any opinions on NBS gym in raleigh?

[kirinichiban]

does anyone here fence at the NBS gym in raleigh? i'm looking for a place to fence and they seem to be the only club in raleigh.

they have 3 levels of classes also and i was wondering what each level was like as well, they do have a site, but its abit sparse on details, and as its 11pm and i'm impatient i'm asking on here ^_^

[oiuyt]

Might also check out the various chapel hill and durham clubs. They should all be within reasonable driving distance as well if you don't like Raleigh Fencers (NBS).

I assume NCSU doesn't meet over the summer, but they might be worth trying.

-B

[kirinichiban]

NCSU isn't. and i'd rather not have to drive to CH or Durham if i can avoid it, any reason to not drive on I40 is a good reason.

[bigdawg2121]

Yeah, you might not want to go to State...but RFC isn't a bad club to fence at. They have decent epee and foil, not really hot in the saber dept. but other than that a good group of people. Also they're the only act in town if you're insistant upon staying in Raleigh.

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by kirinichiban

does anyone here fence at the NBS gym in raleigh? i'm looking for a place to fence and they seem to be the only club in raleigh.

they have 3 levels of classes also and i was wondering what each level was like as well, they do have a site, but its abit sparse on details, and as its 11pm and i'm impatient i'm asking on here ^_^

I fence at Raleigh Fencers Club (at NBS Gym).

Everyone starts by coming in and doing the free Thursday night "intro" lesson. If you've already fenced before, it's a chance to show that you know what you're doing and for the coach to figure out what class you'd best fit in. If you haven't fenced before, it's your first introduction to on guard, advance, retreat, lunge, etc.

The beginning, intermediate, and advanced are well-defined, but the fencers from the various classes actually fence and practice together quite a bit. Really, the "levels" are just there for us to separate out people who aren't ready for certain drills. We give the progressively more advanced students a chance to practice without students at the lower level so that they can work on more difficult or subtle skills.

The club emphasizes group classes. There's also quite a bit of bouting. The group classes are very structured. While bigdawg2121 didn't exactly give a ringing endorsement, I think that he meant that we seem to be able to produce solid Div II fencers in foil and epee. Some of our fencers are just starting to qualify and compete in Div IA events and attend some Div I NACs. (At NCFDP in Chapel Hill, you can fence against competitive Div I fencers if the right people show up, especially in epee and saber, but the class beyond beginners is basically just open bouting mixed with private lessons. Some of RFC's top fencers go to Chapel Hill from time to time to get some more variety into our bouting.)

We are primarily a foil club. We have had success in training epeeists, but the epee group is pretty small right now. We have had very few people really focusing and training in saber for the past 3 years. It sounds like there may be some effort to get a larger and more competitive group of saber fencers going.

If you want to see what the class structure looks like, come to class this Tuesday and watch. Or just skip right to Thursday, take the intro lesson, and then start coming to class. There's no "contract" to join the gym, so join for a month and see how you like it.

[bigdawg2121]

Psssh, for 3:40am I think that was as close to a ringing endorsement as you're going to get Like I said, overall a really good group of people (which matters b/c no one wants to train with jerks), and currently solid in 2 of the 3 weapons. I've never really trained at NBS so I couldn't speak to the class system, and I think I've only maybe seen one of your saber fencers but I don't doubt that there's a growing group as that seems to be a statewide trend. I think that NBS is a pretty good place to be for foil and epee until you want to get really competitive at a Div 1 level at which point there's no where in NC for foil really, and you'd have to start supplementing epee practices. (Oh and they often give out really unique and well thought out prizes for tournaments, I have yet to be disappointed with a prize from winning a tournament there...so now you have incentive to get better ASAP )

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by bigdawg2121

Psssh, for 3:40am I think that was as close to a ringing endorsement as you're going to get

Yikes. I didn't notice the timestamp.

Originally Posted by bigdawg2121

Like I said,

Oh, I didn't quibble with what you said. I think it's about accurate. Of course, you have a different perspective, given the level of fencing you compete at. For someone with little to no competition experience, I think that the following factors are probably the fencer's primary concern:

• It's affordable.
• It's close.
• The people aren't jerks.
• They'll help me build a good foundation for later fencing.

Originally Posted by bigdawg2121

(Oh and they often give out really unique and well thought out prizes for tournaments, I have yet to be disappointed with a prize from winning a tournament there...so now you have incentive to get better ASAP )

Well, just at our larger tournaments. Those just happen to be the ones you always attend. I think that we got complaints years ago about "Yipee. Another medal." I bet you won one of those big mugs or steins we were giving away at one point, didn't you? (We're right next door to a microbrew, and I think that they "sponsored" the trophies for a couple of our events.)

[bigdawg2121]

Haha, actually yeah I did win a stein once and a huge handblown glass like uber-cup (no other way to describe it). At the smaller ones though I seem to recall a small novelty cup with some sort of a skull motif which was certainly not another ribbon or medal to litter my room or house, and some small trick or treat basket filled with KRISPY KREME coupons...I loved you guys longtime after giving me free Krispy Kremes, a LOT of free Krispy Kremes :-D

[Phrogger]

tbryan, any chance RFC would be open to someone who just wants to pop in on the occasional weekend? (paying a floor fee of course.) I live in New Bern and my club doesn't practice during the summer It would be for epee.

[keropie]

I know it's a bit further, but I know UNC/NCFDP is open for drop in guests (paying a floor fee, of course )

^^

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by Phrogger

tbryan, any chance RFC would be open to someone who just wants to pop in on the occasional weekend? (paying a floor fee of course.) I live in New Bern and my club doesn't practice during the summer It would be for epee.

Yes. You should probably call the gym and talk to the coach (Wes). We're generally happy to have someone show up and mix in with the class just for the variety as long as they are an experienced/competitive fencer. That way, they can safely mix in with the rest of the class and do drills and such.

There is a Sunday practice. If you're just interested in the bouting, I don't think bouting starts until around 6 p.m. on Sundays. I haven't been able to go to that class lately, so I don't know whether any of the epeeists are showing up that night. If you have a foil and are willing to do either, then you can show up for the whole class and get a workout and some drilling done. If epeeists show up, so much the better!

[tbryan]

Originally Posted by keropie

I know it's a bit further, but I know UNC/NCFDP is open for drop in guests (paying a floor fee, of course )

^^

And the floor fee is cheaper at NCFDP.

Do you guys have weekend classes, or just Tuesdays and Thursdays?

[keropie]

Just tuesdays and thursdays

[bigdawg2121]

What is the floor fee in Raleigh anyway?

[knave]

$12 a practice

$65 a month

$55 a month for students, I think

[kirinichiban]

thanks for all the info!

looks like i'll come to the free practice and go from there then. yeah the prices are really reasonable and no contracts is nice.

[Zelda]

I know you guys had at one stage really funky t-shirts.....(I finally consigned mine to hte scrap heap a couple of days ago) BUT I rescued the logo first.