Leaps and Bouts: Adaobi Okammelu's Fencing Feats

Adaobi Okammelu started fencing during her freshman year, inspired by her Aunt from Arkansas. After years of trying to convince her mom to let her play a sport, Okammelu decided to give it a try after finding it listed as one of her district’s winter sport offerings. During tryouts, the gym was packed, but only 22 girls were allowed on the team. Then Okammelu realized that she would be “stabbing” people and getting “stabbed.” At that moment, she described herself as “the worst fencer on the team;” however, she had spirit and drive, so she appreciated the opportunity to fence in exhibitions rather than beating herself up for not fencing in official bouts.

Fencing is an individual combat that contributes to the overall team score. During a meet, there are three rounds consisting of nine bouts. A bout is a three-minute individual match where the fencer who reaches five points first wins. Each round has three bouts, one for each of the three fencing weapons: foil, sabre, and epee. Sabre is fast paced, with slashes to the opponent's upper body and head. Foil, the most technical, targets only the upper body and excludes the head. The referee is more critical of attacks and movements with foil, as it is the lightest sword. Epee has fewer restrictions, allowing you to hit anywhere on the body without right of way. Foil starts the round, while epee concludes it, leading into the next round. You win the meet by reaching 14 total bouts first. The team that wins the meet by achieving 14 total bouts first wins. Okammelu won about 2-3 bouts out of the entire season which is approximately 60 potential bouts.

To prepare for meets, Okammelu finishes long assignments the night before, eats a filling dinner, packs her gym bag with fencing gear, shoes, and medical supplies, and ensures that she gets a good night's rest. After school, Okammelu prepares for fencing by stretching, practicing drills with a teammate, and coaching epee fencers. She leads a prayer before each round to reassure teammates and offer encouragement. 

Have you faced any challenges in fencing? How did you deal with them?

Okammelu: “I’ve faced many challenges, which I can break down into three categories: mental, physical, and social.”

When facing an opponent on a 14-meter-long strip, “I experienced anxiety and thoughts about losing, tripping, or stepping into the warning line.” Most of the time, Okammelu felt she was an opponent to herself. She shares “I would beat myself up over losing a bout or letting my opponent get close to scoring when I could have easily prevented it by changing my movements.” Okammelu talks about her experiences in fencing, highlighting what her coach said about the importance of giving oneself grace and not constantly criticizing oneself.

Okammelu has experienced physical injuries, but the worst was when she collapsed during the finalist round of the Manhasset tournament, “at that point, I’d been fencing for almost five hours straight.” Despite the pain, she decided to continue with the tournament after receiving a hug from her coach: she placed 4th out of 40 girls! “I’ve never been prouder of myself. Fencing is about pushing yourself, just like any other sport, and I’m glad I was able to continue even when pushed past my limits,” Okammelu remarks. 

OKammelu elaborates on a social challenge she faces and states, “A social challenge that many of my teammates and I face as well is racism. Our district’s fencing team is one of the few, if not the only, team in the county with more than three black fencers. Over half of our team is black. Due to this, there have been microaggressions from other coaches or opponents, in subtle ways that don’t warrant a yellow or red card for discrimination.” Okammelu recalled an incident where the coach of an opposing team tried to get their teammate carded for the “inappropriate” length of her faux locs, which concerned the team. “I’ve overheard opponents openly pointing out or discussing when my teammates and I wear bonnets or scarves to protect our natural hair. I’ve even heard coaches and parents say to their children, “Don’t lose to someone like her.” Okammelu keep her head held high and expresses, “this challenge is something we all face, in different ways, throughout our fencing—simply because we’re in a sport dominated by people who don’t look like us. The best way we address it is by making sure we win our bouts. There’s nothing we can say to change their mindset, so we prove we’re here to do one thing and one thing only: fence.”

Okammelu finds the team to be more like a found family. “Like many siblings, we sometimes get into silly arguments, eat each other’s food as if we bought it ourselves, or decorate each other’s hair with pink bows for our Wednesday meets, when we all wear pink. Our coach is the glue that keeps us together, even if that means rubbing his bald head like a magic ball to give us ‘good luck’ before we go on the strip to fence. When I joined fencing, I didn’t just gain armor and a weapon—I got a family.”

Okammelu aims to improve her parries and flushing techniques, which are hand movements used to set up or prevent an opponent's attack. They use parry 6, which involves tightly circling the blade against the opponent's, parry 4, which beats and presses against the opponent's sword while leaning in to land the attack, and parry 8, which involves tightly circling over the opponent's blade, aiming for their thighs. Okammelu also wants to improve her blade work when performing these parries so she can reduce her reliance on performing the same parry over and over. Flushing is a quick move meant to surprise the opponent, and she has only successfully hit her opponents a few times with this technique and would love to master it.”

Full Interview with Adaobi Okammelu

How have your challenges impacted your motivation to play sports?

Okammelu: “The challenges I face only reinforce my goals to be better. Any microaggression or injury I encounter motivates me to show others that I’m good at this sport for a reason—and I want to show them why.”

What do you want to see our school team accomplish?

Okammelu: “I want to see over half of our team make it to individuals [County Fencing Championships].”

What role do you want to play on our district’s team?

Okammelu: “While I am currently captain, if there’s a chance to return after graduation as either a referee or coach, I’d love to!” 

 Coach Ferrante, who has been Okammelu’s coach since her freshman year, and according to her, “one of the funniest, nerdiest, and most teddy-bear-like coaches you could ever meet,” constantly pushes her to improve and reach her full potential. He has taught her to be strong and fence aggressively, constantly defends the team during their meets, and ensures they are treated fairly by both referees and opposing coaches. “He’s a great coach, and I’ll be sad to leave him after our last season together.”

One major highlight for Okammelu was their meet against Garden City, where they had been ahead by 6 but tied at 13. Okammelu was originally supposed to fence in two rounds but was subbed in for the final round, knowing she would be the last fencer to fight in the final round. In the final bout, she faced a very skilled opponent. With 20 seconds left, the score was tied at 4. “My teammates were yelling from the sidelines, and my anxiety was through the roof.” As the referee began the bout again, her opponent rushed towards her, “surprisingly, I extended my arm and scored the final point. It was one of the most stressful moments of my fencing career, but also one of the best.”

What do you want our readers to know about fencing?

Okammelu: “Fencing is just as technical and intense as it seems. It requires time and dedication, just like any sport, so don’t be fooled by its elegance thinking it’s soft. Getting hit with a sword isn’t as bad as it seems. Most of the time, depending on the weapon, you’re getting hit in the same areas, and eventually, you get used to it. While bruises do happen, it’s rarely serious. However, epee fencers often find bruises in the weirdest places! Also, we don’t have a boys’ fencing team at the moment, but hopefully, with time, our district will open up fencing to boys as well!” 

What do you hope for this season, both for yourself and the team?

Okammelu: “As this is my final [senior] year, I hope to perform my best one last time for our district’s team. I just want to go out strong with some of my favorite teammates. While I do worry for the team’s success each year as the seniors leave, I can proudly say we’ll be alright—and even better—after this season.” Ia