Fencing teaches kids how to succeed, Westbrook says.

My mother raised me and my sister in the housing projects of Newark, New Jersey. Mom was always trying to show me the world beyond the projects. When I turned 14, she encouraged me to try fencing. She was from Japan originally, and she told me, “We have samurais in the family.” At the time I thought, What good does that do me here? But I tried it and fell in love with the sport. In the end, I attended college on a fencing scholarship and was a six-time Olympian, earning a bronze medal in 1984. My father was Black, and I was the first Black man to ever win an Olympic medal in fencing.

Based on the brokenness within my family and community, I should not have been successful. The sport gave me a different way to deal with adversity and a new perspective, and I feel like I have a duty and a responsibility to pass that knowledge along. In 1991, I started a foundation to teach underserved kids in New York City about fencing—and life. We talk about emotions, and how to keep going even when faced with the most dire of circumstances.

Not everyone in our program is going to qualify for the Olympics, and that’s not our purpose. That said, some of the kids we work with do become Olympians. Since 2000, we’ve sent 16 athletes to the Games. Two won silver medals in Beijing in 2008, and one brought home a bronze from Rio in 2016. This year, one of our alumni will compete in Paris.

I often meet these kids when they’re in a broken state, not presenting the best first impression. Fencing lets them get out their aggression and pain. Then we can help guide them. I always practice with the kids what I practice in my own life: Have a positive attitude, be thankful, try to help others. —As told to Jennifer E. Mabry

Peter Westbrook, 72, a retired marketing executive, is founder and CEO of the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City.