Metro Blades offers two regularly scheduled, 10-week-long beginner
classes for adults (ages 13 and up) each year, one in the fall season and another in the spring season — and sometimes we add an extra from time to time. Our fall class usually starts in September, and our spring class starts in February/March. We determine the exact starting dates a few weeks before each course.
Winter/Spring 2012
Beginners class starts February 3, 2012.
Pre-registration for this class is now open! See below for details (cost, location, etc.). To sign up, please e-mail us
General Information and FAQs
Experience
No experience is necessary. In fact we prefer to reserve this course
for complete beginners; if you have a limited amount of experience,
or used to fence long ago and wonder if you should take this class
as a refresher, please contact us for a determination at
Format
Instruction for beginners is offered in group class format only;
most clubs, including ours, do not have private lessons for beginners.
Cost
$125 for a 10-week course.
Equipment
We provide all equipment needed. However,
if joining as club members, students are expected to purchase their own
equipment from a vendor following the
completion of the course.
Time
Friday nights only, 6:00–7:15 pm; subject to change for spring and summer classes.
Location
Classes are normally held at our practice location at Canada's National Ballet School, 400 Jarvis St., two blocks east & 1 block south of Wellesley subway station. [map]
Ages
The majority of participants are a mixture of adults,
university students, and teens. Sorry, but we don’t take
children younger than 13 years old for these classes (or as club members).
Registration
Due to the overwhelming interest in our classes, and our
maximum limit of 16 students per class, students must pre-register
by e-mailing
.
Course Outline
Below is a quick description of topics covered in our ten week beginner's course:
Class 1 – Introduction
- introduction, history, safety
- on guard stance, footwork, the lunge
Class 2 – Basics
- review of stance and footwork, distance, equipment
- blade manipulation and the hit
Class 3 – Simple Attacks
- direct attack, beat attack, disengage attack
- priority (right-of-way), rules
Class 4 – Simple Defense and Parries
- explanation of target area
- parry quarte, parry counter-sixte
- the riposte
Class 5 – Parries Continued
- review of parries quarte and counter-sixte
- low line parries septime and octave
Class 6 – Compound Attacks and Advanced Bladework
- One-two attack
- Doublé attack
Class 7 – Complex Defense and Parries
- successive parries and counter-riposte
- defensive responses to compound attacks
Class 8 – Strategy and Tactics
- psychological and mental aspects of the game
- evaluting one’s opponent
- timing
Class 9 – Judging, Presiding, Etiquette, Bouting
- fencing in a bout
- refereeing, interpreting actions
- penalties and infractions
Class 10 – Bouting/Round-robin Tournament
- putting your skills to the test!
