We’re back online after two months or so of problems with this website. But what a time it’s been:
The Epee Nomads have joined forces with the newly re-constituted Homewood Fencing Club, and are now fencing twice a week at the Johns Hopkins University athletic center off San Martin Drive.
The club’s six metal strips accommodate our increased numbers nicely: We now regularly have 8 to 12 adult epee fencers bouting!
Times and days remain unchanged: Erry Tuesday and Friday @7:00PM.
If you plan joining us, give Coach Chris a call — while centrally located, the right entrance is somewhat non-intuitive to find!
First things first: Tuesday and Friday epee nights will continue throughout September at the established days and times:
Tuesdays at 6:00PM — Skills clinic
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM — Open bouting
Fridays at 7:00PM — Open bouting
Looking beyond September, we have some GREAT prospects we’re working on. Epee Nomads may be joining a brand-new fencing room with 6 grounded strips before you can say “Happy Halloween!”
Details to follow!
- It’s final: Our now former host, Loyola-Blakefield, has canceled the fencing program. We will not return.
- Open Bouting continues on Tuesdays and Fridays for our epee fencers, foil classes continue on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays under the guidance of Coach Austin.
- The Olympic Games may be over, but we’re just getting started: We have an outdoor pop-up epee tournament on 8/14/2021 at 9:30AM at the Towson High School athletic field!
- We’re looking for a venue to expand in the medium term.
Remembering fencing in 90 degrees heat outdoors last year, with thunder clouds moving in, the setting sun in our face, and biting flies going to town on our ankles, we are still appreciating the relative cool of Salle Nomad at the Rotunda.
Due to the return to normalcy (including having to physically be at the office again for our professionals), we have compacted the schedule and moved up our open bouting to an hour later:
Monday: Novice class at 7:00PM
Tuesday: Improvement Society at 6:00PM
Tuesday: Open Bouting at 7:00PM
Friday: Open Bouting at 7:00PM
Walk-ons welcome! BYOE. (Epee, although we have plenty of those…)
We are keeping a close eye on our 2020 Pandemic dueling grounds at Towson High School.
Currently, it looks like there’s a baseball game on almost every afternoon on the upper field, a small Wimbledon on the tennis courts, and either a lacrosse game or some track-and-field event on the football field every afternoon.
But as soon as the parking lot clears out and the weather forecast looks promising, we will move some of our fencing activities outside again, enjoying epee as it was initially meant be, as an outdoor sport!
Meanwhile, attendance at our Tuesday and Thursday epee “Duels at Dawn” has grown by leaps and bounds. Together with Coach Austin Young of Homewood Fencing Club, we’re about to put down a second strip at 733 W. 40th Street.
It’s gonna be tight, but we’re going to give it a try! (We’ve also started to scout for alternate locations for the fall, but don’t tell anyone.)
Like our Epee Nomads, Coach Austin’s youth and competitive foil groups have also grown. We have a steady stream of newbies signing up, some tearful reunions of old BFC/BMFA fencing buddies — and there are plans to move the introductory classes outside very soon.
Any questions about that, please call or text me at 410-790-8033.
We heard that Baltimore Fencing Center‘s Cockeysville location’s doors have closed for good this month.
We take no joy in that — Larbi and I (and a large contingent of our own fencers) started out at BFC and have great memories of the place.
So we extend a cordial invitation to BFC fencers in search for a new competitive home in the northern Baltimore City/Baltimore County area. (BFC Columbia is slated to re-open in June, so there’s always that!)
Youth foil fencers are welcome to join Coach Austin’s foil program, and our Epee Nomads are always open to anyone interested to learn, continue, and compete!
Our venue at this point is still small, so please contact me at 410-790-8033 to co-ordinate!
(If you need weapons and body cords repaired, also give me a call. Coach Larbi regularly picks up non-functioning gear and returns it repaired to our site in a timely fashion!)
No news, in some cases, may be good news. In our case, it’s merely no news: We have not received any information from our hosts at Loyola-Blakefield if or when the school’s facilities may be available for restarting classes and private lessons…
…because yo’ dogs are bouting at the Rotunda. Contact Coach Chris for times and location!
Fencing in Baltimore 