All it took was Internet ad for sword fighting lessons to pique the interest of a 9-year-old boy.
After all, what kid doesn’t want to know how to wail away with a broadsword on an opponent?
What Sidarth Kumbla found when he took his first fencing lesson, however, was vastly different from what he imagined. He found a sport that was much more elegant and much more cerebral than just wild games you play with siblings and friends in the back yard.
“At first I was really disappointed. I was like, ‘Ah man, I don’t get to do jump tricks,’” Kumbla said. “I never thought I was going to fence someone in my first class, I thought it was just going to be safety rules. … But when I got to fence, it was really fun for me.”
It turned out to be the sport that appealed to him the most.
“All the traditional sports, I’d be good at them, but it would be kind of boring for me to play,” Kumbla said. “I wanted to do something different.”
Away from fencing, Kumbla is a normal junior high/high school student. He’s well spoken, has lots of friends and enjoys TV and playing chess.
He was voted the Eighth Grade Student Body President at Stratford School and will be moving on to attend Archbishop Mitty High School in the fall.
But he is also a high-ranked young fencer.
Since getting involved in 2008, Kumbla has quickly jumped up the ranks. He is ranked No. 15 in Y14, which he is about to age out of at the end of the 2012/13 season this summer.
The July North American Cup is scheduled for June 28-July 7 in Columbus, Ohio.
Kumbla said he got better at fencing through a very natural reaction to having someone try to hit you with a sword: The instinct to get out of the way.
“For me it was really scary to get hit by the sword,” Kumbla said. ”I think that’s what made me better than most in the introductory class because I was super scared of the sword that I would try to never let the opponent’s sword get me.”
He will move up to Cadet, which is for 16 years and under. According to USA Fencing, Kumbla is already ranked in the top 40 within Cadet.
“At first it was just a recreational thing to do, but my coach said, ‘wow, this kid is actually very good,’” Kumbla said.
Despite his ranking that puts him among the best in the country, Kumbla said he is probably better than where he is ranked.
“For my skill level, I consider myself ranked in at least the top 4,” Kumbla said. “Even though I’m really good for my age, I haven’t gotten any really good results so far. Even though top 30 is good, I want to be top 1, top 2, top 3.”
Kumbla already competes in Division I for his age group. He is in the B category, which puts him one step below Olympic level fencers, but he fully expects to be competing for a spot on the Olympic team or in other world competitions representing the United States as he gets better.
His first step, he said, is to qualify for the Cadet World Team, which is the top 4 in the United States.
“Basically, if I get on that team, maybe I’ll have an easier chance for me to get on the Olympic level,” Kumbla said. “I have to be top 4 in Division I to get to the Olympics. I’m not far from it, but I’m not close either. I’m a pretty young fencer still, so I have a pretty good chance.”
Kumbla trains with the Silicon Valley Fencing Center.
The high school bound student has tried to balance his training schedule with his school life, which can be pretty daunting when he lays out exactly how his week goes.
He has to stay in great shape to fence because of the speed required, which means he has to stay off of junk food, which wasn’t easy at first.
“Ah, man, I love junk food. I could eat Cheetos all day, everyday,” Kumbla said. “And my friends are even worse. They ask if I want Skittles, but I’m like, no I can’t.”
Kumbla said his mom makes healthy shakes that he enjoys and does get to indulge when they go out as a family.
Practices are 45 minutes from home, which are four days a week and go for three-and-a-half hours plus competitions on Sundays.
“It’s stressful, yeah, but it’s fun,” Kumbla said. “Fencing is hard, but that is why I love it. And without hard work, you’re not going to do anything. … If you think about it, there’s a lot of time you’re not using correctly. Instead of laying in bed or texting your friends, you could use the time to do your homework so you can fence. It’s more of a time management skill.”
He competes on the national circuit, traveling around the country for tournaments.
Kumbla boasts a near 70 percent winning percentage since he started competing.
In his most recent tournament, Kumbla took second place in the Richmond, Va., Youth North American Cup tournament over the April 12 weekend.
He swept his pool round to earn a four seed in the championship round. He breezed through his first three matches after earning a bye to start the bracket. When he reached the round of 16, the competition got tougher, with Kumbla winning by fewer than five touches the rest of the way.
His proudest moment came in the quarter-finals against Alexandre Amice whom he could never figure out in their previous matches.
But in Richmond, Kumbla took the first four touches and never relinquished his lead, eventually winning 15-12.
“It doesn’t look like he’s working that much because he’s so good, he looks so fluid,” Kumbla said. “I was basically moving everywhere. I was totally out of energy at the end. I won that bout, with the help of my coach, of course.”
He also competed in the team competition, where again, he had a shot at the title, fencing in the championship round. The team fell by one touch to earn second place.
