2006 SUMMER CAMPS

June - July , 2006. Houston/Woodlands, TX

Alliance Fencing Academy had its annual Summer Nationals Preparation Camps which span from one to two weeks in June-July. Camps were held in two locations, the Woodlands and Houston, Texas. Beginner and adult camps cumulatively had approximately 100 fencers in all three weapons from different clubs in the Gulf Coast Division and from out of state.

Four beginner camps were held at the Woodlands, each camp hosting 12-15 kids ranging from ages 6-15 years old. Two other beginner camps were held at the Alliance Houston location lasting from one to two weeks each. Beginner camps activities consisted of warm-up games, foot work and blade work, weapon theory, one on one coaching instruction, fencing movies, and fencing bouts. The camps lasted for 3 hours, form 9-12 a.m. and at the end of each week the students received their certificates of graduation, along with posters from the NACC that was held in Houston in the springtime.

Advanced camps were designed for competitive fencers all training for the Summer National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the biggest and most competitive tournament throughout the fencing year and the official start of the fencing season for cadets and junior fencers. The two weeks preparation camp was attended by numerous fencers from different clubs, some from out of state.

Camp activities included warm-up/games, fencing technique, target practice, foot work and blade work, bouts with missions, free fencing, and a mock tournament. The coaching staff for this camp was second to none with Andrey Geva, Alisher Dzakhangirov, and a special visitor from Russia, coach of the 2005 Junior World Team, Sergey Andrievskiy.

The first week of camp was centered on endurance preparation and plenty of bouting experience and practice. Daily activity lasted for 5 hours, from 12-5 p.m. during which fencers were given a snack break and periodic rests. Some fencers even came early and stayed late to receive additional private lessons and training from the talented instructors.

Despite the grueling training schedule, our fencers still managed to find time for fun, and at the end of the week, arranged a team dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant to celebrate. Some kind parents even treated the fencers to Jamba Juice smoothies and cookies after particularly hard training days.

The second week of training brought many new surprises and was centered on fine tuning of technique and fencing skills needed to stand out at a high level of national competition. Some of the surprises that the second week brought were a team competition mock tournament, and most interesting of all, an ‘opposite arm’ fencing competition. This is where fencers who are, for example, right handed switch to fencing with their weaker arm to develop symmetric fencing. Needless to say, some were better than others… much better!

The week ended up with a final practice tournament, reminiscent of what the fencers would soon face at Summer Nationals. After the weeks of hard training as well as hard playing, the coaches threw the fencers a “good luck” party which included four fabulous cheesecakes, popsicles, sodas, chips, and of course, the new staple of the Alliance Fencing community, Jamba Juice.