En garde! Fencing club emphasizes fun, skills

Tracy Nabstedt grew up the same way many little kids do: sword fighting with branches and broomsticks in the backyard. Most of those Saturday swashbucklers end up dropping the branches in favor of briefcases, but not Nabstedt. He’s the man behind the iron mask at the Concord Fencing Club, which he’s owned and operated since its inception in 1998, and he’s been able to make a career out of swordplay.

“A lot of people are drawn to fencing by the romance of the blade,” Nabstedt said. “Fighting with swords is very grisly, but very romantic.”

Of course, fencing cuts the grisly out of sword fighting and keeps the romance. There is an air of etiquette and courtesy to the sport, a right-of-way system that dictates what moves may be made at any given time. Fencing aficionados compare it to a game of chess – albeit a physical one.

“You might know what you want to do, but can you make your body do it?” he said. “There’s a physical quotient at play, too.”

That structure and formality, coupled with the inherent inpidualization of a mano a mano duel, can be very beneficial to a young fencer’s growth as a person.

“A lot of young people have come through here and benefited a lot socially,” he said. “It’s really fun working with kids, watching them realize they have a sense of humor and that they can compete.”

Take in the scene at one of Concord Fencing Club’s evening classes, and you’ll see that the wielded wits are sharper than the brandished blades. Of course, the blades are safely dulled so there is little danger of being put in stitches by anything but a wisecrack.

“It’s a congenial group,” Nabstedt said, “but once you get out on the strip, there’s no mercy!”

Concord Fencing Club’s strip, which is the long rectangular area where the actual fencing takes place, has acted as a launch pad for many of Nabstedt’s protégées. The club’s walls are covered with pictures of fencing students and the medals they’ve won in various regional and national competitions. And what better time to take up fencing then now, with the United States becoming a respectable power in the international fencing community?

Aside from the glory of being a top-ranked competitor, Nabstedt’s fencers have gone on to parlay their skills into college scholarships or used it to round out an application to the Naval Academy. But there’s more to the Concord Fencing Club than training youngsters for a career in fencing.

“We’ve had a lot of kids come through here and go on to fence at a high level,” Nabstedt said. “Other people aren’t interested in competing, they just want to come in and fence.”

Concord Fencing Club offers training for anyone age 7 and up. The classes are co-ed (“Men and women fencing together is a lot of fun,” said Nabstedt), and run for eight-week sessions. There are also inpidual training sessions available during the day. You can leave your swords at home as equipment is provided for beginner-level students. For more information on the Concord Fencing Club call 224-3560 or visit concordfencingclub.org.

Author: Ben Conant

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