I need some help...

[AricKnight]

I'm new to fencing (I live in illinois) and I need to know everything there is to know where I can take class's get books get practice weapons everything and anything Thanks!

[Konstantinos]

Howdy all,
Been lurking in the shadows for a while now Thought i'd throw in something on this one.
AricKnight- You can get ALOT of information from www.usfencing.org
They have a great list of vendors that you can trust to buy equipment from, as well as information about your area.
http://www.usfencing.org/Clubs/clublist.as p?State=IL
is there link for information about clubs in your state. You can also look for clubs that are not on there through homepages, or even possibly the school you go to <provided you go to school> or school you attended last.
MY two cents on who to buy equipment from, i have found Triplette www.triplette.com to be a great group to deal with and they carry good stuff at really great prices. I would suggest you wait till you find a club first though. You may not need to buy any of your own equipment off the bat, or they may have a deal with a vendor and may be able to get you a discount.
as for books, i have found Rudy Volkmann's book "Big Book of Fencing" that you can get from here at fencing.net to be a great book to read from and to enhance your abilities and learn some interesting things about fencing. Pretty good section on electrical repairs which is actually a book unto itself that is often sold at sites for around $8.95.
Hope this was of some help!
-Konstantinos

[Stryder]

AricKnight-

Fencing 2000 in Chicago is great if you're serious.

And don't buy any books until you find an instructor. Fencing cannot be learned from a book. It will teach you things that will make it harder for you to learn.
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Fencing books contain only that "little" knowledge.

[DamedEscrime]

Fencing 2000. I was just there last weekend for the first time. Poor guy I clocked was from there.
I think they have a strong club and everybody is real nice, but the facilities need work.

There are some nice folks I know from the Illinois Fencing Club too. They are small, but real nice folks.

[peircer]

They are small, but real nice folks.

We are not small, we're just as big as F2k, and just as competetive. We just aren't in downtown Chicago, and we're mostly epee fencers.