Please feel free to call the club at (301) 562-1990 and contact any of the coaches to schedule private lessons.
In general, these lessons take 20 minutes and are very focused to the individual needs of the fencer.
If you want a good return on your investment, follow an etiquette and make your fencing fun and focused in general, these habits will help:
Warm up.
Heart-rate should be between 105% to 120% of normal, and you should have broken a sweat. Jogging, grapevines, coordination exercises, and even Yoga is great for this…
Stretch. Most important are hamstrings, the calves and lunges. Shoulder stretches are useful too.
If the coach is not present yet, or is working with another student, finish the warm-up with some hydration and waste no time: fence! Feel free to ask anyone around if they would like a bout, find a free strip and have a go. Once the coach is available, they will wave you down. Normally, it is quite rude to stop a bout you agreed to fence to a number before it’s over. The only exceptions are if you’re injured, your equipment fails or the coach invites you for a lesson.
Coach calls you for the Lesson: be ready.
It is DCFC safety policy to fence and take lessons in full gear. Some coaches might let you get away once with shorts or non-fencing pants, but this is a rare occasion. Jacket, mask and glove are the absolute minimum.
Have your weapon and mask in hand. Plug your body cord into the weapon and put the other end into a pocket, or remove it. You can take the lesson without a body cord. You do not want it dangling around your hand and getting in the way.
Begin the lesson.
Find an open strip, face each other. Put mask into your unarmed hand and salute with the weapon. Put mask on, this is the point where the lesson begins.
In general, you will start with fundamental basics, and build on them. They will be based on a set of touches and/or preparatory actions. That is called a “phrase”. After one phrase, you should end up in on-guard position without fidgeting and be ready. Once the coach takes the mask off and salutes, you should also take the mask off, salute and shake hands with the unarmed hand. The lesson is completed.
