UBC Fencing Club

If you want to join us, we encourage you to come by one of our practices. Your first time fencing with us is free. We accept members all-year-round. There is no need to sign up beforehand, although there is a waiver you will need to complete to participate. If you are under the age of 19 you will need a parent/guardian to sign off on the waiver before coming to practice (please email us for a copy the waiver if this is the case). If you are new to fencing, please arrive at the beginning of our practice, as this is when we make room for introductory classes.

There is no need to buy fencing equipment beforehand, we provide equipment at practice. Make sure to wear athletic/easy-to-move-in clothing, though!

Our club members have a Discord server that we use for internal communication, fencing discussion, trip/tournament planning, and sharing fencing media. Once you have paid your membership fee, please ask an exec for a link to the server if you want to stay up-to-date with everything happening in the club.

The first third of practice is usually used for conditioning, footwork, and bladework training, as well as training beginner fencers. The remainder of practice is used for sparring and 1-on-1 lessons (or in small groups).

Although we have fencers of all weapon types, we train beginner fencers in foil. As a result, the proportion of foilists tends to be higher. This usually influences the focus of the main group lesson at the beginning of practice. We typically have enough experienced epeeists (and sometimes sabreurs) to lead smaller more weapon-specific lessons on the side, however this is dependent on the turnout demographic for the particular practice day.

We usually host atleast two tournaments each year: Halloween Slash n' Stab (Late October, epee and sabre tournament) and The Stephen Lazar Memorial Tournament (Late March or April, all weapons tournament).

This year we will also be hosting an intercollegiate tournament between UBC, UVic, and SFU Fencing teams/clubs. We plan to host this some time in February.

Our club members also frequently compete at other tournaments both locally and abroad. We often organize group trips to tournaments too (most commonly to Vancouver Island).

Our club also values socializing! We have a number of events through the year to promote camaraderie, like our annual beach BBQ, karaoke, movie nights, fencing video analysis nights, and club dinners.