Pan American Fencing Academy

Using The President's Challenge

2011-11-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

The President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition operates a variety of physical fitness programs (see their website at ). One of these is the President's Challenge. This is a goal oriented program with three levels of achievement, and awards for the participants. However, a big advantage for the club coach is that it allows athletes to maintain an online training log of the days and times of fitness related activity. Individuals can enter training activity of all sorts when they do it, and you can monitor the intensity, frequency, duration, and type of training they do. Although fencing specific training logs may do a better job of recording data for coaches, this system gathers the basics, is difficult to lose, and can be accessed at any time. Setting up a group for your club is simple and quick. And it is free. Ideal - no. Better than waiting to create the ideal solution - oh, yes.

Ah, the Advantages of Technology

2011-09-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

We have posted on the Skills Development Program page an example of the certificate and of the patch. For reasons we are not really sure of, both thumbnails forward you to a Yahoo page. The certificate is only readable in the most general sense, but the patch is a clear, if small, image. We are working on understanding and correcting this, and apologize for the inconvenience.

New Skill Level Awards

2011-01-03T19:20:00.001-08:00

n 31 December two sabre fencers were the last Skill Level awardees in the Skill Development Program for 2010:

Level 1 - Jordyn Wade - Sabre - Salle Green
Level 1 - Lindsay Wade - Sabre - William and Mary Fencing Club

New Skill Development Patches In

2011-01-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

The first set of Skill Development Program patches is now in stock - these are for Level 1. The basic emblem is three swords (foil, epee, sabre) behind a central shield with the number of the level on the shield and the lettering PAFA on the sides of the emblem. The color scheme is:

Level 1 (Red) - emblem red, number 1 yellow, PAFA blue
Level 2 (Blue) - emblem blue, number 2 yellow, PAFA red
Level 3 (Bronze) - emblem bronze, number 3 blue, PAFA red
Level 4 (Silver) - emblem grey, number 4 red, PAFA blue
Level 5 (Gold) - emblem yellow, number 5 blue, PAFA red

2010-2011 Master At Arms Challenge

2010-09-27T07:51:00.001-07:00

Seven fencing coaches are participating in this year's Master at Arms Challenge. Of the 12 events, four participants have already met the Continuing Education requirements, and two are over a third complete on the requirement to teach 300 lessons.

Skills Development Program

2010-07-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

PAFA has completed the last major step in the development of our Fencing Skills Development Program - our website is updated with a page that lets you register as a coach to use the program, order the program manual and supporting materials, and register student accomplishments. Go to http://panafencing.com/Skills.htm for more information.

New Article On The Tactical Wheel

2010-02-09T03:24:00.001-08:00

We have started publishing short articles on fencing topics online at Ezine Articles, an online site for articles on a wide variety of subjects. The first article "Fencing’s Tactical Wheel: Is A New Approach Needed?" identifies some of the issues associated with the use of the Tactical Wheel. Look for this article at http://EzineArticles.com/?id=3708890.

Successful Clinic

2009-10-11T05:31:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, 10 October, we held a small, but successful Moniteur session 1 Clinic at Salle Green. With only three students, there was a lot of personal attention and discussion of how to do what when, both in standardizing presentation of individual skills and in the warm-up and footwork portions of the Moniteur examination. The section on drill mechanics was particularly lively, and students realized how difficult it was to incorporate all of the elements of a drill successfully. The Graduates page of the website has been updated with this clinic's graduates.

Study Guides Available

2009-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

We now have the note taking guides for PAFA's NTP1 Assistant Moniteur and NTP 2 Monitor Session 1 workshops in final form, and will be making them available for purchase online. Although these are designed as note taking guides, they have a lot of text information included, and provide a good roadmap for personal use in preparing for the United States Fencing Coaches Association examinations. Watch for a notice this coming week with ordering instructions and costs.

PAFA And Salle Green Offer Moniteur Development Clinics

2009-09-18T09:33:00.001-07:00

The Pan American Fencing Academy and Salle Green will be offering two one day clinics for individuals who want to prepare for the Moniteur examinations of the United States Fencing Coaches Association on Saturday, 10 October, and Saturday, 5 December. The first session focuses on skills performance, the introduction to the lesson, and the use of drills in teaching. The second session is devoted to teaching the main body of the group lesson.

Master at Arms Challenge

2009-07-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

For the 2009-2010 Master at Arms Challenge we have modified the requirements to allow participants to qualify by completing 10 of the 12 possible requirements. A reminder - the Challenge starts at the start of the 2009-2010 fencing season.

Work Starting On Prevot Course

2009-05-17T06:08:00.001-07:00

Maintenance of our teaching site is a constant effort. The Moniteur course still needs additional work, and we have started initial work on the Prevot course. The tentative target for the Prevot course to be open for business is 1 December. The Moniteur course should be completely updated by the end of the summer.

2009-2010 Master At Arms Challenge

2009-05-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

Details of the 2009-2010 Master At Arms Challenge are posted on our site at http://panamfencing.com/maachallenge.htm. This event is open to all certified professional fencing coaches who are members of the US Fencing Coaches Association or other national academies of arms recognized by the Academie d'Armes Internationale.