EASTHAMPTON – Seemingly every Olympic year – summer or winter – people are excited to watch athletes at the highest level compete for their countries with the whole world watching. 

But for the most part, there are only a handful of sports in which spectators fully understand. The rest they only watch, well, maybe once every four years.

Such is the case with fencing, and even Easthampton’s Pioneer Valley Fencing Academy fencing master Paul Sise recognizes it isn’t the most appealing sport to watch on television. 

The swords move quickly, but the fencers’ minds move quicker. It’s difficult to follow each and every movement of the sword, so Sise has a better idea of what to watch when tuning in to fencing this week at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Replays and commentary are also helpful to learn and comprehend the strategy behind the sport that has been a part of every Summer Olympics since they first began in 1896.

“Fencing doesn’t make a fantastic spectator sport because the swords are thin, fast-moving and really hard to follow,” Sise said. “So maybe instead of trying to watch what the swords are doing, watch how the people are moving. Watch how they change direction, how they seem to taunt the other person to get in close and then get away… But what it really all boils down to is it’s tag with sticks. Hit, don’t be hit, hit first.”

There are three different styles of fencing – foil, saber and épée – each of which require different swords and/blades and gear. 

In foil, the sword has a maximum weight of 500 grams and is used as a thrusting weapon. Only the tip of the blade can be used, and a point is awarded when it makes contact with the torso of the opponent. American Lee Kiefer earned her second consecutive gold medal in the Women’s Foil on Sunday, and fellow American Nick Itkin took bronze in the men’s event on Monday.

The épée sword is also a thrusting sword, but its maximum weight is 775 grams. Similar to foil, only the tip of the sword can be used, however the entire body is the target.

Finally, the sabre sword is used for cutting and thrusting motions. It’s the same weight as a foil sword. In sabre, the whole sword can be used to score points and the target area is any part of the upper body – including the facemask area.

Team fencing matches take place this week in all three styles.

“Fencing is really intellectual but really physical at the same time,” Sise said. “You’re in a one-on-one combat sport that has a good number of options for your opponent to choose. You’re probably making 10 decisions a second on distance, direction and where to threaten the opponent or how to defend yourself. It’s very, very fast.”

Sise, a native of Easthampton, was introduced to fencing as a young teenager. He eventually went on to compete at Lawrence University in Wisconsin – where he studied in biology and geology – before coming back home for graduate school at UMass.

There, Sise helped out with the UMass fencing team as a coach. After earning his Masters of Science in Amherst, he spent several summers at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where he took several coaching courses. Sise learned training techniques from older, more experienced coaches to use back in western Mass., where he began working with individuals.

It started with small sessions in his driveway then grew to larger ones in a church cafeteria before Sise finally found a secure location. For several years he and his group of coaches – RJ Ferullo, Kelly Fitzroy, Camilla Sise, Nicole Mann, Walker Sorensen and a bunch of youth assistants looking to one day be certified coaches as well – worked out of a building on Union Street, now La Veracruzana. They’ve since moved one final time to a spot on Cottage Street, where National Floors once resided prior to its closing.

All told, Pioneer Valley Fencing Academy has been around since 2003, and Sise is now one of only four certified fencing masters in all of New England.

“I started out just giving fencing lessons in my driveway,” Sise said. “Then we were borrowing a church cafeteria for about six or eight months, then renting a place on Union Street where Veracruzana is now – we were there for a number of years. When National Floors closed, we moved into their old digs, which is where we are now. This is their old warehouse.”

PVFA is open six days a week, and the Academy works with people of all ages. Sise’s youngest fencer is 7 years old. His oldest? 73.

Although fencing moves more into the spotlight every four years at the Summer Olympics, participation at the Academy doesn’t necessarily increase, according to Sise, because it can be tough to “find someone with really no interest in something and convince them that they now have interest.”

But fencing does appeal to a wide variety of individuals, and it does for a wide variety of reasons.

“The neat thing with fencing is that it appeals to people across a whole different set of reasons,” Sise said. “There’s the athletic aspect of it – the sport. There’s the pop culture – Zorro, Princess Bride, Star Wars, you know, swords and movies sort of thing. Some people like to think of themselves as being a knight, and some people just like the social aspect of it. It’s a very social sport.

“Lightsabers in the Star Wars movies have nothing on real fencing, though,” Sise added.

It’s also a sport that anybody can do. There aren’t any pre-requisite skills required or superhuman athletic abilities needed.

Just good old fashioned hard work and dedication.

“If you wanted to be an NFL football player all of a sudden, and you decided you want to pursue that, what are your options? You got none. Nothing,” Sise said. “Anybody can come to me at this club, if they want to put in the time and effort, and could be a competitive fencer up to maybe even the national level. There’s an avenue for you to be able to do that. This is a sport that regular people can do.”

For more information on the Academy, visit pioneerfencing.com or visit their location at 94 Cottage Street in Easthampton.