At the time most families in Fayetteville get home from a hard day’s work and contemplate dinner, some among us are picking up swords to plan an attack. They study their opponent for weaknesses and speak their own language, using terms such as “riposte,” “flunge” and “feint” — and oh, yes, “en garde.”
Gerhard Guevarra, founder and coach of All-American Fencing Academy on Donaldson Street, teaches the sport of fencing. His students range in age from 7 to 80 and come from diverse backgrounds.
Guevarra says if you can climb his building’s steps and wield a sword, he’ll teach you how to fence.
A busy father and family man, Guevarra works full time as a school liaison officer on Fort Liberty and coaches fencing in the evenings. He began teaching the sport in Fayetteville in 2001, holding classes at local school gyms. His efforts at the time resembled more of an outreach than a business, but he found that the interest was there and began to slowly recruit students.
In 2008, during the Great Recession, Guevarra opened his business at the downtown location. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges. Guevarra gives credit to several families who kept their memberships and remained faithful to the club for the business’ survival.
“Without them, we would not be here today,” he says.
Lately, the smoldering interest in fencing has begun to spark a blaze as word gets out about the exercise and the fun they’re having downtown. Guevarra says the two-man sport is safe and fun and no experience is necessary. The academy’s motto is, “We dare you not to love it.” All-American Fencing even provides the equipment to make it easier for beginners.
The popularity of the unconventional sport is growing nationwide. Guevarra’s fencing club is the only one in Fayetteville or within a two-hour drive.
Guevarra’s mission statement is today what it was then: Introduce fencing and make it available to everyone who is interested and not let cost or equipment be a barrier.
Chess at a thousand mph
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, to a military mom, Guevarra has moved with his family from coast to coast. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a degree in sports science and physical education.
For his freshman-year physical education requirement, Guevarra signed up for fencing after a suggestion from some high school friends who were attending N.C. State University. They told Guevarra they were trying fencing because they loved the movie “The Princess Bride.”
“So being an Asian kid, I looked to sign up for Kendo, Japanese sword fighting. There wasn’t Kendo, so I signed up for fencing instead.”
Guevarra was taught by legendary UNC fencing master Ronald C. Miller, who holds the record for longest tenure as a head coach at UNC. Miller was a pioneer in fencing, credited by many with bringing the sport to North Carolina.
After fulfilling his credit requirement, Guevarra was asked by Miller to try out for the UNC fencing team when he returned to school in the fall. Guevarra made the team.
“I got to play Division 1 sports. How many can say that?”
Guevarra said he is a natural at other sports but found that fencing was a skill that utilized his quick hands and feet. He excelled and noticed that the sport wasn’t as easy for others as it was for him.
He also appreciated that faster and stronger isn’t the best method for success.
“There’s a lot of problem-solving,” Guevarra said. “Yes, being faster does help. Being strong does help. But all of that doesn’t help if you can’t problem-solve. You’ve got to figure out how to score and how the opponent is scoring on you. If the person knows how to stop you, then no matter how fast and strong you go, they will beat you over and over.
“It’s a chess match at a thousand miles per hour. If I do this, what do you do? If you do that, what do I need to do to counter? That’s what appealed to me.”
Although fencing is a sport that builds physical and cardiovascular strength, you don’t have to be athletic to compete. Guevarra says parents often praise the opportunity that fencing offers because their children dislike traditional sports and would spend much of their time playing video games.
‘Intelligent’ sport
Twelve-year-old Zachary Thurnher took up fencing in elementary school and has been at it for five years.
“I think it has improved my hand-eye coordination,” Zachary says. “It hasn’t given me bigger muscles, but it’s given me more endurance.”
“I really like it. It’s a bit more intelligent than traditional athletics, so I think fencing is a really good sport for me,” Zachary says. “You can beat anyone if you know how to do it well. I’ve tried baseball and basketball and swimming once, but fencing has been my absolute favorite.”
Zachary says the sport gets harder as you progress, but he loves the challenge.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be interested in it. I’ve tried other things and they really weren’t that fun. But once I started classes and learned the different moves, it came naturally to me and was really fun. … I really like that it gives you more of a challenge.”
Zachary has not competed in tournaments. His mother, Rachel Thurnher, says she appreciates that fencing is an individual sport and that you can choose to compete or not.
“I liked that it wasn’t a requirement. If you play soccer, you’re expected to compete in tournaments. Fencing is what you make of it,” Thurnher said. “We didn’t have to buy any equipment, which I really liked. Coach Guevarra provided everything. Zachary is a lefty, and the coach had lefty equipment, so it was a no brainer for us.”
Thurnher was worried that her son was starting the sport too late.
“Zach was 7 when he started. In this day and age, people put their kids in sports at age 3, so we were worried he’d be behind. But 7 was the youngest you could start fencing, so it was perfect for him. It seemed to tick all the boxes,” Thurnher says.
Zachary takes lessons once a week and sees himself staying with it.
“I can’t think of any sport I’d want to do besides fencing,” he says. “If I stick with it, I can get really good at it and it will look good on a college record and make you a well-rounded person.”
Zachary would recommend the sport to anyone who is not very athletic and doesn’t have a favorite sport.
“I would say fencing is a good one. You don’t need that many capabilities, and it’s good for almost everyone,” he says.
‘Wow, I feel powerful’
Truett Canady gave his 17-year old son, Issac, a fencing lesson gift certificate for Christmas.
“I wanted to get him involved in something outside that was sports-related,” Truett says. “A buddy in law school told me he took up fencing so he could get a scholarship to college. He was on the UNC fencing team and traveled across the country at their expense. I told that story to my children, and one of them said, ‘Why don’t you do that for Issac?’”
Issac said he had fenced once before but did not know the rules.
“So it was basically two idiots in suits stabbing each other. But once I learned the rules, I thought, ‘Wow, I feel powerful,’” says Issac. “I enjoy the people, and they’re a lot of fun to be around.”
Issac would like to fence in college and has already found he enjoys that level of competition.
“I always wanted to go to UNC, but before fencing it was just a dream,” Issac says.
Issac competed in low-level tournaments and did very well.
“When I first started doing tournaments, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he says.
Longer periods between bouts allowed for more instructional conversations.
“Sometimes I won bouts and didn’t know what I was doing. I started watching the tournaments and observing what opponents were doing. I started to use that against them. I felt very powerful,” Issac says.
Guevarra says Issac caught on quickly and has progressed a lot in a year’s time. He also started to compete in regional and national tournaments.
Issac’s father says he’s amazed by the change in his son and has enjoyed watching Issac work hard to get better.
“Issac has grown physically during this time because he has started doing exercises for leg strength and to improve upper-body speed and hand-and-eye coordination. It’s been amazing to see him mature in the sport. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Truett.
Issac says the structure of fencing has helped him in other areas of life.
“My personality has completely changed from before I started fencing. There was really nothing structured in my life that I was in control of. Then I started structured practice outside of fencing because I had a reason for it. I had a motivation outside of myself. I didn’t think this was possible for me. I started to change other things in my life,” says Issac.
Outthink and outperform
Kevin Di Cassio is a military veteran who retired after teaching JROTC at Westover High School for 15 years. Di Cassio, who is from Pennsylvania and was part of the Penn State fencing team during his college days, has found the time to enjoy fencing again.
“Every other sport seems to revolve around a ball. I think fencing is a good alternative. It’s challenging mentally as well as physically. There’s more strategy involved. It’s not just two people swinging blades at each other,” Di Cassio says. “It keeps you in shape, and it’s not a very high-impact or mind-numbing type of activity. You’re trying to outthink as well as physically outplay another individual. Fencing gives you more diversity.”
While in the military, Di Cassio remembers reading an article about Guevarra starting a fencing club at Pine Forest High School. He filed that away in his mind until he had the opportunity to take up the sport. After fully retiring, he got the fencing itch again and found Guevarra.
“He’s a great instructor. I really like that he teaches the way the military teaches, in the method of crawl, walk and run. He starts you off with the basics and progresses into more intermediate lessons.
“It’s been a really great experience for me.”
Di Cassio says he loves the age diversity of fencers and being around like-minded, passionate people.
“What I like about the academy is that it’s very diverse. I fence students who are in junior high to those in the military. It’s a great workout. I’m amazed how much the sport has grown,” Di Cassio says.
For anyone who wants to try the sport and not commit to a month’s classes, All-American Fencing Academy offers a class for $20 every fourth Friday.
Guevarra has some advice for anyone who is thinking about trying it.
“If you love ‘The Princess Bride,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Robin Hood,’ or ‘Zorro’ or once played swords in the backyard, come on out,” he says.
“If you love ‘Star Wars’ and have ever had a sword fight with a lightsaber or used a Christmas wrapping tube as a sword, come on out.”
Guevarra says one of his students said it best when a reporter asked him why he likes fencing.
The student replied, “Because we all played swords.”
