Welcome to the Huntsville
Fencing Club! We are devoted to promoting the sport of fencing for the
serious competitor, the casual recreational fencer, and all between.
Modern fencing is a sport
derived from the nineteenth century duel, a sport of one against one, wit
against wit, skill against skill, will against will, without outside
assistance at the time of combat. It is an intensely solitary yet
overwhelming social activity in which the participant engages in combat
alone against his or her adversary on the strip, yet also engages in
friendship and camaraderie off the strip. Fencing is a highly competitive
sport, a positive form of recreation, and encompasses a highly social
atmosphere. The recreational fencer, for whom fencing is both an enjoyable
diversion as well as an opportunity to socialize with other bright,
passionate people, is the foundation of most fencing clubs, and is always
welcome at the Huntsville Fencing Club. Many of our members are purely
recreational fencers.
Our fencers have ranged in
age from ten to over eighty, from all corners of the US, as well as from
France, Italy, Poland, Israel, New Zealand, and Germany, and as HFC members
have fenced as far away as the United Kingdom, Colombia, and Antarctica.
Additionally, we are
often visited by out-of-state fencers here on business, and occasionally by
classical, historical, and SCA fencers looking to polish their technique.
Some of our members also practice various forms of historical fencing.
In addition to a facility
for open fencing, we also offer beginning instruction in a group setting,
and intermediate to advanced individual instruction in epee, foil, and
saber.
However, we are primarily an
epee club. Only a few of our members fence foil or saber, and only
occasionally. You need not be an athlete, much less a great athlete, to
learn to fence well. You need only a few basic physical abilities, a
willingness to learn, and the capacity to use your head. Instruction is
based on a broad technical foundation designed to provide the fencer with
adequate technique, tempo, and tactics for free fencing and competition,
while at the same time not inhibiting the fencer from enjoying the
swashbuckling romance of steel on steel. Such a well-laid foundation helps
the fencer understand the sport in all its aspects, builds tactics against
all possible adversaries, and prevents the fencer's development from
reaching a dead end. While we strive to develop a fencer's strengths, we do
not believe in doing so by sacrificing the benefits of a broad foundation,
nor at the expense of the courtesies and traditions of the sport.
Again, welcome to the
Huntsville Fencing Club! Visiting fencers, persons interested in fencing,
and potential members are welcome to drop by. Please see the Information
page for details.
