Getting Started FAQ

The Basics class for new fencers is $240.00 per session (two months/7-8 weeks). A family discount of 50% applies against class fees for each family member after the first person.

This cost covers all equipment use and all class attendances. Students are welcome to attend 1, 2, or 3 classes weekly for the same flat rate. 

Membership dues are waived for first-time students in the Basics Class. Please see our Rates page for full, up-to-date information. 

Each class is billed in "sessions," which are nominally two calendar months (e.g. Sep-Oct), and are 7-8 weeks long. 

We offer the Basics class three times weekly:

• Mon 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

• Wed 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM

• Sat 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM

Students are welcome to attend 1, 2, or 3 times weekly, as their schedule allows. The material presented in a single week (Mon to Sat) is the same. Repeated exposure is beneficial (more practice), so attending multiple times weekly allows for faster development. 

Please see our Schedules page for the most up-to-date information, including any club closures due to holidays.

We offer the Basics class multiple times weekly. Substitution of a different class in the same week for the missed class is our preference.

If you must miss critical material, and class substitution is not an option, we may be able to arrange a make-up lesson before the next class meeting (fees apply, and subject to coaching availability). If you are unable to make up missed critical material, then we normally would ask you to withdraw from the current session and to try rejoining later, when your schedule and the Basics class schedule work better together.

No. We will provide all the fencing gear needed to participate. 

We accept new fencers aged 10 years to adult.

We have welcomed adults of all ages: young (and more established) professionals, parents looking to do something with their kids, empty nesters, and retirees.

We have set the minimum age to 10 years because that is the approximate age when most children are developmentally ready to succeed and thrive in the challenging group-oriented learning environment that we have. The combination of independence, emotional regulation, increased attention span, ability to articulate complex thoughts, ability to learn from others in a group (including one of variable ages), and the like all start to come together for children at about this age. While children younger than 10 can and do fence, the environment we provide at Riverside is not ideal for younger learners.

New fencers in the child and teen ages should be exploring all sorts of activities, and perhaps starting to discover which ones they really like, and might pursue wholeheartedly. We hope that fencing will become what they really enjoy and pursue!

Sorry, no.

However, we invite you to attend one of our open houses, where you can get some of the information you may be seeking, as well as a shortened introduction (mini lesson) that showcases a bit of the fun to be had in the class. Open houses are free.

Sorry, no. We are not set up to take absolute beginners in a one-on-one situation as a replacement for the Basics Class.