CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 41 I t is set at a fast pace which forces the players to think quickly and act with precision and therefore doesn't just workout your body but stretches those mind muscles as well. And though most of us think of sports as a collective team effort, with fencing, it is all up to the individual. It is a lesson in staying calm and focused under pressure. It will teach you to problem solve because, in fencing the advice to go "Harder! Fast- er!" that coaches oen scream from the side of a football field doesn't work. You have to keep focus and find a way to slip past your opponents defenses while still maintaining your own. Gerhard Guevarra, the head coach and owner of All-American Fencing Academy in downtown Fayetteville, compared fencing to "trying to do a model airplane and trying to dance at the same time." Guevarra started All- American Fencing Academy to bring some of that precise athleticism to our community. At All-American Fencing Academy, your fencing experience and skill level do not matter. e academy will provide the training that matches the needs of each individual no matter if they are a begin- ner, advanced or competitive fencer. At the academy, emphasis is placed on train- ing with two of the three major fencing weapons, the foil, which targets the torso and the épée which opens the entire body of your opponent up as a target. Gerhard Guevarra started teach- ing fencing in recreation centers with just two students. He then moved his classes and training to Fort Bragg and became the All-American Fencing Club under the Army Fencing Association. Since then, he has moved off post and into downtown Fayetteville, merging with the Dancer's Creative Workshop and becoming the All-American Fenc- ing Academy. e fencers now have full reign over the space and the focus is on training civilians and Army families. Dependents of deployed Military Re- servists or the National Guard may take advantage of the Our Military Kids grant program. Several students, ages seven through 18 have already taken advan- tage of this grant, which offers them free classes and training for up to six months

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