Practices
Fall ‘09 Practice Schedule
Tuesday: Blue or Orange Studio 7-10pm
Friday: Blue or Orange Studio 5-9pm
Practices are usually held in either the Orange or Blue Studio, upstairs in the Campus Recreation Center. The Rec Center is #21 on the campus map. The days and times for this semester’s practices can be found in the box to the right.
Practice Format
Nervous about coming to your first practice? Wondering what happens at a typical practice? Then this page is for you! Below is a guide to a typical Swordplay practice, which involves five main parts:
Warm-up Game
Practices usually starts out with a game to get everyone moving. Playing a game is also a good way to build up teamwork and friendship. Typical warm-up games include Ultimate Frisbee (pictured) and tennis-ball soccer. In both games, club members form two teams and attempt to score goals by either throwing the Frisbee or kicking the tennis ball to their teammates and getting the object to the designated goals on opposite walls of the room.
Warm-up Stretches
After the warm-up game, members do group stretching exercises. Fencing involves moves that are not used on an everyday basis, so stretching is an important element of safety: it improves flexibility, which prevents injury.
Stretching at practices can take the form of static stretches or dynamic stretches (pictured). For static stretches, members stand in a circle while one member leads the group in stretches of the neck, arms, and legs. For dynamic stretches, the group lines up and performs exercises across the width of the room. Dynamic stretches limber the body while also providing a workout.
Footwork Drills
One of the most important elements of fencing is footwork, the steps a fencer uses to move. After warming up, practices continue with footwork drills. These drills are intended to provide practice in the basic movements of fencing: advancing, retreating, lunging towards the opponent, and so forth.
Bladework Drills
After footwork drills, we move on to bladework drills. We cover the basics of the parries, various forms of attack, and more complex bladework drills.
Free Fencing
After the warm-ups and drills are complete, club members are free to practice however they feel would best benefit them: practicing more drills, getting lessons from experienced club members, or fencing other club members.