Fencing is VERY safe! Safer than some other sports and definitely safer than crossing the road. (They haven’t banned that yet??)

Of course you must wear the correct clothing and observe certain safe behaviours. eg never hit anyone not wearing a mask, always hold the point down, don’t put your mask on or off with two hands while holding a weapon. (Think about the person behind you!)

Equipment must be certified to European and international safety standards known as CEN. Simply, CEN1 is the minimum and CEN2 the higher level for certain activities such as electric fencing and national level competitions and above. All the club’s kit conforms to this.

The CEN rating is all about the force required to penetrate the ballistic quality polyester material. Either 350 or 800 Newtons (that’s 35Kg and 81Kg respectively). If you are wearing a CEN1 jacket and a CEN2 plastron (under-jacket), as required by the regulations, then that’s combined protection!

However, the risk from broken blades is minimal. Once there used to be broken blades every week (with no problems). Advances in steel technology mean breakages are rare blades just go soft and become useless to fence with. Regulations require soft blades to be scrapped.

The best way to see the kit that is used is to browse the Leon Paul website. There are other suppliers but LP has the best pictures!

For advice on buying equipment see here

Please note that, like boxing and other sports you fence at your own risk but we recommend that all our members join the British Fencing Association as this provides insurance cover and other benefits.

Adult Trainees are covered by their club membership for the first 10 sessions