By Natalie Edwards
Special to the Daily Press

LOS ANGELES Emma Peterson is used to missing stretches of days at Harvard-Westlake Middle School, doing her homework on the floors of airports, and sacrificing organized retreats and camping trips for her sport. The blond hair, pale blue eyed 14 year old travels to around 10 competitions per year, lugging with her bags of weaponry and protective gear, and usually wins medals.

Peterson is the first ranked epee fencer in the United States for her age division. Epee fencing is freestyle fencing; and the epee is a descendant of the dueling sword, a heavy, thick blade with a larger guard to protect the hands. Epee can be distinguished from the two alternative styles of foil and saber fencing by the singular dueling sword, the full-body target area, and a minimum pressure to register a touch. Epee fencing is a game of patience and strategy.

Peterson has been dueling since she was 9 years old, now spending upwards of 15 hours of training and four hours of conditioning a week. She practices at the Los Angeles International Fencing Club, surrounded by friends who understand the demands of fencing and coaches with long laundry lists of fencing feats.

“It’s just sort of what I do. I can’t imagine what I would do otherwise. It makes me Emma,” Peterson said

Advantageously tall for her age and possessing what her mother terms a “twitch-brain” — a quick reactive and strategic mind — Peterson also happens to be the reigning National Champion since winning gold at the U.S. Summer Nationals last July. More recently, Peterson won the bronze medal at the 2008 Junior Olympics in mid-February, competing in the cadet division against girls as old as 17.

“It was really cool but what was more gratifying was that I felt like I belonged up there, like I deserved to win. I felt like I earned it, which was really awesome,” Peterson said.

Peterson, who has been fencing since the age of 9, is used to being the runt at national and international tournaments. On the East Coast, and in Europe, where fencing is a more established sport, she was often the youngest competitor.

She came to the sport while still a student at Calthorp Elementary School. She had a writing partner to whom she would send letters anonymously. Professing her love for reading fantasy fiction that often told stories of protagonists wielding swords against formidable enemies, her partner suggested she learn to fence. Peterson came home that day and promptly asked her mother, Margie Peterson, what fencing was.

“I said, ‘I really have no idea,’” Margie Peterson recalled.

Margie Peterson, a former journalist and current video game writer, decided to investigate with her daughter. She enrolled her daughter in trial classes at the now defunct Westside Fencing Center, where the resident coaches happened to be what the elder Peterson termed a “historic fencing family.”

Father Eduoard Demirchian was once the Armenian National Champion and a member of the USSR National Fencing Team; son Gago Demirchian followed in his father’s footsteps as Armenian National Champion; and daughter Nana Demirchian won several Armenian Senior National Tournaments and medaled in the USSR Championships.

“They’re like my parents. They just look after me and they sort of point me in the right direction,” Emma Peterson said.

If Emma Peterson now strongly identifies with her fencing persona, she was initially turned off by the reality of training. Nana Demirchian urged her to continue, seeing potential in the simplest actions that she performed in those preliminary lessons.

“She was tall. She was fast. Her reaction was good. The way she sent her blade out to my chest was strong and also gentle,” Nana Demirchian said.

Nana Demirchian realized that Emma Peterson’s hesitancy was simply a function of her age. Nine year olds, with their expected attention spans, are not the most patient when it comes to the often boring repetitive motions that building a strong foundation requires. Instead of flurries of swordplay, lessons tended to revolve around target practice, plunging the epee into a target hundreds of time.

“It wasn’t just Emma. When you have 8, 9, and 10 years olds, kids who are just starting, the first part is the hardest. They expect action, movement. They expect to run and jump. Then, they are put in the same en gaarde position with a heavy blade in their hand, and all they do is poke again and again. They kind of get bored,” Nana Demirchian said.

She instilled in Emma Peterson a love for fencing through pretending to tie or lose in mock spars.

“It made me feel good to know that I was doing something right,” Peterson said.

By the age of 12, Emma Peterson was the youngest player to qualify for the Junior Olympics; and now at 14, she competes regularly in national and international competitions. Her father, Lewis Peterson, who accompanied her to World Cups in Slovakia and Germany, considers himself her “equipment manager.” After watching fencing generate for Emma Peterson a level of confidence and independence that allows her to not only compete regardless of the age or gender of her opponent but also juggle demanding class work and oboe lessons, Lewis Peterson does not mind the haul.

“If they can succeed at this, they can do anything. They have people attacking them. It’s not about pure adrenaline. Natural athleticism will only take you so far. There is so much technique and strategic thinking required,” Lewis Peterson said.

Emma Peterson’s mother, who nonetheless supports her daughter in all of her endeavors, has a different take on the competitions.

“Watching people come at your child with weapons is a terrible, terrible thing. I don’t go to tournaments because my heart would drop. It’s terrifying.”

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