How does your club work? and a Q

[LUDICROUS]

Looking briefly at the clubs linked in the "Best place to play sabre in the USA", none seem to have "open fencing" sessions when one can come and fence. It all seems to be classes, and expensive classes at that. What happened to open fencing and coming to fence/get private lessons? My clubs "group" lessons are before open fencing on a sunday, and are pointed really at beginners - you then get told to come and get whupped at open fencing, and get 1 on 1 if you want.

Also, I seem to slow down when fencing slower people than myself, and speed up when fencing my betters. While speeding up is all good, slowing down annoys me - I seem to just slow down, the bout stretches on, bla bla bla. Any way to overcome that?

[Peach]

Looking briefly at the clubs linked in the "Best place to play sabre in the USA", none seem to have "open fencing" sessions when one can come and fence. It all seems to be classes, and expensive classes at that. What happened to open fencing and coming to fence/get private lessons?

Well, one of the reasons they may be good is that they have focused intense training sessions rather than just open fencing. Bouting and lessons are only part of the recipe for success; you need drill as well (in addition to tournaments and cross-training).

Though having said that, I occasionally attend classes at one of those clubs, and there is plenty of bouting after the warm-up/stretching/footwork/bladework section of the class. The coach sets up pools and DEs designed to get the best competition for all. Though I'm not sure what a Junior World Cup competitor gets out of fencing me except the reminder to fence every bout and not to take anyone for granted

My club is of the open fencing/private lesson persuasion, which I love in my incarnation as a recreational fencer, but they also offer a footwork class on Fridays and in my own training program as a competitor I build in footwork and drill as much as I can.

[Dax]

My club kinda stinks. We work out on mondays, which is good. But we are an epee club, and we dont learn ANYTHING. Our coach does not really teach us much, so we just fence on fridays with eachother. The only things I have learned have been from a guy at my club who fences foil...

[Moses]

Our club has private lessons as well as beginner and advanced group classes whose primary goal is conditioning. There's no scheduled "open fencing" time anymore, but it's a very informal community-oriented club where there's almost always at least one strip open for people who want some time on the floor. I wish we (I, really) had more time for drills, though. I usually am only able to get time after group classes (I live far away from my club).

-Da Mose

[peet]

Our scheme:

Open fencing:
Monday & Wednesday:Foil & Epee
Tuesday & Thursday: Saber

Group classes:
Tuesday & Thursday: classes for newer fencers ( < 6 months)
Wednesday: Ongoing kids class
Saturday: Ongoing foil class

Individual lessons:
All days

Tournaments:
Every Friday, some Saturdays & Sundays

-p

[fluidfencer]

We have scheduled classes and private lessons during the week from about 3:45pm to 9:30pm. We also have open fencing from 10am - 1pm on Saturdays. $60 per month allows you to attend any class on any day, plus open fencing. If you are a serious fencer, however, private lessons become part of your training.

This way you can be a recreational fencer if you want, or you train at a very high level. So far, the Club seems able to accommodate both goals.

[Zilverzmurfen]

...but what is a private lesson - in opposition of what?

This could be a language problem, but in my club we only have private lessons.

[keith]

...but what is a private lesson - in opposition of what?

This could be a language problem, but in my club we only have private lessons.

so yes private lesson; one pupil - one coach

most clubs run group lessons which can vary alot in size, which is what most people do to start out and these are often included in membership fees.

A private lesson will set you back anywhere from $20-40 for 30 minutes depending on the club, and that is usually on top of any other club membership dues.

[CvilleFencer]

With out club it works sort of like this:

Saturday:
11-12:39 Beginners classes
12:30-1:30 Epee/saber classes
1:30-3:00 Open Fencing for epee/saber

Sunday:
1:00-2:30 Advanced Cheveron 2 class
2:30-4:30 Open fencing and private lessons
4:30-6:00 Intermediate Chevron 1 class

We are a fairly small club and are hampered by the fact that we can only afford to get our space for two days without raising out dues above the current $40 per month mark (members also get free loaner electric gear, free armoury services, a newsletter and discounted "at cost" fencing gear). However since we sort of are the only source of fencing in our town fencers who want to can also come to the parks and rec class that we teach or pop into any of the schools we teach at (2 now but hoping to be 5 by the end of the year) as well as some far flung places that our club members teach at about an hour away from town. We are working on getting a dedicated space during the weekdays by partenering with the local college fencing club to have a few hours of open fencing during the week as well.

In short open fencing plays a big part in our lesson structure but we are made up in such a way that you can fence/drill/open fence pretty much every day of the week if you are dedicated enough to travel to our differant locations.

[Zilverzmurfen]

private lesson; one pupil - one coach

That's what I thought. But what I was more interested in knowing was what it is if it's not a private lesson...

that is usually on top of any other club membership dues.

Not so in Sweden.

[keith]

sorry edited my post to actually answer your question

Not so in Sweden.

well , no need to brag.

[oso97]

At my club, we have three different "types" of membership.

Beginner class - meets twice a week: one session for youth, another session for adults.

Recreational class - twice a week sessions. Seperate Youth and Adult sessions (Youth beginner and Recreational groups are part of an afterschool program at the recreation center where I teach). Each class is footwork, drills, and bouting. Each person in the Recreational class also receives some one-on-one time each month.

Competitive group - shares footwork, drill and bouting times with the Adult Recreatonal group. Also recieves twice weekly private lesson.

For Beginner and Recreational groups, all equipment is provided, except for a glove (including electric scoring equipment that can be checked out for a maximum of three offsite tournaments per season). Competitive group requires full set of own equipment.

The pricing structure is pretty simple. Beginner class is kept low to draw folks in. Recreational group is a bit more expensive (justified through increased equipment usage). Competitive group is twice the price of recreational class - but they also receive two private lessons a week in addition to the footwork and drills.

Its getting to the point where it would be a bit much for one person to handle. Thankfully, I've an assistant in the form of a high school exchange student from Russia who fenced for a number of years over there. She helps me with my beginner classes, and in return gets to fence, participate in the footwork and drills and take lessons for free. But I'm going to loose her in about 3 months! None of my other students are quite ready to handle picking up her load. Any experienced sabre fencers in the North Texas area interested in a similar kind of deal?

[Zilverzmurfen]

well , no need to brag.

Sorry! *slaps self*
Cheers for clarifying!

[Rodeo79]

Also, I seem to slow down when fencing slower people than myself, and speed up when fencing my betters. While speeding up is all good, slowing down annoys me - I seem to just slow down, the bout stretches on, bla bla bla. Any way to overcome that?

It is all about motivation. You have to find a way to motivate yourself against all your opposition, not just those you feel are your betters. This is very difficult for most people.

My coach harped on this non stop telling us to beat everyone 5-0 no matter how good or bad, during a competition. Some people will say that is mean and what not. But are you here to be nice, or are you here to win. Are you there to show people you are the best, that is what fencing competitavely is all about...

[Alain]

It is all about motivation. You have to find a way to motivate yourself against all your opposition, not just those you feel are your betters. This is very difficult for most people.

My coach harped on this non stop telling us to beat everyone 5-0 no matter how good or bad, during a competition. Some people will say that is mean and what not. But are you here to be nice, or are you here to win. Are you there to show people you are the best, that is what fencing competitavely is all about...

Rodeo's right. Some people - myself included, sometimes - fence completely different at the club compared to competition, and it can be harder to motivate yourself to beat someone who appears less able than a seasoned foe.

All wins are important, though, and to get the most benefit from training you need to fight as you would in competition - set yourself goals (to not get hit more than x times). Fencing better will benefit them as much as it will you, so you may even tell people at your club to tell you off if you're not trying hard enough.

Good luck

[Irensaga]

I think in fencing, you get what you pay for.

Not always, but usually.

The cost of lessons go toward several important things:
1. Cost of rent and running a good club.
2. Good practice equipment and repair services.
3. A more motivated and enthusiastic coach. It's hard to keep up a positive attitude when you're operating at a loss.

That said, I don't think a club should focus exclusively on expensive private lessons. There need to be more reasonably priced alternatives for those who are just starting out. Like bargains on beginner group lessons.

More experienced fencers who don't have funds for private lessons should also be allowed use of the facilities during specified times for a reasonable club membership fee.

Clubs that neglect the cheaper options will lose existing fencers and have trouble attracting new fencers.

[RiseAndFall]

At my club we do footwork, a hell of alot of warm up/cardio stuff, and then it's free fencing/private lessons if a coach is available. Sometimes we do tournements or whatever, it's prettymuch up to the bunch of people in charge and what they feel like making us do.

[glowstix]

We have scheduled classes and private lessons during the week from about 3:45pm to 9:30pm. We also have open fencing from 10am - 1pm on Saturdays. $60 per month allows you to attend any class on any day, plus open fencing. If you are a serious fencer, however, private lessons become part of your training.

This way you can be a recreational fencer if you want, or you train at a very high level. So far, the Club seems able to accommodate both goals.

glowstix <---now searching for a job in birmingham area..