Fencing and the Ageing Brain: What the Research Shows

Fencing may support thinking skills and balance in older adults, but the evidence is promising rather than conclusive. It is an “open-skill” sport, one where you constantly react to an unpredictable opponent, and one small trial suggests that kind of activity affects task-switching differently from steady, repetitive exercise.

Fencing is often thought of as a young person’s sport, yet some of the most interesting research on it concerns older adults. Here is what the science currently suggests.

What is open-skill exercise, and why does it matter?

Researchers draw a line between open-skill activities, such as fencing, tennis and table tennis, where you must adapt to a changing situation, and closed-skill activities, such as running or swimming, which are self-paced and predictable. A six-month randomised controlled trial published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found that open-skill and closed-skill exercise produced different effects on executive functions in older adults, in a small trial of 64 healthy older men, where the open-skill group played table tennis (Frontiers, 2017). Fencing was not one of the activities tested.

What does research say about combat sports and older adults?

Fencing also sits within the wider family of Olympic combat sports, which have been reviewed specifically for older populations. A systematic review titled “Effects of Olympic Combat Sports on Older Adults’ Health Status” found twelve trials, in boxing, judo, karate and taekwondo but none in fencing, and reported improvements in outcomes such as balance, agility, attention and mental health (IJERPH, 2021). Balance, in particular, matters as we age, and fencing’s constant footwork plausibly trains the kind of controlled, reactive movement that balance depends on, although this has not been tested for fencing specifically. We look at that question more closely in fencing, balance and falls in older adults.

What does the research not show?

The research has limits. Much of the fencing-specific evidence is associational, comparing people who fence with people who do not, rather than proving that fencing alone causes a benefit. The open-skill trials are more rigorous, but they study a category of sports, not fencing in isolation. So the fair summary is this: fencing is a promising, brain-engaging form of exercise for older adults, supported by encouraging research, not a guaranteed treatment for anything. Anyone older or with health conditions should check with their doctor before starting a new sport. The same caution applies to specific conditions, and our article on fencing and Parkinson’s disease shows how little fencing research exists there.

Is fencing suitable for older beginners?

What makes fencing suitable later in life is that it scales to you. There are no collisions or tackles, and you set the pace. Lunging does load the knees, calves and Achilles, so build up gradually. Progress is mental as much as physical, so age is far less of a barrier than people assume. We coach a wide range of ages, and beginners in their later years are welcome, not unusual, a point we expand on in starting fencing as a senior.

How can an older beginner try fencing?

Fencing Masters in Singapore coaches seniors and veterans, with no upper age limit. Our registered coaches tailor each session to the person in front of them, and we lend the mask, jacket and blade once you join, for the first 8 lessons in a group class, on a membership of 8 weeks or longer (on a 4-week membership, the loan covers those 4 weeks), or for the first 10 lessons in private coaching with a 10-lesson pack (the first 5 with a 5-lesson pack or single lessons), so an older beginner can simply turn up and start. You can read about the three weapons to see which style might appeal.

To try it at your own pace, request a trial lesson.