Our motto is “ancient weapons, modern training.” We like to approach this as a modern sport with foundational rules that are implied in the historical texts, and we help you uncover these rules by putting a sword in your hands and letting you use it. Be prepared to sweat!

In class, beginners explore distance, timing, how to parry an attack, how to thrust, how to use both sides of the sword to cut, and more. You will get to use two-handed longswords (called feders), rapiers, and sabers dynamically in games, drills, and sparring with your fellow students. By the end, you won’t be an expert—but you will have built foundational skills that will serve you for years to come.

Our in-person Beginners classes are two 2-hour classes on consecutive Saturdays from 12pm to 2pm, for a total of 4 hours of training. You won’t come away as an expert—that takes years!—but you will come out with solid fundamentals, an understanding of how to play with swords safely, and with skills to help drive your future training.

It should go without saying, but students must attend both classes in full to join us. If you can’t, please wait until next time—we’ll invite you again.

After your first class, beginner students are encouraged to register for weeknight intermediate classes and stay for open sparring til 6pm. (But you don’t have to!)

Beginners program classes are 8 to 10 students maximum. We pride ourselves in a minimum of 2 to 1 student to teacher ratio or better. There is always an experienced fencer or instructor available to address questions and keep everyone safe as you learn!

Currently, we run a new beginners program approximately every other month (or every 8 weeks), with some flexibility for holidays, tournaments, and instructor staff needs.

Beginner members don’t just sign up for a course; you’re a member of DHFA in full and can register for any other class after the first beginners class! In-person beginners is $75 for the first month of classes, which will show up as a $20 discount on the $95 full membership.

Your membership will renew automatically as a full membership at $95/month one month from your first beginners class. Of course, just let us know at any time if you need to pause or cancel.

Other than being one of our registered beginners with a membership (anybody who is not will be turned away!), you should wear or bring to every class you attend:

Athletic clothing. Fencing is a sweaty business and you will be going into full kit with padded jacket, fencing mask, and other protective gear. We recommend quick dry gym clothing.

A water bottle. We have a place to refill so it doesn't have to be huge!

Athletic shoes like boxing / martial arts shoes, court shoes, barefoot shoes, or any other type of grippy athletic shoes. Wide-soled stability / tennis / running shoes aren't ideal long-term but will be totally fine for your first days.

A cup if you have external genitalia. While we have loaner BJJ-style cups you can wear over your clothes if you forget, we strongly recommend you buy your own cup.

Other than a cup, PLEASE don't purchase any gear in advance! We have a list of recommended and prohibited gear, and an extensive loaner library of equipment for you to try out both in your beginners program and beyond.

Nope! For insurance reasons, we do not allow spectators, auditing, or any other non-members into DHFA during, before, or after class times. The only exception to this rule is guests of existing members. We don’t like doing it, but if you just show up and you are not a DHFA member, you will be asked to leave.