The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat.Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.
Welcome to the St Albans Fencing Club website For the latest club news, please click on the Club News in the above menu.
The Club is based at Marlborough School in Watling St, St Albans and fences on Thursday nights between 8.00pm-10.00pm. We start each session with a warm up, followed by a group session. The second hour is then taken up by a mixture of individual lessons from our coaches, and use of the electric scoring equipment for bouts in all three weapons. Members are keen enough that we fight on around 45 weeks during the year, but we do take time out for social events, the highlight of which is the annual open air event where partners and other halves get to see what we do in our strange get up. The open air is always followed by a barbeque and a prize giving for the winners.
The club is a friendly place to meet, with a wide range of fencing abilities. Some members are happy to fence once a week, some are keen enough to fence at two or three clubs. The club actively encourages its members to take part in competitions and are represented at individual and team competitions both locally and nation wide.
The club run 2 or 3 beginners courses during the year, we provide all the equipment you need to get started and we've enough kit for new fencers to borrow whilst they work out what they'll need to buy for themselves.
Read the club news page when you have a moment (and why not subscribe too!) this will give you a feel for what goes on at the club. Location The location of the fencing venue is within the Marlborough School grounds. On turning into the school gates at the pedestrian crossing, turn right in front of the main building, go through restricted width barrier and park your car at the far end of the car park. Follow the path that leaves the left hand side of the car park between the workshops and old tennis courts. You will come to the sports hall. We meet in the new hall which is on the left of the complex. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Equipment The club provides a range of equipment, weapons, protective clothing to allow fencing all three weapons in both 'steam' and 'electric'. We also have a small lending library of books and CD's on fencing available to members.
Fees The cost per quarter for this year (2009) is £52.50. Fees should be paid to the Treasurer and made payable to the St Albans Fencing Club. If you wish to arrange to pay by standing order please contact us via one of our contact forms for more details. If your are interested in participating in a beginners course, please read the information in the beginners section of this site.
Insurance While fencing is not an inherently dangerous sport, it is not without risk. All fencers need to ensure that they are covered by insurance - both for personal and for 3rd party injury. British Fencing Association (BFA) membership provides this - automatically - with different levels of cover for different membership categories. (e.g. for 'social' fencers, the annual premium is in the region of £10.00 pa.) If you have any questions, please ask a committee member. The main thing is to make sure you're covered.