大象APP

Yes, you read that correctly.

During the late afternoons on the bottom floor of 大象APPMall near the old Sears, you鈥檒l find 46-year-old Jens Stephan, a ma卯tre d鈥檃rmes or master of arms, training with students at the .

At a brief practice run before a private lesson several days ago, Stephan and his daughter Antje Elisa Stephan, a student at the academy, clash dueling swords with large handguards known as 茅p茅es.

After occasionally adjusting her stance, she鈥檒l lunge forward and get a successful hit on him. As he praises her improvement, you can faintly see their smiles through their wire mesh masks.

鈥淲e want to bring world-class training to the area and have a true development program for youth,鈥� Stephan, the founder and head coach of German Fencing Academy said. 鈥淥ur goal is character development through fencing, but if some students want to take it all the way, we want to keep that avenue alive.鈥�

Some elements that students learn while taking classes or lessons at German Fencing Academy are how to think critically, deal with stress and have good sportsmanship during combat.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e learning to be courteous in combat situations, right? To deal with 鈥楬ow am I a gracious winner? How am I a gracious loser?鈥� Because chances are one of those two things will happen frequently and that鈥檚 something I want to keep (teaching),鈥� he said. 鈥淓specially post-COVID, it鈥檚 so difficult for kids to raise their level of focus and their level of physical engagement and that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 been really satisfying. So far in this one year, we鈥檝e seen tremendous change in the kids that started with us.鈥�

Since opening German Fencing Academy about a year ago, Stephan has taught around 50 students at the local fencing studio. But, Stephan, who has over 20 years of fencing experience, estimates he鈥檚 taught at least 300 students throughout the years, including a few who went on to win NCAA fencing championships.

鈥淲e have a very, very high retention rate,鈥� Stephan said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting very positive responses and reviews and it鈥檚 mostly about the quality of the program and the instruction and we鈥檙e trying to be very welcoming of everybody on every level. So, sometimes clubs are catered more to quote-unquote recreational and other clubs more quote-unquote performance. 鈥� We鈥檙e just trying to improve you with your growth mindset.鈥�

The academy offers group classes, private lessons, a movement fundamentals program that can benefit young athletes competing in any sport and more, all taught by Stephan and his wife Leticia, who is also a certified U.S. Fencing Coaches Association coach. Prices range from $140 to $220 per month.

Stephan and the academy hope to show the community that anyone can fence, whether you鈥檙e a child, senior or an adaptive athlete.

Someone you鈥檒l find at German Fencing Academy nearly every day is Coralyn 鈥淐ora鈥� Weeks, a 12-year-old adaptive athlete who is training in parafencing, also known as wheelchair fencing.

About a year and a half ago, Weeks was an able-bodied athlete, according to her mom, Emily Weeks. Determined to bring joy back into her daughter鈥檚 life, she took her to the Angel City Games in Los Angeles, where Cora discovered her obsession with fencing.

When Cora began fencing, her classes were filled with nondisabled athletes, which made her feel different and almost less than, Emily Weeks says.

鈥淲hen she came here, she was just another athlete who was here with dreams and goals,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd she was able to then see herself, actually, as I believe, not as somebody taking up space. It鈥檚 been amazing to find Jens and Leticia, both are amazing people that love the school and they truly love and care about these kids and want them to get where they want to get. And it shows. They treat everybody with respect and dignity like you would expect everywhere.鈥�

Since starting her parafencing journey at German Fencing Academy earlier this summer, Emily Weeks says Cora has become more mature and driven.

鈥淗er confidence is like night and day,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he has learned self-advocacy and responsibility. It鈥檚 like she鈥檚 a different kid.鈥�

Cora hopes to become a Paralympian and represent Team USA in wheelchair fencing at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.

Throughout all his years of coaching, seeing his students develop mentally is Stephan鈥檚 favorite part of teaching.

鈥淭he results at tournaments, yeah, they鈥檙e great. So many medals, great. But that doesn鈥檛 really excite me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for the students and something cool to feel good about themselves. So, I鈥檓 not going to diminish that. But for me, as a coach, when I see them take something that they can use in the rest of their life, that鈥檚 where I really feel like, 鈥極K, they did a good job.鈥欌��

鈥楢n accessible sport to see the world and world-class competition鈥�

Stephan started fencing in the 鈥�90s in Heidelberg, Germany, after a knee injury brought his basketball dreams to a halt. He eventually joined the collegiate national team in Germany and won the National Collegiate Championship in 2000.

Since his fencing career launched over 20 years ago, he鈥檚 helped numerous athletes recognize their full fencing potential at the collegiate and even Olympic levels. He also became a certified referee with USA Fencing and USA Paralympic Fencing.

鈥淚 like that everybody has a shot. It鈥檚 not like, let鈥檚 take basketball (for example), where if you鈥檙e just not tall enough or can鈥檛 just jump high enough, then it鈥檚 pretty much the end of the journey before it starts,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd here, while you need a tremendous amount of athleticism, the technical aspects are so important as well so that you can find your niche.鈥�

Like many other professional athletes, Stephan had the dream of competing in the Olympic Games at some point. Those dreams didn鈥檛 quite work out, he says, but he still competes in tournaments to this day.

鈥淚 made up for it by ruining a lot of other people鈥檚 Olympic dreams over the next few years kind of like being a gatekeeper,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 few times I was asked by the U.S. team to be one of their practice partners when they鈥檙e getting ready for Worlds (World Fencing Championship). So, my job was really just to go there, give them hell for a week so that they鈥檙e prepared. Or when I go to tournaments like, 鈥楬ey, I鈥檓 not going to make the team anymore. But if you want to make the team, you got to go through me and I鈥檓 not letting everybody through.鈥欌��

After returning to his home country several years ago, Stephan and his family moved back to the U.S. in 2022. Once they were settled in Arizona, Stephan was eager for his two older children to begin their own fencing journeys, so he began a fencing program at the Oro Valley Community and Recreation Center.

The local fencing program outgrew the space in Oro Valley within a month.

They tried out renting gym space but found that it wasn鈥檛 sustainable. That鈥檚 when they remembered a space on the bottom floor of 大象APPMall that remained empty.

German Fencing Academy moved into its current location in May of last year but spent the first three months gutting the 3,500-square-foot space by removing a divider wall and floors. Before German Fencing Academy moved in, the space was home to Harley鈥檚 Toys and Comics. (Stephan says he found a few comic books underneath the old floors but unfortunately didn鈥檛 find any million-dollar copies.)

Once the space was emptied, they spent an additional three months creating a fencing studio that was up to the Stephans鈥� standards, including becoming an ADA-compliant space.

鈥淣ow we鈥檙e very, very happy. It鈥檚 a world-class facility,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have a real athletic sports floor. There鈥檚 an athletic subfloor underneath. So, if you jump around, you鈥檒l see it has a little bit of give. The strips that we have here are rated for (Fencing) World Cup competitions. We鈥檙e not going to host a World Cup in here, but those are the same as you would see on the World Cup like the same certification level, same quality level.鈥�

The space features six fencing strips, scoring machines and an equipment area complete with fencing uniforms and swords. Plus, a workshop area where Stephan can fix and make fencing swords.

Now that German Fencing Academy has found a permanent home, they鈥檙e excited to branch out and hopefully start an exchange with his home fencing club in Heidelberg, where students can visit and learn from each other鈥檚 coaches and studios.

鈥淚t is an accessible sport to see the world and world-class competition. There鈥檚 not a lot of sports where you can actually see, touch and feel,鈥� Stephan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity to build a network, see the country and get to know people that are also going places. 鈥� And (at German Fencing Academy) it鈥檚 not a one-man show. We鈥檙e really trying to build a world-class program (in Tucson).鈥�