Organizer
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Coach Ryleigh Sweet
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Email
rsweet@modernduelists.com -
Coach Ryleigh is one of Modern Duelists’ original members and has over a decade of experience under her belt. During that time, she’s been involved in nearly every area of the fencing world: high-level competition, refereeing, armoring, and of course, coaching. She has an incredible passion for the sport, and it’s easy to see her genuine level of excitement for everything she teaches. Unsurprisingly, her classes are known for being high-energy and often high-intensity. Her favorite thing to teach is strategy, and she’s a big believer in making sure her students understand why they’re doing something instead of just how to do it.
Location
- 505 Blue Ball Road, Elkton, MD
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Modern Duelists is located in the Triumph Industrial Park, just minutes off of I-95. Classes are held in our 3,600 sq.ft. fencing room, equipped with five regulation fencing strips, two practice strips, and over a dozen different wall, standing, and hanging targets. Students also have access to a fully-stocked armory for equipment repairs, a weight room for auxiliary training, and a break room/kitchenette.
Adult Intro to Fencing Class
Age Requirement: 18+
Prerequisites: None
Equipment: None (equipment provided)
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: 1 hour
CLASS TIMES
Mondays @ 7:30PM | Wednesdays @ 7:30PM | Saturdays @ 10:00AM
Students with no prior experience can learn to fence in our eight-week adult beginner program. We cover all of the basics, including footwork, attacks, defenses, tactics, how to hold and aim the epee, and how to fence a real bout. By the end of the class, students should feel comfortable calling themselves a fencer, and should have all the skills they need to move on to more advanced classes.
Each class consists of a short warm up followed by yoga-inspired stretching and breathing exercises to teach students to calm their breathing and heart rate. Students then spend the bulk of class working on their footwork, armwork, and blade skills; each week introduces a new skill or concept. Finally, class wraps up with a game or drill to tie everything together into a tactical context.
Classes are one hour long and meet three times a week.
After finishing the beginner program, students can sign up for a membership and join any of our advanced-level classes, participate in open bouting, and sign up for individual lessons.
Want to learn more about joining our Adult Beginner Class?