In his teen years, Isaac Canady lacked excitement about life. He wasn’t depressed, per se, just disinterested and sarcastic. He’d played T-ball for five seasons, and his sister Hannah thought he might find interest in other sports that weren’t mainstream. She found a fencing club in Fayetteville, the All-American Fencing Academy and Canady went, though he hadn’t even been aware that swordplay existed. That year his parents gave him an introductory month’s membership to the club for Christmas. The plan worked; the 15-year-old’s attitude changed. The arcane sport gave Canady something to get excited about. The last two years he’s been a Junior Olympian fencer and he’ll be competing again this year, Feb. 14-17 in Charlotte, NC.
Canady grew up in peaceful, slow-paced St. Pauls, the youngest of four, all of whom were home-schooled. Initially Baptist, the family ended up attending Pentecostal services, and now Canady favors Summit Ministries, which offers a 60-hour apologetics course to help young adults live as Christians and be able to defend their faith. He appreciates the ministry’s emphasis on how to react and respond in the world and how to respectfully debate people. “Nobody ever swayed someone in a shouting match,” he said.
His goal is to mature in his faith and be unified with fellow believers.
Financial advising and architecture, despite the intimidating math, both interest Canady. He’s working toward an “arts to transfer,” as he puts it, so he can apply his earned credits toward whichever major he decides on. Meanwhile, even though Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst is an hour away from both home and the fencing club, God still provides a way for him to train and compete.
The best way to improve your skill as a fencer is to practice what you’ve learned with hours “on the strip,” as fencers say. The second-best way is through private lessons and the third is through classes. Time on the strip, or officially the piste, is not cheap. Coaching normally runs in the $40 to $60 per half-hour range, though some coaches will share their expertise for $25 a half-hour. An All-American Fencing Academy membership includes lessons with Coach Gephard Guevarra.
Swashbuckling, or what most people think of when they think of fencing, is a ridiculous display of theater in the eyes of fencers. Although the movements may be similar, fencing is all about mastering the mind and reactions within the body. It’s imperative to maintain control of the blade. The simpler and more precise a motion, the more points a fencer will inevitably score. Fencing is a highly nuanced game that takes a chess-like mentality to excel at.
Different fencing categories are determined by the sword: foil, sabre (c.q.) or épée. In foil and sabre, rules of attack must be followed. Like a roadway intersection, fencers in those two disciplines must abide by the right or priority of attack. Your blade is also your shield, so you can earn points for a parry of your opponent’s attack if you follow up with a riposte or counterattack. You can also execute a plan of second intention, or feint, to draw a reaction that provides an opening to score.
The foil is the smallest and lightest of the three blade types. The épée is a rapier and heavier, but it too is used in a thrusting motion. For both, a wire is run the length of the blade to a button on the tip. The sabre is a triangular cavalry blade that for fencing is electrified in its entirety, registering both thrusting and slashing motions.
The strip consists of conductive metal floor sections and is approximately 4.9 to 6.6 feet wide and approximately 49 feet long. In foil, the fencer wears a lamé, a metal sleeveless bodysuit that registers contact from a button on the tip of the opponent’s sword. In sabre, the jacket is waist-length and the head is included. In épée, the entire body is targeted.
Canady is coached by All-American Fencing Academy owner Gerhard Guevarra, who fenced on the varsity team for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He trained under fencing master Ron C. Miller, has coached for over 25 years and continues to compete nationally. In 2006 he fenced internationally in the Vancouver World Cup and has won numerous North Carolina Division Championships. Guevarra holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education, exercise and sports science. He served as a U.S. Army Reservist for eight years, wrapping up in 2003, and currently is a school liaison officer on Fort Liberty for the Department of the Army. Of the four children he shares with his wife, Jennifer, two fence and compete nationally.
Canady knows Guevarra teaches for love of the sport and is grateful for learning from someone who is devoted to making fencing a positive experience. Canady also takes lessons from coach David Hadler, an Army captain stationed at Fort Liberty. While earning his BA in international business, Hadler was a Division I NCAA fencer for the University of California at San Diego. He finished 24th out of 69 in the men’s foil competition at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan. He achieved All-American for placing 11th in NCAA championships and was also a Western Fencing Conference Foil Champion. He earned a gold medal in the 2013 and 2014 Pan American Championships, a silver in the team 2014 Junior Olympics and a bronze in the 2016 US National Championships.
Canady appreciates Hadler’s approach to conditioning: long warmups, followed by a long class. He’s also teaching Canady in a different manner, forcing his brain to develop new muscle memories. The challenge is worth it. Canady prays that God will bless him with the financial means to continue fencing and competing seriously at the Junior Olympics. He doesn’t worry, though. He knows that fencing is a generous sport to older competitors, like to the 55-year-old reporter-turned-Olympic-fencer David Wharton. In the end, Canady knows that the point is to share the gospel and glorify God.

(Photo: Canady successfully competed at the Junior Olympics the last two years and will be competing again this February. Photos courtesy of Isaac Canady)