Learn to Fence

Our courses for beginners (minimum age 8) are led by James Kingston, a qualified British Fencing Association coach registered with England Fencing. The course lasts for 8 weeks and takes place in the new sports centre of Rye St Antony School: see location. 

An attendee at one of our recent courses commented "We were all instantly welcomed, and each leasson became the highlight of my week, and great value for money ... It was a great introduction to the sport, and I managed to make a lot more progress than I initially predicted, and will definitely be continuing."

Fencing courses for Beginners 

When a beginners' course is complete you should be able to compete in a proper fencing bout with your fellow beginners. The weapon used in the beginner’s course is a foil and you can go on to fence with the other weapons; epee and sabre if you decide to continue with the sport. 

Please note that full payment is required before your place can be confirmed. The cost is £100 and includes use of all equipment. 

Please register online, or email beginnersofc@yahoo.com for alternatives. 

Course Dates

The course will run on Friday evenings for 8 weeks, with a mid-term break. The dates for Autumn 2017 are:

29th September

6th October 2017

13th October 2017

20th October 2017

27th October 2017 (Half term, no new material)

3rd November 2017

10th November 2017

17th November 2017

24th November 2017

1st December 2017 Pro/Am competition

Aims and objectives  of the fencing course for beginners 

Aims: 

At the end of the course the participants will be able to practice the conventions of a match in simulated bouts with other course members. 

They will know sufficient fencing terminology to take individual lessons from a coach and understand help from other experienced fencers within the club. 

Objectives:  

• To be able to adopt the correct 'en garde' position. 
• To be able to coordinate foot and hand actions to execute a simple attack or a defensive retreat. 
• To appreciate the idea of 'fencing distance' and be able to maintain it. 
• To be able to take the 'high line guards' in order to execute a simple parry. 
• To be able to execute a simple direct riposte following a parry. 
• To be able to continue a 'simple attack', avoiding the simple parry by the use of disengagement’. 
• To understand and be able to state the basic rule of 'right of way' for simple attacks and ripostes at foil. 
• To have experienced supervised bouts with other course members. 
• To understand the area of the target at foil, piste layout, basic fencing rules and etiquette. 
• To be familiar with basic piste rules, and the role and powers of the referee. 
• To have gained experience of simple judging of non-electric bouts. 
• To have received an introduction to the world of fencing, club, competitions, the various age groups, the various weapons.  
• To understand that this basic course is an introduction to the world of fencing that can lead,  with more experience and practice, to trying other weapons and fencing with more experienced members of the  club

Registration and payment for the course must be made in advance via this website, or bank transfer (contact us to arrange payment by this method); unfortunately it is not possible to join at the first class of a course. 

What happens after the course? 

If you enjoy the course and you want to continue with the sport, we run follow-on courses to teach you further skills, our club coaches are available for individual lessons, and free-fencing is available twice a week. Please visit our membership & fees page for full details of what that entails. Please note that you will need to be a member of British Fencing to fence at OFC (or any fencing club) once you complete a beginner’s course. Details can be found at www.britishfencing.com and the cost of membership starts at £15 per year.