Chivalry is alive and well on campus thanks to the University of Minnesota Fencing Club (UMFC). Four times a week, these modern-day duelists meet in Cooke Hall Room 308 to politely practice their sword fighting skills.
UMFC coach Noah Gistover said the club practices the three fencing styles — Épee, Saber and Foil. Each style has its own specialized weapon, uniform and rules of conduct. Épee has the heaviest sword and lightest rules.
Gistover said UMFC training is focused and specific. Most practices usually include cardio workouts, dynamic stretching and calisthenics, footwork training, whole group concept reviews, and weapons group training with the club’s officers.
UMFC president Sam Docter said that beyond their meetings and practices at Cooke Hall, the club also competes in intercollegiate conference tournaments.
The UMFC hosted its annual Gopher Open in November which had around 100 fencers, according to Docter.
“People come up from all over,” Docter said. “We get a lot of folks from North Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin and of course a lot from Minnesota. It’s great. We get a big turnout.”
Docter said the UMFC also travels to several tournaments each semester and the team’s next tournament will be the inaugural Dillion Dollar Duels taking place at the University’s Recreation and Wellness North Gym on Dec. 7.
The tournament is open for fencers who are rated D, E or unrated, making it less intimidating for beginning fencers, Docter said.
Gistover said the UMFC has made a few changes recently to appeal to beginning fencers, specifically by starting a dedicated beginner’s course last fall.
“It has had a noticeable improvement on the performance of college students who just decide to pick up the sport for the first time,” Gistover said.
Docter said the beginner program has helped field many new UMFC members. Docter, a fourth-year student who has been a member of the UMFC since her first year, said recruitment was a larger issue around the height of the pandemic.
Docter added that the UMFC was even kicked out of their intercollegiate conference when she joined due to the club’s inactivity. The UMFC has since rejoined and membership numbers are stable and growing.
Docter said the club allows members to use club equipment for free including uniforms, masks, weapons and scoring equipment which has helped attract more beginning fencers to the club.
“Pretty much anything you need for fencing, besides shoes and a water bottle, we provide,” Docter said.
UMFC travel coordinator Jackie Lee said equipment prices can be the biggest turn-off for beginning fencers, which is why the club has decided to offer the equipment for free.
“I think that’s how we really encourage new people to try fencing,” Lee said.
Lee said she was a beginning fencer last year and UMFC made it easy for her to try a new sport.
Club member and graduate student Robert Hairston said he had little fencing experience before joining UMFC. He said the club appealed to him because it offered a different style of thinking than what he was used to with his school work.
“If you consider too long, you get hit,” Hairston said.
Along with the free use of equipment, Gistover said that the first three UMFC practices are free of charge. Students who decide to continue after those three practices will be required to pay the club’s dues.
