swimming, and I was very pleased to hear that these sports serve as a good preparation for fencing.

Thanks!

[Phincer]

Of course, I understand that the goal of sports for children is fun and social/physical development, but I do want to make sure that my son will have the opportunity to advance competitively in the sport, should he have the desire and ability to do so. That's why I want to start planning (financially) now for when we can enroll him in this expensive sport.

I can't praise you enough for this paragraph.

Your child is a lucky little boy to have a parent that thinks this way. Hope to see him fencing in a few years!

[HookUpandFence]

Every child is unique. The family dynamics are unique.

I have a fencing student that is like 6 or 7. I was not supposed to have anyone under 10. I was worried day one, taking longer to explain things. The next class, I was prepared to recommend that the student be dropped, but he had really caught up. Now, he was like half the height of my 12 yr olds, a difficulty on its own, but by the end of the term, he had impressed me with his form.
His dad enrolled him in the next term, "intermediate," and now we are getting into issues. He gets frustrated at not picking things up, then board and distracted. So I get everyone else paired off and working together and I spend one on one time with him and he misses out on the class "free fencing" time.
I recommended moving him back to the beginner level. I think there is some competitive pressure coming down on the kid.

Under 10 may be fine for introducing kids to fencing, but I too have seen them loose interest if pushed to compete. To compete, you own heart has to be in it, not your parent's, etc.

So, in brief (too late), while I think introducing kids age 5 to 10 to fencing, it should be in a playful, fun atmosphere with others the same age range. Then see where it goes.

I do not mind working with the young ones, but it detracts from the other student's time. So this kid is getting like 6 20 minute private lessons for $70. Hardly fair to everyone else getting 40 minutes of my time combined.

** it is a foil class, btw **

There is good advice in these posts.

[headcut]

Peter Westbrook didn't start until he was 14. I don't think there is any specific age to start someone in fencing, but would wait until there is a certain interest before starting serious lessons. I taught martial arts for a long time and parents would bring in kids who really didn't care. I knew immediately those kids would not last. The most productive kids were the kids that really showed an interest to be there and to learn. They stayed the longest and became the most productive students. I think there needs to be some understanding of what they're doing or something has to click inside them so they say "Yeah! I like doing that." And that could be at almost any age.

[MdA]

Amen. My son started when he was 5 because I couldn't keep him off the piste when I was coaching other fencers.

[downunder]

I only started fencing at 11/12 and I fenced a Junior World Championship and a Junior Commonwealths...

We've got a few 6 year olds at my new club, but they're just having fun. Real traing starts from about 7-9 depending on their emotional and physical development.

Whatever you do, make it fun.

[stritti]

Well whenever you wanna start with fencing it is the right time to do it , I started verry early cause my father is also a fencing master and I was always in the fencinghall to watch the others.

The problem in that time 1973, we had no fencing equipment for little kids like me, so my mom fixed a fencing dress for me. And now 35 years later I m still fencing and teaching.

Best age is when you want to do it. !! Some earlier some later but important for fencing is that they do it.

Stritti

[alexsmom]

Not only do they not have the fine motor skills, attention span, and appropriate understanding of normal conversational language, how in the heck is a 3.5 yr old supposed to handle the heavy mask and sword? IMHO, wait until the child shows some interest (buy him some toy "swords") and, if/when interested, let the child start fencing. The earliest I would let a child fence is 7 or 8. (It hurts, sometimes, when you get whacked hard.) And don't forget emotional maturity! A final thought: let him experience the sport with his father. That would be nice and safe and you will be able to judge when/if the child is ready for formal lessons. Good Luck! me------

[ESLyon]

I am by no means an expert, I'm not married, and I don't have kids, and I've only been fencing a short while. But I have coached gymnastics for four years and been involved with gymnastics and competition for eight years. I've coached kids anywhere from 3 years old to 18, and it's common practice in gymnastics to have kids start basically as soon as they get out of the crib (we have "Mom and Tot" classes for 1 and two year olds). In my short time that I have been involved in fencing, I can already tell that compared to the beginning levels of gymnastics, the beginning levels of fencing are way more advanced in terms of attention spans required and coordination, etc. Most elite gymnasts who get really really good and go to national-level meets don't start doing so until the ages of about 14, sometimes as young as 11 or 12, but that is extremely rare. It's around the ages of about 8-11 that i see the focus and patience in kids in my gymnastics classes that would be required for a good fencer (in general, of course there are always exceptions). I guess what I'm trying to say is fencing takes coordination and patience that quite frankly young kids just don't have, and doing things before they are ready is just flushing money down the drain.

You have your priorities in the right place though, there is nothing that annoys me more than when I ask a kid at the beginning of class why they chose gymnastics and they say "Oh my mom/dad wanted me to do it". Those kind of kids, although they sometimes do exceptionally well, are rarely, if at all ever happy while at gym or competitions. And from experience as a gymnastics coach, questions from parents are welcome and shows that you have an interest in your childs development.

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but it seems like most people have already covered this pretty well, anyways... there's my $.02.

[Zilverzmurfen]

What are your competitive plans for your little guy? College? Olympics? Jr. Olympics?

The kid is 3½ years!
There shouldn't be any "competetive plans" for many, many years to come.

IMO it's also way too early to start any sort of 'organized' fencing training at all. You can 'play' footwork things, glove games etc. Seven seems like an ok age to start, but that also depends on the childs maturity.

My club will accept children from 9 years of age. Earlier than that and they tend to not be so interested in learning anything, able to listen etc.

[Tyldak]

Our club accepts them as young as fencing age 8 (meaning, if they're 8 by Jan. 1 of that season) for group instruction. Any younger, and they *have* to be in private lessons, no exceptions. We used to have a stricter, "No one under 9 years" policy, but it's amazing how much parents want to push the envelope. As soon as you put down an age limit, it takes about 5 minutes before a parent calls, "My child is age (your minimum minus one) years old. Can he/she participate?" I don't get it.

Anyway it was decided that because there will always be parents pushing the envelope, swearing that their kid is different and special and all, that we say that the age limit is for groups, and allow any kid of whatever age to take private lessons. You think your kid is so special? Fine, pay the premium for private instruction. With private instruction it's easier to keep the kid's attention and change what you're teaching to his/her capabilities and temperment. The younger the kid, the more it changes from "fencing instruction" to "structured play" to "very expensive babysitting," but whatever - if people have money to burn, so be it.

I started at 12 years, and looking back it seemed like a perfect time for me - I was in that pre-growth spurt stage where I had some bulk and half a brain, so I could reasonably to the footwork and blade actions. Any younger and I think I would have had a really hard time with it.

[whoa]

well usually people start at around 10 and some clubs have minimum ages
some even require u to be 14
so it depends on where u go
but some clubs have an age minimum because of the maturity level to be able to fence alone
like to walk-in and fence without supervision
and in my-opinion 3.5 years is too young

[OMCEPKEN]

get some foam swords and have fights running around at home
you both know what you are doing, and can gradually teach the basics.
eventually you'll find someone to work with your child for 15-20 mins.
Or find a friend or two and go to a coach and ask him to teach the group some basics...in a fun way.

[Rock]

Our general guideline is that the student be able to stand upright without assistance.

For students who have certain medical conditions, we make exceptions to the guideline.

[piste off]

I recently was talking about the right age to start with a current top rated Cadet. His view was that before 12 was a waste, mainly due to the lack of maturity and focus required that was not possible before that age. I thought that was an interesting perspective given his current age and the competitive landscape in today's US fencing.

My youngest daughter just turned four and despite her stated desire that she wants to be a fencer when she grows up, I won't be getting her into the sport anytime soon. Mainly for the fact that I don't want to tell her that the real rules don't say you are allowed to tickle your opponent after you score a touch.

R-

[Phincer]

Mainly for the fact that I don't want to tell her that the real rules don't say you are allowed to tickle your opponent after you score a touch.

R-

Awwwwwwwwwww.