Does Lightning Fencing Club strike your fancy?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2013 (4038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Think Zorro, D’Artagnan, Inigo Montoya – legends of the sword.
Now consider this notice on the information-packed website, www.lightningfencingclub.ca

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!
The sport of FENCING in Manitoba needs prospective fencers to join the fencing program…
We need male and female fencers for all three sword types but
the immediate need is for female fencers…
PS: If you are a lefty, we really could use you….

The notice entices recruits with an “aerobic sport where technical skill, fencing strategy and cunning are combined”.
It’s so appealling. And so nearby.
The Lightning Fencing Club — Manitoba’s largest — is based in Wolseley, at 790 Honeyman Avenue at Walnut Street.
It’s one of only two clubs in Manitoba that teaches all three sword disciplines: foil (the modern version of the practice weapon for the duelling sword), épée (the modern version of the duelling sword) and sabre (the modern version of the cavalry sword).
The other group teaching all three weapons is the Cavalier Fencing Club in St. James (204-977-2085).
The Lightning Fencing Club has 86 members this 2012-13 season — 51 teens and adults (who meet Friday evenings, 7 to 9 p.m.) and 35 children (Saturdays, 10 a.m. tonoon; noon- to 2 p.m.). For the record, the teen/adult class has nine women and five lefties. The children’s classes have six girls and two lefties.
Why the interest in lefties? Lightning’s coaches Daria Jorquera Palmer and Anthony Densmore pointed out to me that in a lefty-righty bout, the opponents’ weapons are on the same side of the body. This differs from two opposing “same-handers.” Duelling a left-hander provides a different perspective for most members (righties). The left-handed fencer has the advantage, though, being more accustomed to fighting right-handers than the other way around.
What about prospective women fencers,  asks Palmer, who is an eight-year veteran of the junior and senior Canadian national women’s fencing team.
“People think that combat sports are only for men, when women are just as capable,” she says.
In her opinion, based on experience, “men, because they are strong, concentrate on their physicality while women are more about being strategic.”
Think challenge, civility, discipline. Think fun.
Visit the Lightning Fencing Club before the season ends in June. You can suit-up for a one-time, free-of-charge introduction.
Register for a 10-week introductory course starting September (or January 2014).
Book a private fencing party/workplace team-building session anytime.
Contact Alan McCracken with your plans: amccrack@mts.net (or 204-667-5390; leave a message).

ATTENTION: This club is armed and gregarious!

Gail Perry is a community correspondent for Wolseley.