For a Young American Fencer, It Started With Toy Swords There are certain quirks of air travel known only to fencers. Like how a bag full of weapons - half a dozen blades more than two feet in length - can be checked on an airplane with minimal scrutiny. And yet, it is the mask, a baffling mess of mesh and wires that attach to a digital read-out, which so often raises the eyebrows of airport security. It's something that Race Imboden has witnessed firsthand-and the globe-trotting fencer has been through plenty of airports. He's heard the "click-clack" of his blade engaging with an opponents" in places like England, Japan, Cuba, and Russia. It was in Catania, Italy, this past January, where Imboden became one of the youngest competitors to medal in the Senior World Cup competition. And in April, he learned he'd be making a return trip to England. He had been selected to be part of the 2012 U.S. Olympic foil fencing team. For Imboden, currently ranked sixth in the world in the men's foil senior rankings, this was the realization of a dream he has had for nearly a decade. Imboden, 19, first stood en garde at age 10, though his body had acclimated to a sword-fighting posture even earlier than that. As a child, Imboden was enraptured by the jousting scenes in the movie "A Knight's Tale." "When I was in the yard, if I saw a stick, it was sword," he recalled. Or if I held a broom, it was sword. He also developed an almost obsessive fascination with Samurais, and spent many a recess battling with friends, as if he was an extra from an Akira Kurosawa film. "I think Asian culture has actually influenced me a lot," Imboden said, adding that he has incorporated Eastern practices such as yoga and meditation into his training routine. One afternoon when he was 8 years old, his parents had taken him to a park in his then-hometown of Atlanta. When another parent observed Imboden's enthusiasm for dueling with toy swords, he suggested they enroll him in fencing lessons. But upon arriving at the recreation center, Imboden was told he was too young to take classes. Though he wasn't able to wield a weapon that day, Imboden would not allow fencing to become some passing fancy. And the proof was marked in ink on a calendar, where Imboden circled the day when he'd be able to take his first class. In 2002, when his family moved to New York City, Imboden said he was pleasantly surprised to learn there was a fencing club a block from their apartment, and that his lessons could continue. But it wasn't until 2004 that the sport became more to him than just an exhilarating recreational activity. Imboden recalls how several instructors at the Fencer's Club in Manhattan - Jonathan Tiomkin, Dan Kellner, and Jed Dupree, who is now Imboden's coach - were preparing to go to that year's Olympics. "I saw these athletic idols, in my eyes, training, and going to different countries," he said. I knew I wanted to be a part of that. Imboden then enrolled at the Dwight School, a private institution on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that provided both encouragement and opportunities to pursue his fencing alongside his academics. He graduated last year and has deferred his enrollment to Notre Dame for a year in order to prepare for the 2012 games. Even though Imboden's days are now consumed by training - seven hours of practice, six or seven days a week - he recently made time to encourage others to participate in the sport. Last month, he showcased his fencing talents to a group of children at his alma mater, giving them a foam sword and letting them joust him in his full fencing garb. "I want kids to be a part of something that changed my life dramatically," Imboden said. With kids that young, you just show them two guys fencing, and when they see two people in crazy suits with masks and swords, most of them go nuts. His travels abroad demonstrated how much more popular fencing is in other countries, particularly Italy, where the images of world-class fencers like Andrea Cassara, the world's top ranked foilist, grace billboards, and bouts are commonly watched on television. Imboden said he hopes his quest to win a gold medal will help bring more attention to the sport. "I look up to people like Michael Phelps, and how he changed his sport just by being so good," Imboden said of his Olympic ambitions. If I can help change the face of fencing, that would be amazing.