New to Fencing

En garde, Future Fencers! We are the Southwest Florida Fencing Academy, and we are so excited you are interested in joining our club. We encourage aspiring fencers ages 8 and up to join our club. Any aspiring fencers under age 8 are welcome to come in for an evaluation to join us as well!

Trying it out: 

We encourage you to come and take a free trial class with us before you join to see if this is something you or your child would like to commit to. Feel free to show up to any of the foil classes that fit your schedule!

The club is at 4210 Fowler Street #9, Fort Myers FL 33901. We are located right near the Lighting Strikes Bowling Ally. To get to us, you will pull into a plaza with a fish store to the left and a car shop to the right. It is an industrail plaza and the car shops use the parking lot as storage for their "projects". So please don't mind the mess. We are situated to the far right of the parking lot. If you drive around the perimeter it is hard to miss us! Now is also a good time to mention that the Southwest Florida Fencing Academy is a non-profit organization, and in an effort to keep prices low so the sport can be as accessable as possible, this has been our location for 25+ years. So while it is not "pretty" on the outside, it has lots of love on the inside. 

What joining looks like: 

At our club, all beginners start by learning to fence foil. There are three fencing weapons, foil is the most popular in the world, and is a great introduction to fencing. Our beginners package is 12 classes. We understand that life happens, so the classes will be marked as you come, not consecutively. So if you can't make it one week, you won't lose that class, you can itstead make it up later. All students will be required to own their own fencing pants, for insurance purposes. All other gear will be provided.

Steps to Join:

1) Come to the club and take your free intro class.

2) Sign up for a Sportmember account that you can find on the Costs and Pricing page.

3) Sign up for a USAF membership. The USA Fencing Association is the governing body that provides our clubs' liability insurance. Every fencer must be a USAF member to ensure the safety of our fencers and staff. Without a membership, you cannot fence. Access membership is $29 a year. You can register with them at usafencing.org  

4) Buy a pair of used fencing pants from the club if we have any your size. Or have Coach Bianca measure you for the right size and order some. This is the only piece of equipment we require the students to own. For insurance purposes they must fence in them. The club has all the other necessary equipment.

Gear: 

As mentioned above, gear will be provided during the beginners course. If you would like to purchase your own gear before completing the beginners course, please consult your coach. They will be able to direct you to the best resources to do so. We do not recommend just ordering gear off Amazon. We have had several members try and it is hit or miss. So just double check with your coach before ordering. 

We are so glad you are insterested in joining us, and we look forward to sharing the joy of fencing with you. See you on the fencing strip!

Returning to Fencing

Welcome back, whether you have taken a 3 month or a 30 year break, we are excited for you to get back into fencing! Everyone takes a "hiatus" as we like to say, so you are not alone. Since you are no beginner to the sport, often the beginners package is not best suited to your needs. Before you determine on your own which fencing time best suits you, please email us at engarde@swfloridafencing.academy and we can assist you in picking the right class.

All fencers, regardless of weapon preference, are required to have a USAF membership. The USAF is the governing body that provides our clubs' liability insurance. Every fencer must be a USAF member to ensure the safety of our fencers and staff. Without a membership, you cannot fence. Access membership is $29 a year. You can register with them at usafencing.org  

Depending on your weapon of choice, we offer different membership options: which can be found on the  Costs and Pricing page.

Foil and Epee: 

If you are looking to take classes with instruction, you can get the Individual Membership- Classes/Bouting. 

However, if you are not looking to take classes and are only interested in working independently or open fencing/bouting- you are better suited for the Individual Membership- Open Bouting option.

Depending on your skill level and availability you are more than welcome to join us as many times a week as suits your schedule. We would even encourage you to come to the beginners classes to help re-establish your basic technique depending on how long you have been away. 

Sabre:

We do not provide advanced formal instruction for Sabre. We have just started a beginners Sabre class at the acdemy. As of now, we do not have any "advanced" Sabre fencers for you to practice with. However, we are great friends with the Naples Fencing School, who has a wonderful contingency of advanced Sabre fencers. Feel free to reach out to them to see when they are getting together. Or if you want to stay with us we would love to have you and you are more than welcome to join in the beginners class and fence with Coach Mike Rogers who is instructing, he would love to have someone closer by to practice with.