How to start fencing at London Thames Fencing Club
Here at LTFC we all think that fencing is a great sport, we hope you will too soon, if of course you don't already. However, due to the strong competitive ethos, we do understand that the main club can be a bit intimidating for beginners and first-timers. We'd much rather you had an enjoyable time with us and to try and help your enjoyment we offer beginner classes that run a couple of times each year, these courses are designed to introduce you to the sport and give you a basic grounding in either Epee or Sabre (depending on demand) before you join the main club.
If you're interested or just want some advice on how best to take up fencing please contact us. We provide all the equipment you'll need to get started - see below for more information.
All our beginners courses normally run for 8 weeks (a 2 hour session once per week with one of the club coaches) at a cost of £185.
We are currently making arrangements with our new hosts (Roehampton University) to enable us to run our next course and further information will be published here once we've made the arrangements. Meanwhile, you are welcome to contact us if you'd like to register your interest in attending our next course or if you'd like to make personal arrangements to come along on a standard club night.
Application Forms
Application forms will be posted here once the details have been confirmed for the next course.
Fencing Equipment
Fencing is a very safe sport and we provide all our beginners with the following safety equipment:
Breeches - These are short trousers that have elastic below the knee. These protect the legs and the lower half of the body as they rise up to the chest. Not the most attractive garment we grant, but essential for safety and everyone is in the same boat.
Under Plastron - This is a half jacket that covers the sword arm and chest. The seams are offset with those of the jacket for maximum safety.
Jacket - These can be left or right handed, depending on which side the zip is, or they can have a zip at the back for use by left and right handers.
Chest Protector - These are shaped for women and flat for men. Made out of plastic they provide valuable protection against bruises.
Glove - These are padded to protect against hits to the hand and make holding the sword a lot more comfortable. The gauntlet part of the glove ensures that the jacket sleeves are closed.
Mask - The most important piece of safety equipment this protects the face and neck. Although it is made of steel mesh after a few minutes you will not even know you are looking through it. And don't worry if you wear glasses, these can be worn under your mask.
We recommend all of our beginners bring a tee shirt and track pants to the class, knee length socks (football socks are fine!) and a pair of indoor training shoes (squash and tennis shoes are generally more suitable than running shoes).
