Rice
Fencing
Club

Foil, épée and sabre. No experience or gear needed. Go stab your friends!

Join the club Practice times

Practice

  • MondayAll weapons7 to 9 pm
  • FridayAll weapons6 to 8 pm
  • SaturdayRotating weapon: foil, épée or sabre7 to 9 pm

All practices are in the Tudor East Gym.

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Your first practice

Just show up. The club lends you gear, and our coaches have fenced and coached at the international level.

Wear sports clothes, ideally long pants, and bring water.

Join

  1. 01

    Sign up

    Let us know you're coming.

    Sign up
  2. 02

    Get on the GroupMe

    The club posts updates there.

    Join the GroupMe
  3. 03

    Come to practice

    Come to any practice in the Tudor East Gym, and feel free to bring a friend.

LPAP

You can also take fencing for credit. LPAP 172, Introduction to Fencing is a one-credit course that teaches movement, bladework and basic strategy in foil, and LPAP 173, Intermediate Fencing follows it. Club practice is separate from the course, so you can do either or both.

LPAP course list

Three weapons

Foil

Point only. The target is the torso, covered by a conductive jacket called a lamé, and right of way decides the touch when both fencers hit.

Épée

Point only. The whole body is target, there is no right of way, and if both lights go on together, both fencers score.

Sabre

Cuts and thrusts. Everything above the waist counts, arms and head included, and right of way applies.

Learn the rules

Compete

We fence for the Owls in SWIFA, the Southwest Intercollegiate Fencing Association.

Members also fence USA Fencing tournaments, in all three weapons.

Photos

A masked fencer holding her foil upright
A fencer in her mask with the blade resting across her shoulders
A fencer with her mask under her arm
A close view through the mesh of a fencing mask
A masked fencer with her blade raised
A fencer holding her blade behind her neck

Questions

Do I need to have fenced before?

No. We teach beginners from scratch, and the club has gear you can borrow.

Do I need my own gear?

No, the club has masks, jackets and blades you can use. If you keep coming, the officers can tell you what to buy first.

Is it dangerous?

Not really. The blades are blunt and you wear a mask, jacket and glove. Fencing has one of the lowest injury rates of any Olympic sport.

Do I need to be fit?

No, you can start at any fitness level.

Which weapon should I pick?

Try all three and see which one you like. Saturday practice rotates between them, which makes it easy to try each one.