By Lisa Vise
In a residential neighborhood, just past a junkyard for dead cars, a passer-by may be surprised to find the commercial loft space that houses Bay State Fencers. Located at 561 Windsor Road, Bay State Fencers was started in 2004 by Coach Stacy Eddy, who opened the salle (short for the French “salle d'armes”, meaning fencing room/club), with the “desire to bring fencing back into the city.”
When it opened Bay State Fencers became the first non-university fencing club established in the area since the 1960s.
Eddy greets all who walk in to his salle by name. The walls, decorated with medals, drawings, articles, photos and schedules, enclose a small front area leading to a large, grey floored, gym. A dozen or so students populate the club, the bulk of whom are women. Two students are taking private lessons, while five young women and two middle aged men wait for their respective group lessons to begin.
After working as the director of another fencing club, Eddy opened Bay State Fencers by himself. He chose Somerville as the location because he realized he had no clients from the area and wanted to spread the sport. “Being able to do it, being able to offer people the opportunity to fence is my favorite part of the job. All of us [coaches] have a fairly deep commitment to fencing.”
Eddy began fencing in 1978. An actor at the time, he started fencing because he thought it would be a useful thing to learn. He used his newfound skills to do fight work in collaboration with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). Eddy has kept up this unique skill, doing fight choreography since 1978. He recently acted as a double in an episode of “This Old House.”
Bay State Fencers provides instruction in both conventional fencing and stage combat. Currently, the club is the only SAFD affiliated center north of New York City. “Our [stage combat] emphasis is to train performers, actors, and directors to learn combat safely. This is mainly for people in the arts,” Eddy said.
Bay State Fencers also offers a class for beginners called “Smorgasbord of Stage Combat” in which three basic techniques are taught in nine weeks.
Students of Bay State Fencers span ages seven to 65. At the age of seven, Eddy explains, children are ready to listen and accept instruction. Classes for these youngsters are “50 percent fun and 50 percent fencing. As students get older, the percentage changes. But there is always an element of fun.”
Liana Bernt, 16, of Belmont, agrees with Coach Eddy. “To be able to fight the other people-it is a lot of fun as a sport. It is elegant.”
Twelve-year-old Alejandra Trumble of Cambridge got hooked on fencing after reading about it. She explains the appeal: “I like the sword stuff. It is uncommon. I like how the swords are made.”
In the upcoming years, Eddy said he hopes to expand his club. He also plans to begin sending students to the Fencing World Cup. Additionally, Eddy wants to connect his club to children on a charitable level. “Eventually, one of my desires, hopes, and dreams is to get a foundation hooked up to us so we can provide more opportunities to more kids; to provide scholarships.”
We could really use your help getting this started.
We started a High School Fencing Site and seek your assistance in getting the word out. Please let your fencers know about our site. If all goes well we will move this to a web site format.
Additionally, if you provide links we would love to have you post us. We offer more fencing related merchandise than all the other vendors combined. [www.proprintwear.com]
Thank You,
Philip J. Daly
Proprintwear
http://highschoolfencing.blogspot.com/
The purpose of this site is the furtherance of High School Fencing in the United States. Coaches and High School Administrators are invited to post results and commentary. Fencers and Parents are invited post commentary, not results. We have received positive feedback from several college coaches saying they will be checking this site.
Commentary and/or posts are to be well intentioned and respectful. This is not a place to cause pain or grief, but rather give national prominence to our athletes and sport.
We at Proprintwear are proud of our association with the sport of fencing. Our owner was first a Fencer, secondly a National Referee and now a business owner committed to furthering the image of fencing.
Posted by: Philip J. Daly | January 31, 2009 at 11:12 AM