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Baltimore fencing: The past 20+ years in a nutshell
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Image courtesy of NBC Olympic coverage
Fencing: An Olympic sport since the first modern games in 1896, fencing evolved from 16th century European sword dueling. It combines the speed of boxing, the strategy of chess, and the agility of gymnastics. It has been an NCAA sport since 1941.
That's my standard nutshell explanation of fencing. I started learning fencing in the early '80s, at a small boys' club in the basement of the Johns Hopkins University athletic building on N. Charles St. Growing up in a world where childhood athletics were dominated by football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, and soccer, I found myself having to explain over and over to each new person I met. It's been an uphill battle, but fortunately fencing has been experiencing exponential growth in the past 20 years.
The Baltimore area fencing scene has dramatically changed since my first class in the early '80s. While there were some classes at the Towson YMCA and Catonsville Community College, the only solid, competitive programs were at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to coaching the JHU men's varsity team, Coach Dick Oles ran a club for adults (Salle Palasz) and for boys (my club, Tri-Weapon Boys' Club). When I participated in junior tournaments, the only competitors to be found were typically members of my own club. Sometimes kids from nearby D.C. clubs would attend, but not often. In those days we had a few stars here and there (John and Paul Frieberg, Dave Mandell to name a few), but for the most part Maryland fencing was very small and provincial, a reflection of the sport's lack of popularity nation-wide.
Since my childhood days there have been many changes to local fencing. Coach Ray Gordon came from Vassar College in the late '80s and founded Chesapeake Fencing Club. Over the years he has grown a small group of fencers into a vibrant, competitive club, adding many afterschool and home school programs. Coach Bin Lu, a former Chinese Olympian, arrived in the late '90s and created the Baltimore Fencing Center in Timonium, which recently bought out Columbia's Slayton Fencing Club, putting it into a new, full-time facility and creating Maryland's first fencing franchise with Baltimore Fencing Club, Columbia. Coach Dick Oles retired from Johns Hopkins, moving his Salle Palasz and Tri-Weapon Boys' Club programs next door to Chesapeake Fencing Club, forming a loose partnership with Coach Ray Gordon.
Meanwhile, in the Capitol division just south of Baltimore, Coach Janusz Smolenski took the D.C. Fencers' Club out of their rented high school gym space into a large, industrial space, becoming a national powerhouse and producing some of the top epee fencers in the country. Similarly, Coach Ray Finkleman's Chevy Chase Fencers' Club has suddenly sprouted from a mostly-recreational club into a nationally-noteworthy program with a few national epee stars of its own.
The Maryland Division of the U.S. Fencing Association boasts more than 200 members now, which I am guessing is about two or three times the number of fencers from 20-some years ago. All of Maryland’s' larger fencing clubs now feature A and B rated competitors. Fencers from this area regularly participate in national tournaments and go on to fence for NCAA varsity teams. It's a welcome change from the days of fencing's obscurity.
Going forward, I plan to profile outstanding local competitors, discuss results from this year's Summer Nationals, talk about the current political upheavals at the national level, and of course, report on team USA's progress at the Beijing Olympic Games. If you have feedback or ideas for this blog, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at info@marylandfencing.com.
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