Your Child's First Fencing Camp: What to Expect, and Why the Full Week Matters
If you're reading this, you're probably weighing it up. Your child loves fencing, the camp sounds exciting, and you still have questions. Will they cope? Will it be too much? Is it worth it? Do they really need all six days?
Almost every parent asks the same things before their child's first camp.
Blade x Giuseppe Fencing Camp · 26–31 December 2026 · Hextar World, Empire City, Petaling Jaya
That First Morning
Your child will probably walk in a little nervous. A big hall, new coaches, fencers they've never met, some from the other side of the world. That's completely normal, and it passes faster than you'd think.
By lunchtime they've done footwork and blade work, small-group technical sessions with world-class coaches and bouts against new opponents. By pick-up time they're tired, and usually can't stop talking about it.
There's some space for you to watch, and we understand the pull to stay close. But if you can, give them room. Camp is often the first place children learn to manage on their own, and that independence is one of the best things they'll bring home.
Who Will Be Coaching Your Child
Your child will spend the week with four coaches who have taken fencers from club level to international podiums, again and again:
Giuseppe Pierucci: Italian Junior National Coach and founder of the Giuseppe Fencing Team.
Valerio Aspromonte: 2012 London Olympic team gold medallist, 2013 World Team Champion and Italian Junior National Coach.
Fabrizio Villa: Head Coach at Scherma di Roma, known for building young fencers from the ground up.
Nontapat Panchan: 2008 Beijing Olympian, 2x NCAA Champion and 5x SEA Games individual gold medallist. His fencers include an Asian Cadet individual silver medallist and SEA Games gold medallists.
What this means for your child is simple: they'll be seen. Coaches at this level notice the small things, like a preparation that telegraphs the attack, a recovery that leaves them short of distance or a parry that opens too wide, and they fix it right there on the piste. Your child feels the difference straight away, and you'll see it the next time you watch them fence.
Who They'll Be Fencing
Every year we bring in accomplished fencers purely to raise the level of the bouting. The first four are confirmed:
Giulio Lombardi (Italy): Italian senior national team. European team champion this year and World Cup bronze medallist in Paris.
Emanuele Iaquinta (Italy): World No. 1 in the FIE junior rankings and bronze medallist at the 2026 Junior Worlds.
Janelle Leung (Hong Kong): Hong Kong senior national team, Junior Asian champion (individual and team) and 25th at the 2026 Senior Worlds.
Giovanni Pierucci (Italy): double silver medallist at the 2026 European Cadet Championship.
More names will be released soon.
If your child is newer to fencing, picture them a few metres away from the world's No. 1 junior, watching the footwork, the control of distance and the timing of the attack. Moments like that change what a young fencer believes is possible.
If your child already competes, they'll finally face opponents who read their preparation and don't bite on their usual feints. It can be humbling. It's also exactly how they find where their game breaks under pressure, whether in distance, tempo or right of way, and they'll come home knowing what to work on.
Why Families Come Back Every Year
Many of our families return year after year. When we ask the kids why, they tell us two things.
The coaches. Daily corrections from an Olympic champion and Italy's junior national coaches, without flying to Europe. Every year they come back a better fencer, and every year the coaches push them further.
The intensity. Our camp is known for it: long days, demanding sessions and high-volume bouting against new opponents, at a competition tempo usually only seen at major events. It's the perfect complement to their regular club training, a week of new styles and new problems to solve that they take home and keep building on.
What Your Child Gains
Every child takes something different from camp, depending on where they are in their fencing.
If your child is still building their foundations
Stronger foundations. Better technique, coordination and footwork through structured, focused training: faster advances, longer lunges and quicker recoveries to en garde.
Focus. Learning to read what's happening in a bout and make decisions under pressure.
Thinking, not just speed. Fencing is about timing, distance and anticipating the opponent's next move. Camp is where many children first discover that.
Resilience. Handling mistakes, losing a touch, resetting on the en garde line and trying again.
Sportsmanship and respect. Saluting every opponent, winning graciously and losing with dignity.
Independence. Managing their own kit, their own day and their own nerves.
A love for the sport. The thrill of getting better at something hard, alongside others who love it just as much.
If your child already competes
Sharper tactical awareness. Recognising patterns, building touches (a preparation, a feint to draw the parry, then the finish) and adapting when something isn't working.
New styles to solve. Opponents with different rhythms, techniques and tactical approaches, all in one week.
Gaps found, and fixed. Unfamiliar opponents expose weaknesses in distance, tempo or right of way, and the coaches help close them while the lesson is fresh.
Competition readiness. Performing under pressure at competition tempo, a valuable step before the new season.
Mental toughness. Staying composed when trailing and focused against a stronger opponent.
And whatever their level, they'll probably go home with a few new friends from other countries, too.
World-Class Training, on Your Doorstep
Every year, families across Asia fly their children to Europe for this kind of training. Long-haul flights, hotels, jet lag and weeks of planning, all for a few days on the piste with coaches of this calibre.
This December, we're bringing it to you. The same coaches, the same intensity and international sparring partners, right here in Petaling Jaya.
For families in Malaysia, that means no long-haul flights and no jet lag. For families from around the region, it's a short flight in a similar time zone, with very little acclimatisation needed. All the convenience, for a fraction of what a training trip to Europe costs. Your child's energy goes where it matters most: into their fencing.
Pick Your Camp
Competitive Foil Camp: for regular competitors, up to national-team level
Little Fencers Foil Camp: for beginners to lower-intermediate fencers
Épée Camp: details coming soon, register your interest
Travelling in? Our Camp Guide covers where to stay and getting around.
We'd Love to See You There
Not sure which camp fits? WhatsApp us at +60 11-3768 2872 and we'll help you choose.
Foil camp early-bird pricing closes 20 October 2026.
See you on the piste,The Blade Fencing KL team
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