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…)
The Pandemic of 2020/21 has taken a toll on local fencing. Two clubs in the region have closed their doors permanently. Those clubs who depend on schools and colleges for their venue found themselves in front of locked doors. Doors that will remain closed until September of 2021…
On the other hand, our adult epee group has been growing by leaps and bounds.
After a 3-month hiatus following the lockdown in March 2020, Vince and Chris started fencing again outdoors, on the athletic fields of Towson High School, soon to be joined by Aidan and Ethan. Using wireless and our prudently sequestered mobile scoring units, we instantly were independent of the regular club set-up. All we needed was a flat surface to fence on!
When the biting flies got too much, we moved from the defunct pole vault track to the pavement under the high school auditorium’s overhang roof. We found another regular in Daniel in the fall, and an A-rated challenge in Sarah. Our friends from the old BFC days, Latif and Hannah, also joined back up.
As the days grew shorter and colder, it became apparent that we’d need an indoor space to continue our bi-weekly Duels at Dusk. Thanks to Vince, we found an unused commercial space at the Rotunda shopping mall in Baltimore City. It was sufficient for a single Leon Paul “Gryptonite” strip. And because we capped occupancy at 6 persons at any given time for the first couple of months, that was more than enough for us. We also invited Homewood Fencing Club — who was in the same predicament as we were — to use the space for foil classes during those days we weren’t fencing.
We fenced close to 1,000 epee bouts in this place. Our group now has around 20 members, including novices and experienced fencers, so each bouting night, you can expect to find between 6 and 12 fencers ready for action.
In October of 2021, the Nomads joined Homewood Fencing Club, located at the Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus off University Parkway. We now have six metal strips at our disposal, enough for our continued weekly Tuesday and Friday night bouting.
Experienced fencers, just grab your gear and simply show up at or around 6:00PM every Tuesday and Friday. If you have never fenced before but always wanted to, give Coach Chris a call at 410-790-8033.
We’re now establishing friendly alliances with other local and regional clubs, aimed at keeping Baltimore-area epee fencing alive through what remains of the pandemic.
We’re meeting at 733 W. 40th Street, Baltimore MD 21211, Tue/Fr 6:00PM.
Our fencers are looking forward to the end of the official school year: School sports are currently claiming most available outdoor spaces that we were able to use during the pandemic summer of 2020. Soon, we can expand our daily operations from the small space we were generously provided with by the property management of the Rotunda!
Youth Foil Fencing News:
Coach Austin Young is continuing youth and youth competitive classes at 733 W. 40th Street in Baltimore (our Rotunda tempoeary encampment) on
Saturdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with an over-flow day earmarked for Monday afternoons.
He has also just started a youth beginners’ class on Saturdays. As outdoor spaces become available, we may add additional learn-to-fence opportunities at Towson High School’s athletic fields.
For questions and scheduling, please contact Coach Austin directly at 410-340-6269.
Adult and youth Epee
Our epee program continues to gather steam:
- Open Bouting continues every Tuesday and Friday at 6PM (typically until 7:30 or 8PM, depending on the number of fencers. We are now getting lose to maximum capacity so please text Coach Chris if you plan to attend to maximize your fencing time: 410-790-8033. Walk-ons are always welcome, just bring your own gear.
(We are currently exploring adding Saturday afternoons for inveterate competitors.)
- Beginner’s and Remedial Classes: We have Introduction to Epee for Beginners every Monday starting at 7PM, and Remedial Epee for those who like to polish up some skills on Tuesday and Friday 1t 5PM. We’re trying to keep these events small, so please check with Coach Chris for availability.
Like our foil program, we are looking to alternate our open-bouting venue with the great outdoors to accommodate more fencers.
Individual Lessons: Coach Larbi “has sword, will travel”, providing individual lessons at students’ homes, driveways, patios and, on Mondays, at our Rotunda location. Lessons are available for foil and epee, on all levels, beginner to competitive. To make your own arrangements with him, call 443-739-0077. Lessons are also available via Coach Austin.
ANY FENCERS AFFECTED BY RECENT CLUB AND LOCATION CLOSURES WILL AWAYS BE WELCOMED BY ALL OUR COACHES.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Coach Chris Amberger (adult epee program): Call or txt 410-790-8033
Coach Austin Young (youth and competitive foil): Call or txt 410-340-6269
Coach Larbi Soufiane (individual lessons foil and epee): Call or txt 443-739-0077
…because yo’ dogs are bouting at the Rotunda. Contact Coach Chris for times and location!
We’re getting closer to moving to our nomadic winter camp at the Rotunda.
Continue reading “Almost there: Indoor fencing during the winter months”
Fencing in Baltimore 