Dueling in Harmony: Laura Karpman’s Passion for Fencing

Laura Karpman is an Emmy-winning and Oscar nominated composer known for scoring Orion Pictures’s American Fiction, Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World and Ms. Marvel, HBO’s Lovecraft Country, and Steven Spielberg’s Taken, spending her career shaping sound andorchestrating moments of storytelling. But in an unexpected turn, COVID took her from thesoundstage onto the strip, swapping musical scores for the sharp footwork of fencing.

Like the movies she scores, Karpman’s journey into the sport was a mix of luck and fate. During the pandemic, a friend suggested she check out a fencing club in Vancouver for her son.  Karpman decided to pick up a blade herself initially trying épée and switching to foil upon returning to Los Angeles. What started as a good thing to try during the pandemic quickly became a passion. Today, at 66, she trains at Elite Fencing Club, crossing swords with athletes like four-time NCAA champion Madison Zeiss.

“Fencing is a physical chess match,” Karpman says. “There’s something about the rhythm, the anticipation, the control—it’s a completely immersive experience.”

Karpman sees a deep connection between her two worlds—music and fencing—both of which demand precise timing, rapid adaptability, and the ability to read an opponent (or an audience) before they know what’s coming next.

“Music and fencing share a heartbeat,” she explains. “In both, you have to understand tempo, pacing, when to strike and when to hold back. They both require an intense level of discipline, yet also an innate sense of creativity.”

But what Karpman loves most about fencing is the people. It’s a sport that attracts a unique mix of people. She’s found many of her fellow fencers have backgrounds in music or STEM, adding to fencing’s reputation as the thinking person’s combat sport. With the LA Olympics on the horizon, Karpman hopes more people are exposed to the sport through accessibility anddemystifying the rules for newcomers. 

For Karpman, it's clear that fencing, like music, is more than just a practice, it’s a passion -- onethat unites people, challenges them, and, in the best cases, transforms them. “It’s humbling, challenging, and incredibly rewarding.”