A figure of elegance, standing ready with their blade, they are a fencer through and through. Fencing isn’t just playing with swords, it’s a calculated sport, played with one of three types of blade, the foil, the épée, and the sabre. As fencing is also an Olympic sport, the Olympics defines the sport as “a combat sport in which two athletes use swords to attack and defend against one another with the aim of striking their opponent in order to score points.”

Lethbridge has their own fencing club held at the university, the club has both a youth and adult class, where people can come and learn how to fence, and hone their fencing skills. Jenny Noel is one of the instructors at the club, and she likes to keep her students entertained during lessons and practice.

“They have games at the end we can play, where I split half the class, and half the class, and it’s called Pirates. So instead of a One-Versus-One, it’s half the class versus half the class, and you’re on a pirate ship.”

The Fencing Club has a wide variety of skill levels and anyone is open to join, some of the members have been fencing for over ten years. Shaylyn Kress and Robert Greenley were members of the club who had joined due to a fascination with the sport in their teenage years.

“We went into our backyard, right? And we just started, like, play fighting with these two wooden swords. And that was the most fun I had ever had in my entire life” Greenley spoke about the origin of his interest in fencing, while Kress says that in high school she decided to start fencing because it had seemed like a really cool sport to try.

At the Lethbridge Fencing Club, they focus on the recreation side of the sport, but due to the skills and discipline that the club members learn, some members find themselves competing in tournaments. Noel talks about how the experience is less about winning, and more about learning.

“Some of the kids have gone to tournaments, and we base a lot of it ‘did you have fun, did you learn, did you win or win a bout, did you get point and figure out how you were getting the points’ so we turn into a little more of a learning experience”

Anyone who has an interest in fencing can go to the University of Lethbridge’s programs page on their website or find it under the Lethbridge Sports Councils website under their sport directory. Many different programs are served throughout the year such as summer camps, youth and adult classes, and mixed classes, which are especially fun for parents to fence with their children.