REDMOND, Wash. — Kaizen Fencing Academy in Redmond is on guard for more students as the popularity of the sport is rapidly increasing.
Kevin Mar of Kaizen Academy says this week's fencing camp is a good example of how far the sports has come.
“We have medalist from countries like Italy here and students who have come from around the country to train together this week.” Mar said.
One student came to Kaizen academy after fleeing Ukraine with her family last year. The highly experienced coaching staff even features a former Olympian with multiple students hoping to follow the same path.
The fencing academy is the recipient of a national award for diversity, equity and inclusion and Mar says they buck the trend of a traditionally male dominated sport.
“Most clubs are 80/20 men to women but here we are like 50/50, so it’s a great mix and out of around 180 students we feature 30 languages," he said.
Ketki Ketkar is a former Skyline High School student who got in to fencing after seeing a demo at school.
“I had no idea it would become such a huge part of my life,” Ketkar said.
At just 16 years old, she became the first athlete from Washington state in 25 years to compete in the world fencing championships. She’s now a three-time world medalist and a hopeful for the Olympics.
Both Ketki and her sister were recruited to Cornell for fencing. The sisters are freshman at Cornell in New York and returned to Redmond to train this week.
Frederico Vismara is a World Champion Silver Medalist from Italy and is training alongside teammate Carola Maccagno, a European cadet world champion.
Maccagno says her childhood passion has turned in to her job.
“I started fencing when I was 8, having fun with my brother," she said.
The pair have Olympic goals and the 2023 edition of the World Fencing Championship will take place in their home of Milan. It will be the last chance for the Italian team to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Kaizen Fencing Academy has seen steady growth over the past three years but the latest popular Netflix series, "Wednesday" has added some pop culture relevance.
The series based on "The Addams Family" featured a fierce fencing match and suddenly the sport skyrocketed in search engines.
“People call up and wanna do what Wednesday does…we can do that!” laughs Mar.
He says his students range from kids just dabbling to young athletes who have Olympic dreams.
“We even have a mom's class that started during the pandemic. The moms love coming and Fencing!” says Mar.
The academy says the “Wednesday effect” has built quite a buzz and they’re excited to introduce more people to the sport.
“We have a trial class so just come have fun and try something new,” Mar said.