How I found out about fencing at Winthrop University
I found out about Fencing at Winthrop University at a student involvement fair back in September. I signed up for the Fencing club to see what it was like at the interest meeting. I loved it and learned how to stand, advance and retreat. At every meeting and practice since then, I learned so much about fencing and how to do it. I was able to watch two of the exec members fence at the student involvement fair.Â
How Others Found Out about Fencing at Winthrop University
I interviewed a few people who wanted to be interviewed on how they got into fencing. This is what they said.
“I’ve been fencing for about 3 years now. I fenced both here and at other clubs in Charlotte. I got into fencing because a high school teacher fenced and he brought his equipment.”
Issac Nicolau, Senior
“I’ve been in fencing for 2 semesters and I got into fencing from a tv show. When I found out that Winthrop had it, I was excited and I had fun doing it.”
Davion Dies, Senior
What we do before practices/meetings
Before every practice/meeting, we meet at the closet at court #4 in the gym of the West Center to get our uniform (which is the top), a glove for whichever dominant hand we use (I use a left-handed glove since I’m a lefty), a chest plate for girls, a plastron for guys, and our mask. We then spend about ten minutes stretching before suiting up for two hours.Â
What we do during practices/meetings
During every practice/meeting, we review what we’ve learned and learn something new, such as a beat. A beat is when you hit the opponent’s blade with your blade and lunge at them to get a point. A perry 4 beat is when you do the beat the same way as a perry 4, which is when you hit the opponent’s blade on the inside. A perry 6 beat is when you hit the opponent’s blade on the outside. Towards the end of every practice/meeting, we fence each other to get some practice in after reviewing and learning something new.Â
What we do after practices/meetings
At the end of every practice/meeting, we put everything away and help put everything we use for the strips away. It takes about 10-15 minutes depending on if we’re in a classroom or on court 4 in the West Center. It takes a minute depending on who comes on Tuesdays or Thursdays because almost everybody comes on Tuesdays but not on Thursdays.
