While many 8-year-olds spent their Thanksgiving break playing with phones or lounging around, thousands of their peers competed in the Cobra Challenge fencing tournament in nearby Secaucus. That may surprise people who associate the Olympic sport with young adults, but the upcoming tournament has events for children as young as 6-years-old.

George Buccino of Durkan Fencing Academy, who’s been fencing since he was 12, entered this tournament so he can qualify to compete at the national level. He continues to fence because it’s good exercise and it’s mentally stimulating.

Eleven-year-old Kate Altirs, on the other hand, plans to fence in multiple events so she can place higher than she did last year in the same tournament. “I like to fence because when I win, it’s because I accomplished something, not because my teammates did. It feels good to earn things for myself.”