Why Cardinal Fencing Academy?

My name is José deOlivares.

My father introduced me to the Olympic sport of fencing when I was 10 years old. That was 75 years ago. I have participated in a lot of other sports since then, but I keep coming back to fencing because it is a lifelong sport and I can. While there are open fencing competitions where anyone can compete and elite competitions, like the Olympics and World Championships, where only the very best fencers can compete, the vast majority of fencing competitions are organized by age. There are currently a dozen different divisions, from under 8 years old to over 80 years old, offering local, regional and national competitions across the country and around the world throughout the year. In fact, I am still competing in the Veteran Men’s Epee 80+ Division at the national where I have earned the number one ranking and am consistently on the podiums.

I do my practicing between competitions and continue to take lessons at the Cardinal Fencing Academy (CFA) in Sterling VA. I have also been asked to serve as a part-time coach and I teach the Introduction to Fencing Class, a class for the parent and adults, and a few private lessons. I am honored to have been asked and thrilled to be able to help.

I want to tell you about CFA because I have fenced at fencing clubs in a dozen different states, as well as in Egypt, France and Spain, over the years and CFA is, by far, the best fencing club I have ever seen.

CFA was founded in the Summer of 2018 by Ilya Lobanenkov, who gave up his career as a systems engineer to open the club and serves as its Head Coach. I first met Ilya about 20 years ago when we were both fencing at the DC Fencers Club in Silver Springs, MD. We eventually went our separate ways, but we reconnected around 2019. We were both living in Northern Virginia at the time and I heard about his new club and went to visit him and say “Hi”. I was so impressed with what he was doing that I decided to return to the sport of fencing. It has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Let me tell you why CFA is so special.

Learning how to fence is about learning how to use a fencing weapon, position your body and move up and down the fencing strip (playing field). It is also about learning how to judge and use the distance between you and your opponent and learning how to judge and time your actions. This is called technique and there is no fencing without it. But there is more to learning how to compete in the Olympic sport of fencing then learning how to fence – technique.

First of all, we fence facing sideways. We do that because it gives us a longer reach and a smaller target. Everything else we do as human beings, except maybe ballet, we do facing forward. We may twist and turn, but we always come back to facing forward. That makes fencing difficult to learn because we have to develop a whole new set of muscle memories. CFA’s unique approach to teaching fencing technique includes specific actions and exercises based on geometry and physics that accelerate the development of those new muscle memories.

Then there is the mental side of the sport. Fencers call the sport “physical chess” because that is what we are doing mentally when we are competing against an opponent. We are trying to figure out what our opponent is going to do, or trick them into doing what we want them to do, so that we can hit them before they hit us, which is essentially what we do in a chess match (trap their King before they trap ours). Only in chess we are using our fingers to move the pieces and we have time to think between moves. In fencing we are using our whole body to move our weapon and everything is happening at lightning speed.

The point of a fencing weapon is the second fastest object in all of the Olympic sports. It is faster than a hockey puck, a tennis ball, a golf ball, an arrow…. in fact, the only thing faster is a shot from a biathlon rifle or a marksmanship pistol. Having to analyze what is happening, develop a solution to a problem and implement that solution in a matter of nano seconds is both very demanding and very stressful, especially for young fencers. CFA’s excellent coaches have the many years of experience as fencers and then coaches and the practical and practiced understanding of sports psychology to teach students how to think that fast while remaining calm and focused. That is not an easy thing to do. But the CFA coaches are very, very good at it, in part, because they develop a supportive relationship with their students and don’t judge them if they struggle or make mistakes. You will never hear a CFA coach yell at a student unless there is a safety issue and then they will scream “halt” and everyone in the gym, as they have been trained to do from day one, will freeze in place. It is very impressiave to see as well as reassuring.

Head Coach Ilya Lobanenkov and his team have developed a teaching style in three dimetions: bladework, footwork and timing. Everything is also taught in context of making the best use of information and energy. Strategies are taught for the milliseconds of a bout, a weekly practice and the whole school year. I've never seen a coach or a program that teaches these concepts so effectively.

Another thing that has impressed me about CFA is, while its emphasis is on competing, it doesn’t limit its definition of winning to the obvious winning of medals or National points. At CFA winning means setting realistic, incremental goals and working to achieve them one at a time. They celebrate and support their students winning a pool bout at a local tournament for the first time, winning a National Championship (which has happened several times) or qualifying to represent the USA at the Cadet and Junior World Championship (which has also happened), with the same level of excitement, enthusiasm and pride.

In addition, Coach IIya and Sofia Iva, CFA’s Administrative Manager, constantly go out of their way to help fencing families integrate their commitment to fencing with their family life. CFA provides a certified car service to get students to and from practice if their parents aren’t available to drive them. They have an armorer who provides assistance with the purchase and maintenance of equipment. They provide coaching at competitions and logistical support for choosing events, traveling to and managing one’s time at competitions. And, they hold numerous social and educational family events during the year to bring fencers and their families together to build comradery, teamwork and a sense of belonging. And it’s working. CFA fencers will "fight like hell" when they are fencing each other in a competition, but once the bout is over, win or lose, they will stay at the competition and root for their teammates. That is very good to see in individual youth sports these days; and very refreshing, especially for an old-timer like me who grew up at a time when cooperation was more common than confrontation.

Is my opinion of CFA biased or self-serving because I am a part, if only a small part, of the coaching staff? I don’t think so. CFA runs a 1- week Olympic Epee Camp during the summer and for the past 2 years our guest Coach has been Hungarian fencer Gergely Siklosi, “Gergo” is the 2025 number 1 ranked epee fencer in the world, with both Olympic and World Championship gold medals victory to his credit. All of us associated with CFA, staff, students and families, are honored that he has chosen to teach at our camp since he would obviously be welcome at any fencing camp in the world. And, we are both gratified and reassured that he has chosen to come to our camp because, as he has repeatedly told us, and anyone else who asked, he comes to CFA because he really likes and supports our philosophy and approach to the Olympic sport of fencing, as described above. As a fencing academy, you can’t get a better testimonial than that - from the best epee fencer in the world (and the nicest guy with a sense of his responsibility as a champion to promote the sport of fencing, and the values it represents, around the word). He inspires the CFA fencers to all the qualities you would hope to see in a real champion - kindness, patience, accessibility, humility, honor, humor and strength.

CFA has had many other Olympic and World medalists run camps and clinics returning multiple years. They include Ro Sobalvarro, Susie Scanlan, Sandro Cuomo, Valerio Cuomo, Hadley Husisian and since Gergő could not come in 2026, he arranged for his Olympic Gold medal teammate Tibor Andrásfi to coach the pre-season camp in August.

If you are interested in having your child learn to fence, or learn to fence yourself, please check out CFA’s website - www.cardinalfencingacademy.com . CFA offers a 1-hour Introduction to Fencing Class for $30, on Mondays or Wednesdays at 6PM or Saturdays at 10AM. There is also a 1-hour Beginner Class on Saturdays at 11AM, which you can join for $90 a month, all equipment provided. If you (and/or your child) decide to pursue the sport of fencing, CFA offers a variety of private lessons, class options and payment plans designed to meet a variety of schedules, budget and levels of commitment. Custom plans are also available. If you or your child’s interest is recreational, you can enjoy the sport of fencing with one private lesson and one class a week and an occasional local competition. If your goals are loftier, regional and national competitions (maybe a college fencing scholarship) and the travel and excitement that goes with it, CFA can take you as far as you want to go with a three day a week commitment and at least a dozen competitions a season (mid-August through the second week the following July).

Even if you are not ready to sign up for anything, feel free to stop by any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening between 5 and 8PM and see what the Olympic sport of fencing is all about.

Jose deOlivares

Veteran 80 Fencer

National Medalist