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Baltimore Midatlantic Fencing Academy News

Open-air épée starting 6/12/20

The BMFA epee group will start meeting at the Towson High multi-purpose athletic fields every Tuesday and Friday (weather permitting.)

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Vince and I have found an abandoned tartan pole-vault track at Towson High School that has the perfect dimensions for fencing. After 6 o’clock, there is nice shade over the strip, so fencing is really not that bad even with a mask underneath the mask.

Towson High is located at 69 Cedar Ave, Towson, MD 21286. Coming from Aigburth, there is plenty of free parking on the main lot. (Don’t go to the main entrance on Cedar, use the rear lot!)

Tentative first date: 6/12/20 @ 6PM. Bring water.

We’ll have the wireless going!

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3/13/20: Last Fencing before the Rona Vacation: See you at Knott Hall!

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Our gracious host, Loyola-Blakefiled, will go into corona-shutdown mode on 3/15. That means until April 3, 2020, none of our carefully developed safety policies will be necessary, as the venue will be closed:

No fencing classes or lessons until April!

We will alert our members if we decide to organize properly social-isolation open-air work-out meets at a different location. After all, Coach Chris has been ordered to stay out of the office until April 6, and as of next Monday probably won’t know what to do with all the free time.

So stay tuned to this website and our Facebook groups!

Meanwhile, see you at Knott Hall’s performance gym tonight!

 

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Temporary Corona Policy

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The catholic schools in the region are closing for 2 weeks starting Monday and we are awaiting instruction from our hosts at Loyola-Blakefield as to the availability of our venue.
Since fencing is not a contact sport and the amicable handshake at the end of the bout has been officially suspended by US Fencing, Coaches Larbi and Chris will be implementing reasonable precautions for as long as we are able to use the room.
  • Youth fencers will be placing their bags in the hallway, wash their hands before, during and after class, and use their own gear at all times.
  • Parents are encouraged to “socially isolate” (i.e., spend class hunting for toilet paper and hand sanitizer at local retail establishments.)
  • Veteran fencers, if you’re old and feeble, stay home! (No, Coach Chris, you still have to show up!) If you’re spry and healthy, please come!
  • Open bouting follows all of the above. Please pay your floor fees in crisp, uncirculated bills!
  • No iPhones or other devices that entice sticking heads together to view inspirational Coach Chris memes or Internet videos are permitted. (See above for an example of those viral, inspirational Coach Chris memes that are all the rage among young people these days!)
  • We will be thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing all club equipment.
  • Learn-to-fence and beginners using club equipment will be permitted to take their entire gear home to limit use to only one fencer and, yes, you wear it, you wash it!
  • There will be Clorox wipes to wipe down masks, gear, and remotes.
  • If you’re sick, stay home.
We’ll be making sure that there never are more than 24 persons in the room. (That shouldn’t be all that difficult…)
Until further notice… the fence must go on!
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Fencing in the Time of the Plague

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Until we are told to “shelter in place”… under the dining room table… wearing aluminum foil headwear…

OR, alternatively,

Loyola Blakefield decides to extend spring break until summer…

…BMFA fencing classes and open bouting are happening as scheduled.

Please pay attention to the notifications send out by Ms. Cross: We may me relocated from Wheeler Hall to the Performance Gym on the shortest of notices.

Extra credit: Whoever provides an adequate translation of the above image’s text gets a free electric foil.

Whoever provides a less-than-adequate translation also gets a free electric foil!

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2/28/2020: Performance Gym it is!

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Once again, we have been moved to the Performance Gym at Knott Hall. Pressure’s on—and let Coach Chris know if you need stuff from our supply room.

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Valentine’s Day 2/14/20: Head to the Performance Gym

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Bring your best game to the Performance Gym in Knott Hall on Valentine’s Day afternoon and evening!

We’ve been ousted from Wheeler Hall for the night due to gangly youths dancing at our usual venue.

The upside: Wooden floors!

 

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Epee Class is canceled on Jan. 7…

We thought we’d be open after the foil classes, but we want to keep you from ending up like this:

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See you back on Friday!

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Learn to Fence classes start every first Wednesday of the month!

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Frequently Asked Questions

Youth Beginners (ages 7-13)

Start: New classes start every FIRST WEDNESDAY of the month 5:30PM at Wheeler Hall, 500 Chestnut Avenue, Towson, MD 21204.

Students will build up agility and stamina in an age-appropriate but challenging class involving:

  • Stretch, Strength & Agility Exercises
  • Footwork
  • Bladework
  • Bouting

Coach Larbi Soufiane will introduce your child to the concepts of modern competitive fencing in a cooperative, kids-friendly atmosphere. Our program focuses on teaching the proper way to move (balanced advancing, retreating, lunging, acceleration units), using distance both for offense and defense, using the foil both to score on the opponent and to keep from getting scored on). At the end of the course, the students will get to experience fencing using the electric scoring apparatus.

The club provides all gear: masks, gloves, plastrons (a protective garment worn over the shoulder and armpit of the sword warm), and foils.

Our first Youth Beginners Class in 2020 will start on January 8, 2020, with new Groups starting every first Wednesday of the month!

Location: Wheeler Hall at Loyola Blakefield, 500 Chestnut Avenue, Towson MD 21204.

Sign Up Here!

[This link gets you to the Registration and Sign-up Menu of the Blakefield Experience. Click on Page 2 and look for Learn-to-Fence Sign-up!

If you have any questions about the program, please don’t hesitate to contact Coach Chris Amberger at jcamberger@gmail.com.

For questions regarding registration and sign-up, please contact Chantal Cross at ccross@loyolablakefield.org.

 

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First Fencing of the Roaring Twenties: January 3, 2020!

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BMFA parents watching their promising offspring hitting each other with swords.

First Friday: BMFA resumes its full program of classes and private lessons on Friday, January 3, 2020.

There will be no fencing activities on New Year’s Eve: NO FENCING ON DEC. 31, 2019!

Also: If your BMFA has siblings or friends who always have been wanting lear to fence:

BMFA is starting its first Beginners Class of the new decade on Wednesday, January 8!

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