She takes a deep breath, preparing herself for her next attack. She springs forward in a flurry of movement, unleashing a series of feints and lunges at her opponent. With a final graceful flourish of her sabre, her opponent has been defeated. She steps forward triumphantly to salute to her opponent, and then turns to face the crowd.
Just one look at East sophomore Ayah Khan and her assertiveness is evident. Her secret for a self-assured and calm demeanor? Khan has been a competitive fencer for the last four years.
She first began to pursue fencing as a passion at age 11 when her mother, Zaiba Malik, signed Khan up for a free beginners class. Khan immediately fell in love with fencing.
“[When she first began fencing, Khan] was very interested in learning new techniques and learning from all of her other teammates and coaches,” Malik told Spark. “I could tell that she was really interested in it.”
The beginning of Khan’s fencing journey was not easy. Since fencing is a lesser-known sport, Khan struggled at first to connect with fencers her own age.
“There’s not a lot of younger people in fencing, especially in Ohio,” Khan told Spark. “I was mostly practicing against much more experienced and older fencers, which was intimidating.”
Khan’s first competition was not stellar; she placed “dead last.” However, Khan was not ready to give up just yet; she continued to fence and compete, and eventually, she became sure of herself and her abilities.
“She made a really good group of friends and started to compete [regularly] in the smaller tournaments and competitions,” said Malik. “[Khan] got some confidence [after joining a new fencing club] and started to go to regional competitions.”
Khan is now a student of the local fencing organization, Salle Du Lion, located in West Chester, Ohio. She is one of around 50 students who range in age from 8 to 30 years old. She usually practices at Salle Du Lion for up to nine hours a week.
“Ayah is always working on improving some part of her game while she’s at practice,” Khan’s fencing instructor, Ryan Schardine, told Spark. “Lots of other fencers just go through the motions, not really focusing on improving.” Khan gets ready for practice by stretching first, and then begins the process of putting on her gear. For an experienced fencer, it takes about two minutes to put on the whole fencing outfit. For an inexperienced fencer, it takes much longer.
At practice, Khan typically wears less components of her fencing attire than at competitions. Her fencing attire is mostly made out of tough cotton and nylon; all parts of her outfit are designed to protect her and allow her to fence safely. Some components include the underarm protector, the chest guard, the jacket, and the lamê.
The lamê is only worn by two out of three types of fencers. It is an electrically- conductive reactive piece of the fencing outfit; via flashes of light, the lamê serves to alert the viewers and judges if the fencers have been touched by their opponent’s weapon. A certain amount of touches to the lamê gains points for the other fencer.
At competitions and tournaments, Khan fences in matches, also called ‘bouts.’ There are two different ways to earn points in fencing bouts: a certain number of touches to an opponent’s lamê or a retreat by the opponent past a specific line. At the end of every bout, Khan receives a letter on her performance: ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D,’ ‘E,’ or ‘U.’ ‘A’ is considered the best letter to be scored and ‘E’ is the worst; ‘U’ is unrated.
Khan’s competitive fencing season lasts nearly all year; only a single month is fully designated fencing-free. She competes in local circuits as well as national. Last summer, after qualifying in her regional competition held in Cincinnati, Khan qualified for the USA Summer Nationals. She placed 111th out of 400 competitors.
“It takes both hard work and talent to compete at nationals like Ayah did,” said Schardine. “Natural talent for fencing is also a major part of what makes her such a strong fencer.”
Khan’s specialty weapon in fencing is the sabre, which is a light weapon mostly used to cut and thrust. The sabre, sometimes classified as a ‘slashing’ weapon, specifically targets the upper-body area, including the opponent’s mask, chest, hands, and head.
“I really enjoy the feeling of making blade contact,” said Khan. “[Fencing] is just a great way to de-stress and be in the moment.”
Khan’s favorite professional fencer and personal hero is Ibtihaj Muhammad, a female sabre fencer known for being the first American Muslim woman to wear a hijab whilst competing in the Olympic games. At the 2016 Olympics, Muhammad received a bronze medal in the women’s sabre team event.
“[Muhammad’s] one of the people that changed the stereotype that Muslim hijabi women can’t do sports,” said Khan. “She broke [the cultural mindset] and decided to fence anyway.”
Malik describes her daughter Khan in three words: creative, empathetic, and kind.
“She goes to her clubmates’ tournaments and roots for them, which I think is really special,” said Malik.
Khan’s favorite aspect of fencing is that it is an individual sport; she does not have to depend on “a team or anyone but herself.” Khan believes that this sense of independence can help draw more people to the small sport, as well as the valuable lessons that can be learned from fencing.
“I’ve learned [from fencing] that there’s always going to be somebody better than you,” said Khan. “But you have to try your hardest no matter what. Even in bad situations, give it your all.”
