Joy Li's Journey: A Young Fencer's Passion Turns Into a Picture Book

At just 12 years old, Joy Li has done what so many dream of — writing their own book. This isn’t just any book though, this is a deep dive into the rich and often overlooked history of the sport she loves.

The book was rooted in pure curiosity as Joy embarked on answering a question her mom posed to her, “do you even know where fencing started?” 

“I got really interested in it,” Joy says, “so I decided to write a book on that.”

As she started to dig into the history of fencing discovered fascinating details of how far back the sport went. One of the more surprising details she learned was that fencing-like activities were depicted in Egyptian carvings. “I never knew that they had sticks and were using them in a way that resembled fencing,” Joy says.

Learning this helped kick off the drawings for her book’s early pages with Egyptians engaged in what could be considered an early form of fencing.

Illustrating the book came with its own set of challenges, though. 

“There were pictures that didn’t even have real images to reference, and I had to use my imagination,” Joy says. “For one of them, I sort of drew it from my head. It turned out pretty good—it’s a person screaming.” 

Even with inspiration, Joy quickly learned that perfectionism can be time-consuming. 

“I spent an hour just erasing tiny pencil marks!” she says.

Beyond the artwork, the writing process was a lesson in discipline and organization too. Joy recalled having to filter through vast amounts of historical information to decide what to include in her book and what to leave out. 

“I put in major events, like how fencing moved from Egypt to Greece and then to Rome,” she says. “I didn’t write about every tiny detail, like how it might have spread through the Byzantine Empire. Just the big things people need to know.”

Despite filtering through the vast amounts of information, Joy says one of her biggest takeaways from the book was the importance of reliable sources. 

“Researching was really hard,” she says. “I had to use everything the school librarians taught me — watch out for fake sites, verify information, and constantly revise.” 

Those early lessons paid off as she navigated through historical accounts, ensuring her book was as accurate as possible.

Joy’s motivation for this book was incredibly clear: she wanted her newfound knowledge of fencing to be with other fencers. 

“I feel like so many people do fencing, but they don’t really know where it came from,” she says. “People who play basketball probably know how basketball was invented because teachers talk about it, but no one really teaches the history of fencing.” 

Her book aims to change that.

Despite her achievements, Joy remains humble. When asked how she would announce her book to her friends, she jokes, “I’d probably just say, ‘I wrote a book.’ And they’d be like, ‘I wrote one too.’” 

In fact, some of her friends have also written and published books, including a collaborative poetry collection. Inspired by this creative environment, Joy has even written two fencing-related poems, which she plans to contribute to a friend’s poetry website.

Joy’s projects won’t stop here, she is already looking ahead to her next project. 

“Maybe I’ll write about how fencing diverged into three weapons — foil, epee, and saber,” she says. However, she acknowledges the difficulty of finding reliable information on the topic. “It’s really hard to find out how each weapon developed separately.”

For young fencers who might want to follow in her footsteps, Joy has some advice: “Do a lot of research and make sure your sources are credible — it’s really important. And when you’re illustrating, don’t spend too much time on tiny details. Trust me, I learned that the hard way.”

With her first book published and ideas brewing for more, Joy Li is not just a talented young fencer — she’s also a budding historian, artist and author. Her book is more than just a personal project; it’s a gift to the fencing community, shedding light on a sport whose origins deserve to be remembered.

Should you want to experience Joy’s book yourself, you can find it for sale on Amazon, and support her creative endeavors.