Where is the club?
The club operates in the Combatives Room of the Recreational Sports Facility (RSF) at the southwest corner of the UC Berkeley campus, on 2301 Bancroft Way between Dana Street and Ellsworth Street. After entering the RSF, turn left and go past the treadmills to find the Combatives Room right next to the Martial Arts Room.
Where are Competitions?
The club goes to tournaments hosted by NCIFL schools, as well as hosting a home tournament. There are two to four tournaments a semester, but several fencers will attend additional local tournaments such as the Bay Cup, and will often go as a group.
What should I wear?
Come in athletic clothing that allows you to move freely, rather than jeans. Come to practice wearing long non-jean pants, a t-shirt, thick socks, and athletic shoes. Any light athletic shoe will be fine, but the lighter the sole the better. Please do not come in jeans.
Does it hurt?
Though it may look dangerous, fencing is one of the safest sports. A smaller percentage of fencers were injured in the 2008 summer olympics than the percentage of winter 2010 curlers. Fencing blades are surprisingly bendy, and a lot of the force is absorbed by the blade’s flexibility.
Why is practice so late?
Apparently, aerobics and hip hop dance are cooler than fencing…but the later practices are really not as bad as they sound. If you’re concerned about the late walk home, there are groups of people going in all directions after practice.
Talk to an officer to help find someone going the same way.
What about equipment?
For beginners, we have all the gear you will need. However, after one semester you will probably want to buy your own gear. For advanced fencers, we currently don’t have space in our armory to store your equipment, so you will have to bring them to practice for now, but in the future, we will be able to store some of your personal
equipment.