FAQ

For more detailed information, check out our sessions page. The club is open at the following times:

You need to wear long track-pants or sports leggings and sports shoes. Make sure you bring a water bottle as well. All fencing specific equipment is available for hire (see below).

Please Note: For safety reasons shorts or other pants ending above the knees are not acceptable for fencing. Jeans are also not suitable for fencing. Wearing short pants or jeans may lead to your exclusion from fencing at that session.

Our members have ranged in age from around 8 to 80+ and there is no problem at all taking up fencing later in life. We have a special Bladez group of younger fencers (8/9 to 13 years old) that runs on Saturdays and Wednesdays during school terms.

If you are over 13 years old then you can attend a 10 week beginners course to see whether fencing is for you. Details on beginners courses and bookings can be found here.

For children 8/9 – 13 years, we have a group called Bladez that fences Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings during school terms. We don’t offer a discrete trial – but if you decide that fencing isn’t a good fit within the first two weeks, we’ll refund the remaining weeks you’ve paid for.

You are also welcome to come along and watch a session to get an idea of what is involved in fencing. Send us an email to find out when is a good time and date to suit your needs.

Membership of Cavaliers is free. Does this mean free fencing sessions? No, unfortunately not – just membership of the organisation, which gets you…

• A vote at any general assembly (AGM or SGM)
• Invites to all the Cavs social events (usually a few throughout the year)
• Access to the Member Hub portal and its resources and tools
• The right to call yourself a Cavalier (which we think is pretty cool)

For details of session costs, please click here. For additional information on registration, click here.

Some WA children (up to 18) may be eligible for financial support via KidSport. This is a government initiative and is external to Cavaliers.

To find out more and apply for a KidSport voucher, refer to the KidSport website. Successful applicants will need to provide their voucher code when purchasing sessions.

KidSport eligible fencers get free equipment hire – regardless of their KidSport balance.

Yes, Cavaliers is very lucky to have a range of jackets, plastrons, masks, gloves, body wires, lamés and weapons that can be borrowed throughout the year. In order to maintain the equipment and replace any of it that gets broken, we do charge an equipment borrowing fee.

Members who purchase kit hire and registered Bladez members will be allocated a set equipment to use at sessions, and will take this equipment home. Any borrowed equipment is the responsibility of the person borrowing it. All borrowed equipment must be returned at the end of each year.

While primarily intended for use during sessions, compliant borrowed equipment can be used at external competitions. Please discuss with a committee member 1-2 weeks ahead of time if you wish to borrow equipment for an external competition.

Fencers who have been members for a year or more are encouraged to purchase their own kit. Committee members and experienced fencers are happy to advise you and help with questions. We also have a representative for one of the equipment suppliers who can help you with orders.

If you have fencing experience – for example if you have moved to WA from interstate or overseas – you’re more than welcome to register as a member!

For beginner fencers aged 14 or older, we hold a number of Beginners courses each year. The Beginners course includes 6 weeks of dedicated coaching in a small group with other beginners, then 4 weeks of general session access in the weapon of your choice.

Beginner fencers aged 13 and younger should join our Bladez group, where they can learn fencing under a dedicated coach.

For more information registering at any level, please click here.

Cavaliers has dedicated coaches for the beginners and bladez groups and a pool of experienced fencers offering group lessons for general footwork and weapon specific blade work.

All our coaches must have valid Working with Children Checks and are vetted by our Head Coach to ensure they have adequate experience and the requisite skills.

We actively encourage all those engaged in coaching at the club to attain their nationally recognised coaching accreditations and support them in this process.

It certainly is. Generally, once you have about two or three years of fencing experience you should be able to pass the Australian Level one course.

A number of coaches in WA take private lessons. Availability of coaches and cost of lessons are determined by the coaches themselves. If you are interested in private lessons, Cavaliers can provide you with contacts to approach.

Usually there are a great deal of state competitions in a year. These cover men’s and women’s, juniors, novice, open, veterans, teams and invitation tournaments for all 3 weapons. See the Fencing WA website for more information, including a calendar of events. Interstate and even international events are also available for more experienced fencers – see the FWA website for more information. Points from all these competitions go towards FWA’s annual awards.

Our club also holds a number of in-club fun competitions each year, where fencers accrue handicap points throughout the year. These are open to fencers from other clubs as well as our own. A printout of upcoming competition dates is pinned to equipment cabinets at the club, and are also available here.

Fencing is growing fast in Western Australia. WA fencers are present at most national tournaments, with our juniors playing a prominent role. Cavaliers has several of its junior fencers amongst the top fencers of Australia, some of whom fence internationally. Western Australia is now the third largest fencing state in Australia.

Yes! You are welcome to come along to learn to fence, socialise and meet friends. Entering competitions, whether small scale in-club competitions or wider state- or national- level, are a great way to build your fencing skills and have fun. But they are not compulsory!

We typically start and finish the season with a social catch-up for old and new members as well as holding a number of other fencing and non-fencing social events throughout the year.