When to go to #5 blades.

[theodore.norvell]

Hi. I'm coaching some children's classes, ages 8 to 13.

We've bought a mixture of #2 and number #5 foils. (No number #4's unfortunately.)

Also with Christmas coming a number of parents are buying foils for their kids.

My question: At about what height should a student move up from a number 2 to a number 5.

A second question: Is it reasonable to have them practice or even compete with #2 against #5. We had a competition a little while ago in which my daughter (9 but only 1.4m, i.e. 4'7") was fencing a bunch of kids who were not only older , but had longer arms, legs, and foils! She seemed at a tremendous disadvantage, but she might have been at a worse disadvantage trying to handle a #5 rather than her #2.

Finally as a comment on that last one. A trick I tried last week, when doing a distance exercise (i.e. no parries), was to give the short foils to the big kids and the long foils to the little kids. I thought this was a good idea.

Cheers,
Theodore Norvell

[Fencergrl]

That's always a tough one... in my classes, I usually go by the size of child rather than age. Kids that are the size of a 9 or 10 year old and smaller use the #2 blades. I've had some really tall, husky 8 year olds that were fine with a #5, looking at them you would swear they were 10 or 11.

If bouts they have to fence with the same sized blade. So if a child should be using a #2, then the other fencer has to use the same sized blade (even if they normally use a #5).

In competitions, it's best when the organizers require that only #2's are used for Y10 events.

Occasionally I will give a fencer a "handicap", one such handicap might be to fence with a #2, while their opponent uses a standard #5

[erooMynohtnA]

I don't think there's any real cutoff in height or age at which I would switch someone to a #5. I mean, maybe at 14 years or 5' 4" I would strongly suggest the child go to a #5. However, I operate from a different viewpoint than the job of a #4 is to get out of the way as quickly as possible for a #5. I know an A who uses from #0 to #5 depending on how he's feeling. An adult with a weak arm or who prefers a light blade might benefit from a #4.

It's too bad you don't have 4s because From #2 to #5 there's a huge difference in feel and more importantly distance. A 4 and a 5 feel very different, but a 4 is just a touch shorter. It's nice to learn how long your blade is as early as possible and not have to adjust. Their arm is going to grow, so the distance between their core and their tip is going to change, so maybe I'm wrong, but I think that having the distance as consistent as possible is important to development.

[SabreReedfrost]

There's really no set height, I suppose. I'd keep them on #2's through their Y10 fencing career, and just go by height after that. Typically they'll be ready for #5's after that, I suppose.

[RkfdFencer]

If bouts they have to fence with the same sized blade. So if a child should be using a #2, then the other fencer has to use the same sized blade (even if they normally use a #5).

I want to second this suggestion. Have the older/bigger kids use the smaller blade with fencers that have to use the smaller blades. The older kids here always find it fun to fence with the shorter blades.

[swordsen]

I have had college fencers (short women) use size 2 blades before. Once they learn to embrace and use their shortness things go pretty well for them. They are able to move the shorter blade faster for parries and takes and they learn to utilize their feet to make up for the blade length. I prefer them go to a 4 but sometimes they just decide to go way down the list.