En guard! Junior Luke Kitagawa participates in a sport that most students do not know much about: fencing.

“Fencing consists of stamina [and] endurance,” Kitagawa said. “It has to do with a mind game…both mental and physical strength.”

Kitagawa first started taking fencing lessons when he moved to Pennsylvania about six years ago, when he was a student at Liberty Bell Elementary School.

“When I moved to Pennsylvania, I was required to have one instrument and one sport,” Kitagawa said.  “I think I was watching ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and I was like, sword fighting looks cool I guess.”

National and international fencing tournaments continue throughout the year, providing athletes with constant opportunity for competition. Kitagawa practices on Mondays and Fridays for three to four hours at a time.

“We usually do footwork, exercises with our movement, other times we free fence,” Kitagawa said. “We want to get scenarios down for when we compete.”

Fencers not only need to be quick on their feet, but quick with their minds. They need to think about what their opponents might attempt.

Kitagawa’s friends provide him with motivation. They support him and his determination.

“He’s a hard worker-for sure,” junior Brandon Thrapp said.

“I thought it was really interesting when he first told me about [fencing],” junior Austin Isaac said.

The several years of hard work have resulted in astounding achievements for Katagawa, who was able to participate in the junior olympics.

“I got state champion, I got first place and earned a C rating. Ratings consists of A, B, C, D, and E, [with] A being the highest,” Kitagawa said. “I’m basically in the middle level now. I also got to compete in the junior olympics. I qualified twice, fenced only once.”

Kitagawa plans to continue his fencing career throughout college, and he will continue to work on his goal to attend and participate in the 2020 olympics.