Summer Fencing Camps 2008

Seven camps are offered at the Minnesota Sword Club's facilities; six for beginners and one for experienced fencers. Four beginner's camps are for children 8 to 12 and two include teens. The kids pair up with fencers their own age so a variety in ages doesn't really matter. The camp for experienced fencers is scheduled after most of the beginners' are completed and provide another week of fencing. All camps are half day long and run Monday through Friday for one week. They are designed to be fun while teaching the sport.

Beginner's camps are designed to turn new fencers into experienced ones. Due to the concentrated nature of these camps we have been extremely successful in quickly developing fencers. We cover the history of the sport; basic concepts of blade work and foot work, and teach both concentration and awareness for fencing. All new fencers are bouting by the end of the week. Many games relating to fencing and other more specific developmental activities of the sport are included to round out the program. Each fencer works through a preset progression. It starts at the "Basic Level", teaching the elementary aspects of the sport, and progresses to "Intermediate-Basic", with an emphasis on simple attacks and defenses. The progression continues to "Advanced-Basic" to round out the beginner's fencing skills. Many fun games are included which teach strategy and awareness. The camp is both a learning experience and fun.

Youth Camps for Experienced Fencers concentrate on bouting and technique. Strategy is incorporated into all instruction and always the fencers have a fun time with their friends. For Experienced Teen Fencers "The Fencer's Methodology of Training Manual" is used to teach how to develop a winning strategy for a particular opponent and for an entire competition. The camp is also an intensive training sessions in technique, perception, strategy and bouting. Competitions will be part of each week's program with an analysis by the coach on how the fencer should direct his/her own development. This is the only time during the year when such an in-depth comprehensive analysis is made of the topic on strategy.