NEW ROCHELLE, NY (December 11, 2022) — A World Champion fencer came to New Rochelle Saturday to teaching fencing to ten eager students.
Nzingha Prescod is an American foil fencer, World Champion in foil at the 2008 and 2009 Cadet World Cups, bronze medalist at the 2015 World Fencing Championships, three-time medalist at the Pan American Games, and two-time Olympian. She has ranked as high as world # 5.
Prescod worked with the class on the basics of fencing: the en garde position, engaging, lunging, disengaging, and recovering.
“This is your first, second, third day for some of you, right? So, we got a ways to go, there’s a lot to learn,” Prescod explained.
“You know how you get good at doing this or anything else? It’s practice. Practice repetition. Anything you want to be good at is practice repetition of doing these foundational exercises. I still do these. I don’t even fence anymore.”
“This is how you get great at something doing the basics, the classics, foundations,” she said, “That’s why it’s a martial art. You’re trained. You do the very specific technical pieces”.
“This is part of the work, and then you get to the fun of fencing, but you can only win bouts in fencing if you have good technique. You can’t get to winning bouts, winning your matches, if you don’t have the technique, you understand? This time is well spent.”
The students came primarily from the Hollow.
The grand-funded program was organized and supported by the New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority, Westchester County Youth Bureau, RXR Realty, the City of New Rochelle and Monroe College which provides space at New Roc City.
The fencing class was fully equipped with protective gear, masks, and foils.
Prescod was selected as an athlete director on the USA Fencing Board of Directors beginning in January 2021. She sits on the USA Fencing Board with former New Rochelle Board of Education President Lianne Merchant, a candidate for New Rochelle City Council.