Welcome to Fernwood
DISCOVER - ENJOY - COMPETE
We promote the sport of fencing and physical fitness in a fun, safe, environment in Newark, for children, young people and adults (young and older). We are a volunteer run East Midlands club offering affordable beginners' programmes, training and sparring opportunities in a friendly, social atmosphere. Drop in and see us or contact us through facebook or this site for more details.
As lockdown starts to ease across the UK, British Fencing are working to establish consistent guidelines for clubs on how their activities can be restarted. More details can be found on the British Fencing site.
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We await this guidance and will publish our timeline for a return to fencing as soon as Government guidelines allow. In the meantime, please stay safe.
Andrew Sutton
Club Membership
Fernwood Sword Club seeks to make the sport of fencing accessible and affordable
Your initial session is free so you can try before you commit.
We just ask that you wear suitable clothing - jogging bottoms, T-Shirt and trainers - and bring a water bottle.
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For newcomers to the sport, we have kit that can be used at no additional cost.
Club Membership
£15 per month
Single membership
Access to the club nights.
Basic coaching support
Club Membership
£10 per month
Membership for second and subsequent family members
Access to the club nights
Basic coaching support
Non-Member
£5 per session
Walk-in fee for general sparring
Choose your weapon
Fernwood offers all three fencing weapons - our main focus is on foil.
FOIL
Light-weight, flexible swords with a thin blade.
The most common weapon to start learning with - historically it was the training weapon for duels.
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Weapons have a button on the end - not a sharp tip!
Only the torso is a target. There are rules about who has the right to attack.
EPEE
Similar to foils but heavier with a v-shaped blade
A popular weapon because the rules are simple - there's no priority in attack.
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Like foils, weapons have a button rather than a sharp tip.
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The whole body, excluding the head, is a target.
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SABRE
Wider, flat and looks like a cutlass.
Duels are short and fast. There is priority to attack and the target area is the top half of the body, including the head.
You can hit with the side or the tip of the blade.
Coaching
At Fernwood we seek to develop our coaches as well as our fencers. Ratings stated below relate to British Fencing Coaching Standards.
All are DBS checked. We also have guest coaches working with us from time to time.
Andrew Sutton
Level 2 Rated for Foil
Andrew is the Club's founder and has been a coach for 11 years. He works primarily with the clubs beginner groups, developing core skills needed to support a fencer in any of the three weapons.
Andrew also works with the clubs developing foilists seeking to compete in regional and national competition.
Paul Sibert
Level 4 Rated for Foil, Epee, Sabre
Paul has been involved in the sport for over 30 years, with 20 of those as a coach. He has coached fencers to British Cadet, Junior and BYC medals as well as to European and World Cadet / Junior championships.
In addition to his work with Fernwood, Paul is Lead Performance Coach for the University of Nottingham Fencing Programme.
Sharon Jones
Level 1 Rated for Foil, Epee
Working alongside Andrew with the club's newer fencers Sharon is an invaluable asset to Fernwood.
Having seen and supported as a fencing parent her two (now) adult fencers from first steps through to local, national and international competition, Sharon has a wealth of knowledge of the sport at England and GB levels.
Contact Us
We are most responsive through our Facebook or twitter pages but you can also fill in this form for any questions you may have.