Ancient Weapons, Modern Training.
 
 

How to JOin

 
 

In-Person Beginners

The goal of our in-person beginners program is to make you comfortable playing the game of fencing. By the end of your first 2-hour class, you will be in full protective gear and fencing with steel swords against other beginner and intermediate students, supervised by our instructor staff. After your first session, you’re a full member and able to register for any of our classes.

Applying for beginners is the only way to join a beginners class. Fill out the application linked below!

Apply to Join
Beginners FAQ

Online Beginners

Want to start learning historical fencing right now? We have an online beginner’s program that you can start today, hosted in Thinkific.The online program covers technique and historical basics for fencing in a video series that you can view at your own pace.

At the end of the online beginners course, you will be offered a link to register and onboard with us as an intermediate student with a Full Membership.

Join Online

Transfer for experienced fencers

Do you already have experience in historical fencing? This transfer application is to join DHFA at the intermediate level as an experienced fencer, whether in HEMA / historical fencing, SCA fencing, or other fencing traditions.

If accepted, you will be emailed a link to register and onboard with us as an intermediate student with a Full Membership.

Apply to Transfer
 
 

Frequently asked questions about memberships

  • Full membership costs $95 per month, the same price it has been since 2020. Full membership gives you:

    • Access to all intermediate classes and floor times

    • Access to and sometimes discounts on club events - guest instructors, tournaments, etc.

    • Access to private lessons with instructors

    • A sword family. DHFA is committed to a safe, welcoming environment where everyone feels like they matter and can train in historical fencing in a constructive space

  • Transfer students and students coming from online beginners go through a short onboarding process to get them transferred to in-person classes and sparring.

    During onboarding, we go over club policies and administrative information, and then help you get into full fencing gear to do an evaluation spar to ensure you can fence responsibly. This sparring session isn’t a test of skill; we are making sure you can fence safely and show you our club sparring etiquette. 

     

    Onboarding occurs once a month on Saturdays at 12pm. Only accepted transfers and students who have completed the beginners course may onboard.

  • Unfortunately, for insurance reasons, we do not currently accept students under 18. However, we highly recommend the Denver Fencing Center and their catalog of youth programs, where students will build the skills that make an incredible historical fencer!

  • 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.

  • While we could teach you some fancy fencing terms over the course of an hour, doing one-off events or limited-term private classes for groups will not make you skilled with a sword. More importantly, you wouldn’t get much more out of it than you would get out of watching some of Martin Fabian’s youtube videos, and it would put a lot of extra work onto our volunteer instructor staff. For those reasons, we don’t do private beginners or group events.

  • Are you an existing Intermediate student with a sporadic schedule or a long commute to DHFA? Then our punch card will work for you. Punches expire 12 months after purchase and are only available to Intermediate Students.

    Note: This membership type is not available to beginners. After completing a beginners program, students may switch to punch card after their first month on the beginners membership.

    Existing Intermediate students or onboarding members can reach out to memberships@denverhistoricalfencing.com to learn more.

    Cost: $150 for 10 classes.

  • At DHFA we are dedicated to making historical fencing accessible for everyone we can. We offer scholarship memberships to any student experiencing financial hardship.

    Existing or onboarding members can reach out to memberships@denverhistoricalfencing.com to learn more.

View our current class schedule on pushpress