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>... a 12 year old beginner ... He would be the first to admit that he doesn't have a tremendous amount of physical endurance or strength. He's tall with lanky limbs..all femur and flat feet and hair. He's a lefty with limited coordination and no clue how little grace he has.

I was 11 when I started. And, my Dad used to joke that I was so clumsy before I started fencing that it was pretty common for me to have bruises all over my shins from awkwardly walking into coffee tables.

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>Given how much gear you guys have to wear while sparring or competing and even how fast paced and athletic the footwork and workouts can be during practices, I'm finding it hard to know what athletic pants to buy this kid as a base They are all thick or heavy and the lightweight ones pill pretty quickly so I didn't know if I'm just looking in the wrong direction or if our expectations are too high.

I wear 3/4 length tights, like these. And, above that I wear lightweight shorts, like these. If you're curios I wear athletic boxer-briefs, like these. And, that said I wash ALL of my athletic clothes in cold water with the regular cycle and dry in low-no heat only.

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>Shoes - Oh Jesus Christ. He's been through almost 3 pair. As I said, he's flat-footed so he's hard on shoes anyway. We haven't invested a ton of cash into gear just because we didn't know how long he'd be into this but we bought him a pair of Ontusuka Tigers or something like that in the beginning. Since then we've just put him in sneakers/gym shoes. No clue what might be best for his feet. His coach is so awesome but just says "Whatever is supportive for his feet for now." He's Armenian and hardcore so right now gives zero fucks about my kid's shoes and just wants him to learn how to sit back with a weapon in his hand. Mom on the other hand likes to spend money on shoes that might last through the next shoe size. Unless I'm wrong. Tell me if my expectations are too high.

'Ontusuka Tigers' are not actual athletic shoes ; they're fashion shoes that are based on an out of production pair of fencing shoes. That said fencing shoes can be quite expensive. The standard advice is to buy a pair of court shoes (volleyball or racquetball shoes). The general advice is that for 'bang for the buck' buy Asics Gel Rocket 9's (which are a popular brand of volleyball shoes).

And because he has flat-feet I would highly recommend that you buy inserts for his shoes. I recommend Superfeet Carbon's, they'll last longer than the shoes will.

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>Blades - He's a foil and for now, he's got basic AF gear, again, because we had no way of knowing if he'd be able to hold post to this sport or not. I'm sure his coach will eventually have suggestions about upgrading someday but I'm wondering when they start buying gear that lasts. Also, from a fighting style/weapons choice, I'm guessing his coach will guide him on that too at some point. He starts all the kids on foil. Is there a different style that's better suited to lefties or should we just roll with it? Our kid loves this sport but are our expectations too high?

For beginners, I recommend just using standard StM (or Dynamo) foils which are made in a Ukrainian forge. I am not a fan of the Chinese made blades (i.e., Absolute, Blue Gauntlet/SG, Linea, etc...) because they just break far to fast. Leon Paul foils are overpriced garbage, so avoid those.

As for when do you start buying higher quality blades, once he decides he's going to compete regularly I would consider upgrading to at least an FIE blade then. If I were you I'd rather him have 2-3 non-FIE StM blades up and running for him before I worry about getting him $100+ dollar blades.

Same with his 'Whites' just stick with the Absolute 350N gear.

If you're going to make an upgrade then buy a nice glove. And if he winds up competing in epee I recommend upgrading to an FIE mask but otherwise you're fine as is.

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>He did his first tournament this weekend as was super proud to even win one match given that every other participant had been fencing 2+ years. We beamed! Any advice on how to keep him engaged without pressuring him would be appreciated. Such a great sport and a fine sub you have here.

I think the best thing you can do, is to help him set realistic but difficult short term goals and to celebrate with him when he achieves those goals BUT, to keep a healthy distance from his training. Sometimes parents have a hard time not playing the role of a coach in their kids' training BUT, I think for 99% of kids it's crucial that they have that separation between their coaches and their family life. You don't want him to take the (otherwise healthy) pressure he might feel from the competition home with him. Especially, if he doesn't do as well as he (and you) hoped he would do. Let his coaches do that, it's their actual job.

Are the epee blades actually good? Their in house foil blades are simply terrible.

I find leon paul has a habit of over engineering things. They are quite innovative in their ideas, sometimes, but sometimes its just not worth it.

Their masks are quite good. They last long, you can pull out the lining, which is great. You can change the bib which is also great since my bib has dead spots on it now, and they're more comfortable because of that elastic fit. I was skeptical at first because they feel less solid on your head when you fist put them on, but they're way better. They cost more too though, but I think in this case they're worth it.

To my mind a jacket is a jacket. It passes FIE so it's safe enough for me (especially given many people practice in 350N), and then the fit and comfort is fine - so I don't take much heed of the brand. Looking now, I see that duelist offers jackets for £100 and fence with fun offers about £100 also. Leon paul is at £130 without VAT and 160 with VAT (I don't know what taxes would apply to other ones).

But the blades. Ugh. They feel really good when their new, but after a few bouts, they immediately become soft in the end (you know when every time you bend the blade it just has plastic deformation, and doesn't spring back to its shape?), and then you're stuck with it forever. You don't want to just throw it out, cus it still works, but it's shitty and annoying to have and you just wish it would break. Though Leon paul distributes BF blades also.

And then their tips. The idea of the metal sleeve seems like a good one, and like the blades they feel good for a few bouts. But then it just seems like they wear out way faster some how. Either dented barrels, worn out screws, whatever. The FWF german points are way better. Standard german point, so if you need one a tournament, someone will be able to provide one, and then the extra thick barrels is just wonderful. I get dented way less often now.

To be fair though, it seems like they've done a revision to their tips since I last used them. TiN or whatever. Maybe it's better, but I still think it's not really going to compete with a nice thick german barrel, and bigger tip.

I do like their style of body cords. I feel the solid pins a basically superior to the banana pins. I find the Bayonet cord is abhorred quite a bit in the english speaking world on the international circuit. I've never been lucky (successful) enough to fence on the wireless, but I hear that the two pins have better conductivity for that. Even in the UK where bayonet seems much more common, the international foilists are all 2 pin. Leon paul sells a 2 pin plug, but I don't often see it in the wild.

So basically, if I'm shopping for kit, the things I buy the most, tips and blades, I will immediately go somewhere else. Since I don't care about jacket style, I'll just go to wherever is cheapest/convenient. If the event has a all star stall, great. Though I might go to the leon paul shop, because it's easier to get to than the all start shop. Body wires, I often buy in a panic at the event when mine break - so it will be from whichever stall happens to be there. I have enough body wire parts that I don't need to consider buying them outside of a panic.

As a side note, this video makes it out to seem like they have some custom made wire for their body wires. That's bullshit. It's literally speaker wire. You can buy it in rolls for way cheaper, and just attach one of the hundreds of spare ends that you bought during a panic at an event.

Their boxes are incredibly over priced. They're soviet era technology clunky plastic with incandescent bulbs and big ass batteries. Lightwieght boxes like the firefly undercut them by way more, and have a lighter more compact solution. The cost of a VSM, plus reels, plus a cheap netbook is about £400-£500, which is cheaper than 2 of the cheapest spools plus one of these clunky boxes - AND you get the fullest feature box that is on the market. Then even favero boxes of similar priced, but way lighter with LEDs and normal batteries instead of those giant ones. Generally speaking most scorebox manufacturers need to get with the times and catch up to the VSM, but leon paul is particularly far behind in this aspect.

So I guess they're not so bad, but it's they're nothing special as an equipment manufacturer either, and they kinda market themselves as an innovator and high end fencing brand. I think to justify that sort of marketing, then all their products need to be of a quality similar to their masks. The rest of their products are either behind or run of the mill, and the dismal blades they sell are really not acceptable.

One of these days I'm going to write a book about starting a fencing club, but until I do, this book is an excellent reference:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OVT7W0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Buy it and read it. Read it twice. Don't pass over any of the information in it, including the information about finding customers and placing your club.

I'll repeat some previous advice: get it out of your head that you are starting a "fencing club". You are starting a small business, with everything that entails. You have a lot of questions to answer and a lot of information to get that has nothing to do with fencing before you open your doors (for example, what does your service fall under in your tax jurisdiction? Is it subject to a sales tax? These question can be important).

Your competition isn't other fencing clubs, it's the other services and business that cater to your demographic: martial arts schools, dance programs, and such. Play the "potential customer" and go talk to the businesses like this in your area. Not only see what they charge and how they structure things for their service, but see how you're treated, how you're approached, what their facilities look like, and know that this is the level of service you have to provide.

Have a very firm idea of what sort of club you want to be, and understand that most clubs can't be all things to all people, unless you're in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes not even then. Understand that your coaching decisions ("We're going to teach all three weapons") are going to impact your business decisions ("There are going to be nights when a customer might show up and have no one to fence in their weapon") and vica-versa.

Location, location, location is more than just a funny joke, it can have a real impact on your bottom line. A few years ago, a wonderful club opened in my area. It was well appointed, had a skilled coaching staff, and looked ready to be a successful business. Unfortunately, it was no where near the demographic they hoped to serve, and getting there at peak "after school times" was a traffic nightmare. They found it difficult to keep the doors open and eventually folded. There are going to be enough challenges to running a club without making life unduly difficult on yourself through poor planning.

All this sounds a little scary, and it should. Starting a business is a big leap, but I'll offer this reassurance: the market for fencing clubs isn't close to being saturated in any part of the country (and that includes NJ and other powerhouse fencing areas). If you are thoughtful, and honest, and willing to put in a year of hard work, you should have a successful club.

Best of luck.

Blisters are something where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Figure out what works for you (multiple socks, pre-taping certain parts of your feet, vaseline, etc) and stick with it.

Tape

• The most common is plain athletic tape, which is usually the white stuff that is commonly available at drug stores, some retail stores, and sporting goods stores. You generally want to use a layer of foam wrap, which is tape-like but has no adhesive, under the tape itself, particularly where any wound is or where there is hair.
  
  
• There's also strapping tape, which is much like athletic tape but it tends to be a little bit more stiff and more sticky and it's harder to find. You also want to use foam wrap under this. DO NOT put strapping tape directly on a blister without foam wrap in-between. It is sticky enough to rip the blister open when you remove it. I have never seen strapping tape in brick and mortar retail stores here in the southeastern US.
  
  
• Then there's stuff like Co-Flex and knock-offs which is self-adhesive but tends to be a bit lighter duty. Many people confuse this with moleskin. It is pretty skin-friendly and does not need the foam wrap under it. It is naturally elastic and good for light compression.
  
  
• Moleskin can be used preventatively or to protect an existing blister. It comes in patches or sheets with choices of adhesive or non-adhesive and also comes as pre-made bandages for blisters, but those aren't often found retail. There are also non-moleskin products that effectively do the same thing. Like this product.
  
  Blister Treatment
  
  
• Band-Aid Blister Ampoules are awesome. They're pretty sticky themselves but I would tape over anything on the bottom of the foot or anyplace else that sport-driven rubbing is occurring.
  
  
• Lancing and draining a blister is not something that everyone agrees on. I think the basic HowStuffWorks process is pretty good. It is vital that you cover and protect that drained blister thoroughly. You may have to lay off for a day or two if it's an area that you can't effectively protect from straining the skin and preventing the blister from healing.
  

Sure. Compression short cups look like this. The shorts hold the cup vertically in front of the body at the right location without pinching or bunching. Quite comfortable to wear, and has the added benefits that you'd get from normal compression shorts: added support, improved circulation, and better recovery time when resting.

Old-school cups look more like this. You have to wear them over other underwear. They're far less secure because nothing secures their position relative to your thighs, and the straps can bunch/pinch/give you a wedgie.

Here are two books by Aldo Nadi, a fencing great: On Fencing

and The Living Sword

The first is more instructional and the second is an autobiography, if I remember correctly. Neither of them alone are going to give you enough instruction on how to be a great fencer (you need a real coach for that). However, they will give you a good look into where fencing came from and they are pretty entertaining

The problem with drawings, videos and photos is that it's not always clear which sides the blades are on in relation to each other. Some are better than others. Videos on & offline obviously have some advantages. They're more engaging, blade positions may be clearer and most importantly you've got movement. I bought a book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fencing-Techniques-Foil-Epee-Sabre/dp/1852231521 when I'd just started and it is quite nice to have a reference book pitched at people in their first few years of fencing (especially that first year) where you can just look up & check something. Fencing books can be very dry reads where your attention can wander (or is that just me?). Some fencing books can be pricey & I found a few in charity shops for peanuts.

One thing I noticed was that coach advice to new fencers can differ from things you see world class fencers do, or see discussed on a forum thread. That was a bit confusing at times, but it's basically about learning to walk before learning to run. Try to nail doing things the way the coaches say. Once you've been fencing for longer you'll have a clearer idea of when, why & how advanced fencers use variations tactically, building on a solid foundation.

You Tube has different kinds of fencing videos, which is helpful, such as armoury skills, kit reviews and promos, features on techniques (Variable quality & reliability, good, bad & mediocre), event footage, humour, etc. Sometimes it's HEMA or classical.

You're just starting out. As you say, some of your opponents literally have decades more experience. Some general thoughts:

• Fence as much and as often as you can. If you only fence a couple days a week, it's really hard to improve. The best way to get better at fencing is to fence.
  
• Fence people better than you are. Think about what is working and what is not working.
  
• Keep a fencing journal.
  
• Take lessons from a qualified coach. As many as you can afford. Also remember that just because someone is a good fencer does not mean they are a good coach.
  
• Are you in a class/camp at your current club? Group instruction is also good.
  
• Generally books aren't that useful, but Epee 2.5 ( https://www.amazon.com/Epee-2-5-Paradigm-Revised-Augmented/dp/0985444185 ) is actually quite good.
  

A Basic Fencing Companion by Paul Sise is really good, specially for beginners/intermediate fencers. It reads easily and has a great glossary that I used to get ready for my moniteur exam.

Another good one is Understanding Fencing by Czajkowski (who sadly passed away just last week). This one is more advanced, but it doesn’t read as easily. I took my time reading this one.

Actually, I'd like to change my answer. It's not Asics Gel Rockets that I've been using, it's the Gel Domain 2:

http://www.amazon.com/ASICS-Mens-GEL-Domain-Volleyball-Shoe/dp/B0031Y6F1A

The Gel Domain 2 has protective rubber/plastic/whatever it is on the inside of the upper where you drag your foot when you lunge, and the same stuff over the toe which is a lot better than just mesh if you get it with a toe touch. They also seem a titch lower and more comfortable than the Gel Rocket.

There's a Gel Domain 3 out:

http://www.amazon.com/Asics-Mens-Gel-Domain-Volleyball-Shoe/dp/B00GY6FTVO

but I haven't tried it yet.

These really are great fencing shoes.

Get formal training. It has improved my coaching tremendously and I would not be able the think of any other way to achieve my current level.

Good books for a starting fencing coach are Szabo L. Fencing and the Master, Czajkowski Z. Understanding Fencing and Kogler A. One Touch at a Time.

His book is a great read. Link below:

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https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Fencing-Zbigniew-Czajkowski/dp/0965946886

Ok depends on they type of Barrel. If it is is a standard german barrel with screws protruding I would recommend this tool:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0052XQYVO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
It is very good at grabbing the sides of exposed screws.

If the screw is flush with the service you might have luck with these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JCT3W0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
you have to be able to put a lot of pressure on the screw head so make sure it is resting level on the desk.

This is what most of us US armorers have found to be the most reliable way to get a damaged screw out:

https://www.amazon.com/Tools-VISE-GRIP-Transverse-Cutter-1773597/dp/B0052XQYVO

The nibs at the end are fine enough to get around any bit of the screw that is still exposed, and strong enough to get a secure grip that will allow you to turn it.

There is also the fencing based "One Touch at a time" for sports psychology based on fencing. It's quite good.

"Epee 2.5" also contains some sports-psychology, tactics and strategy from a fencing perspective.