Why fence? First, some background.
Fencing is an ancient sport, it’s been practiced in one form or another for hundreds of years. Unlike the duels of years ago, today’s Olympic style fencing is one of the safest sports you can participate in. It’s more of a game of strategy and skill. Called chess at high speed, fencing is a sport you can take up at any age.
A standard lesson starts in foil and covers the basics in foot work and blade work. For our basic lessons, the use of equipment is provided in the class, so you don’t have any large investment up front.
So why fence?
If you are competitive, there are competitions pretty much every weekend from September through June. Fencing competitions allow you to test your skills against fencers from all over the state and are a great way to meet new people.
If you have a child or sibling that wants to do sports, but just hasn’t really gotten into anything offered through the schools, then maybe this is the sport for them. Team sports aren’t for everyone, if you aren’t really good, you can spend a lot of time on the sidelines instead of participating. In fencing you get to fence. There are no sidelines. And kids that fence are developing concentration skills as well as physical coordination.
If you haven’t considered fencing, you should. Or at least come out and visit a local club and see what it’s like. If you’re in Southeast Michigan, then you are fairly close to us, Salle d’Etroit. http://www.salledetroit.com for times and directions. We have an open door policy if you want to just come out and see what it’s like. If you want to see an actual competition, check our club site, http://www.undergroundfencing.org/ for an upcoming event. Feel free to call or e-mail with any questions, if you’ve been here before you know we are pretty friendly.