Maplewood Fencing Sisters Among Nation's Elite

In July, Ibtihaj, 23, won the USA National Fencing Division 1 championships in the women’s saber (check it out on Youtube). In addition, she is one of two female All-American fencers in the history of Duke University’s women’s program, earning the honors in 2004, 2005 and 2006. She is also a former Junior Olympics winner and as a two-year captain of the CHS Cougars, Ibtihaj helped lead the Red and Black girls to two state championships.

Faizah, 17, who finished 15th in the USA National Fencing Division 1 championships in women’s saber, won the individual NJSIAA saber state championship last winter and also took second in the junior Olympics this year. During the recent high school season, Faizah put up a 53-3 record, she also won the district three fencing tournament, and helped to lead the Cougars to a second place finish in the Santelli Tournament.

While most fencers at the level of the Muhammads began as young adolescents, anywhere from 5-8 years old, Faizah and Ibtihaj didn’t pick up their sabers until age 13, making their rapid rise through the nation’s fencing ranks all the more impressive.

“Before I went to high school, I was running track for a local team and my mother wanted me to play a sport where I could be covered,” Ibtihaj said. “In track I would run in stretch pants and long sleeve T-shirts and that sort of thing. She wanted me to play a sport where I wouldn’t look too different from everyone else.”

One day driving by CHS, Ibtihaj and her mother happened to catch the Cougars practicing in the cafeteria, and it was decided that fencing would be the sport for Ibtihaj, who caught on very quickly. She began taking lessons with Frank Mustilli, now the owner of Maplewood’s NJ Fencing Alliance.

After growing up watching her sister fence in tournaments, it was a very natural move for Faizah to also go the fencing route, upon entering high school. Faizah said her mother kind of pushed her into the sport.

We’ve all heard the saying “mother knows best;” it seems that it held true with the Muhammad girls.

Faizah is currently ranked eighth in the nation among fencing juniors and is poised for a big senior season at CHS.

“It’s exciting. I’m just looking forward to doing well this season, and doing well nationally,” Faizah said.

Ibtihaj is ranked fifth in women’s saber in the country, and has Olympic dreams in London in 2012. First she must break through onto a world team, something she has never done before and is diligently practicing for (nearly 20 hours a week).

Ibtihaj and Faizah are of the Muslim faith and wear head scarves to cover themselves. At the domestic level, the sisters are pretty well known, but in international competitions, Ibtihaj said that she is almost always the only African-American fencer and certainly the only Muslim one.

“I think people still look at us weird, I think people always have their thoughts. But we’re kind of used to it,” Fiazah said.

“It’s not necessarily alienating, but I do feel like I stick out like a sore thumb,” Ibtihaj said. “There’s no hiding it. I cover and my last name is Muhammad.”

As for sister-against-sister battles, Faizah is still trying to get a win off of big sister, and Ibtihaj will have nothing of the sort.

“We do [fence each other] and my mom sometimes asks, 'Why don’t you just let her win and boost her confidence?'” Ibtihaj said. “As one of the top fencers, I know how hard you have to work. At any given moment, I feel like you always have to think there’s someone working harder than you. When you’re sleeping there’s always someone training. So I think it’s important for her to know that she’s not at that top spot yet.”

Faizah acknowledged that she would have to step up her level of work and practice for her to continue to take steps forward in her fencing career, adding that she could not only rely on her natural ability.

Currently Ibtihaj works as a substitute teacher in Newark and in the South Orange Maplewood school district. She was a double major at Duke in International Relations and African American Studies. She said that she’s not sure about her fencing future past the 2012 Olympics, and that she wants a career which will allow her to travel the way fencing has. She has been to China, Italy, France and the United Kingdom, to name a few.

Faizah, who also has Olympic aspirations and also trains nearly 20 hours a week, said that she is taking everything one year at a time. She has not committed to any colleges yet, though she said that she is looking to fence at the NCAA level. “Just being able to [win a state title] the second time around is my goal,” Faizah said.

The lefty enters the season as one of the top high school fencers in the state, practically a walking bull’s-eye, though she said that it’s no different than what she’s used to. She continues to progress well, learning some tricks of the trade from her sister.

“I learned a lot from her, just watching her fence,” Faizah said. “At every tournament she’s my strip coach and I’d rather have her there than my coach probably.”