How I Got Here

I started fencing Saber 3 years ago, in 2023. I'm a minority in the community of people who fence - a strange type of person called an "Adult". Most of my competitors are under 18, with many of them being 15 or younger. Often, people marvel when they realize how old I am and how long ago I started fencing. Maybe I'm the weird one for thinking that it's not that weird. A bit of competitive drive and focused practice goes a pretty long way.

About a month ago I earned my 'C' rating. The rating system is a series of letter grades from 'E' through 'A', with 'A' being the height of achievement as far as those letters go. There's one extra rating, 'U', for unrated fencers. Having a 'C' sticks me square in the middle of that range. It's a pretty good achievement, and I'm very proud of it, but the future is a bit daunting for me. You see, when you earn your 'C', you earn the right to participate in Division 1 tournament events. Div1 is the highesst level of competition that fencing offers domestically. I only just earned it, so I've never fenced in one of those events, and I have no idea what to expect. I've seen those guys - they're fast, they react so quickly, they're strong, and they're intimidating. I'm from a city that has very little fencing action, so it's feeling sort of overwhelming for me. I'm excited to experience it for the first time, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to lose instantly in each event I arrive at.