PROGRAMS
The New Amsterdam Fencing Academy offers classes along with private lessons for children and adults, beginners and nationally ranked fencers. We also organize fencing birthday parties, after school programs, and camps.
Weekly group fencing classes are the core of our program. The group format fosters cohesion among club members, teaches good sportsmanship, and helps develop key social skills. The kids in our classes become friends, so they learn more readily, remain motivated longer, and become comfortable performing in front of their peers.
In the youngest groups (ages 4-8), emphasis is placed on getting the kids up and moving around. Age-appropriate games and exercises build a basis for future fencing skills, as well as lifelong general physical and mental fitness.
Our youngest students are introduced to all thee weapons, foil, epee, and saber, while they learn fencing etiquette and protocols, self-control alongside self-confidence. Coaches encourage focus and critical listening skills while still allowing students room to play and explore, letting kids be kids.
For older students (9 to Adult), NAFA’s program addresses four complimentary elements for training a competitive fencer; group work (footwork and conditioning), individual lessons, practice bouting, and competitions.
In the same way that sports like karate and tae kwon do use a belt system to track their students’ progress and allow them to demonstrate their latest achievements, NAFA employs a hierarchy of badges to motivate fencers to do their best while always striving for more.
All students start at level E, then work their way up through D, C, B and A via a series of gradually harder tests involving proper fencing positions, footwork, technique and terminology. Our students progress from theoretical knowledge to applied mastery as they prepare to move from practice bouting into age-appropriate competition.
To Read About Our Fencing Camps, click here.
To Read About Our In-School programs, click here.
To Arrange a Swashbuckling Birthday Party, click here.
Our Adult program is designed both for those who are looking to start fencing for the first time and those who are looking to continue fencing in either a recreational or competitive setting. Newcomers can enroll in our beginner’s lesson package, while experienced fencers can participate in our two-hour junior group classes and open bouting sessions.
Our Junior program is geared for fencers ages 13-18. Our two-hour Junior classes are designed improve our fencers’ abilities in order to help them achieve their personal goals, whether they want to be a starter on their high school team, compete at the national level, or be recruited to a top university.
FIT KIDS (6-8)
Our FIT (Fencers In Training) Program is geared for fencers ages 6-8. Our one-hour FIT classes emphasize the importance of working in groups, and teaching students the skills of focus and self-discipline. FIT Kids participate in exercises that develop hand-eye coordination, general fitness, and body movement.
FIT KIDS (4&5)
Our FIT Program for fencers ages 4 & 5,
For preschoolers (ages 3 – 4) and their caregivers.
FITFamily Developmental Program, New Amsterdam Fencing Academy’s new curriculum for preschool-
age children, and their caregivers. The program, based in our knowledge of fitness and development, uses
the sport of fencing as an educational platform from which to explore key child development milestones
such as balance, hand-eye coordination, mindfulness, and the sense of play. Caregiver (Mama, Daddy,
Nanny) and child have the opportunity to interact in an engaging, playful and educational way.
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This engaging and interactive program is designed for parents& caregivers who want to enhance their
understanding of and support of their child’s development in a FIT, fun, intimate, and educational context.
Larissa & Lael, the development team for this program, have synthesized their shared knowledge base in
teaching kids (and their adults) to fence, their eclectic backgrounds in the study of child-development, and
sports fitness to create a new product concept principally motivated by the inherent, mutual joy to be found
in the parent-child (or parent/caregiver) bond. All this in the interest of imparting from an early age the fine
art of thwacking someone, sometimes even one’s Grown-up! As, for example, in ‘’cut’ your grown-up in
the leg with a foam saber’ game. Balance, agility and hand-eye coordination support!
