Fencing Club in Finsbury: £23 Visitor Nights, £180 Course

London Fencing Club trains on Norman Street in Finsbury, EC1V 3PU, and a visitor from another club pays £23 to join any of its evening sessions, or £39 with a full hire kit of weapon, mask, glove, lame jacket and body wire. Complete beginners start on a six-week course at £180. The club's own site says it has run since 2002, counts more than 300 regular members and employs eight fencing masters, which makes this one of the easiest places in the capital to try the sport.

The adult sessions take place at Finsbury Leisure Centre, Norman Street, London EC1V 3PU, a council sports centre a few minutes north of the City. The club's directions name Old Street on the Northern line and Barbican on the Metropolitan and Circle lines as the nearest stations, with Farringdon and Angel also within walking distance. The visitor booking page rates the walk from Old Street at seven minutes.

A second venue, Central Foundation Boys' School on Cowper Street, EC2A 4SH, hosts adults' and children's fencing one minute from Old Street. The club's own directions list these two as its sites and note that every venue lies in the EC1 or EC2 postcodes. For a first visit, check which hall your session is in on the timetable page, because the weekly adult evenings listed there are all at Finsbury.

The club's timetable, last updated on 20 July 2026, lists five adult sessions at Finsbury. Monday runs 8 pm to 9.30 pm for foil and epee, marked as limited places. Wednesday runs 7 pm to 8.30 pm for foil. Thursday runs 8 pm to 9.30 pm for epee and sabre, flagged as recommended. Friday runs 6.40 pm to 8.10 pm for foil and epee.

Saturday is the open afternoon: all weapons from 2 pm to 5 pm, for practice bouts and individual lessons, and the timetable marks it as recommended too. You can arrive any time between 2 pm and 4 pm, but the club says it finishes sharp at 5 pm. Evening sessions follow one pattern of warm-up and footwork, then bladework or a tactical lesson, then free fencing, and the coaches ask you to be in the salle five to ten minutes early because they start on time.

The beginners' course is six weekly lessons of one hour in the same Finsbury hall. The Monday and Thursday groups meet 7 pm to 8 pm, with the next courses starting on Monday 2 November 2026 and Thursday 5 November 2026. A Friday group meets 6 pm to 7 pm and was listed as full for its 6 November start. The normal fee is £180, and the club's booking page offered 25 percent off, £135, for those who booked by 29 October.

Fencing equipment is provided, so you bring a t-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and trainers. The course is written for ages 15 and over, for complete beginners and for returners who fenced years ago, and it covers rules, traditions, techniques and tactics. Everything is taught slowly and repeated often, and you can occasionally swap between the Monday and Thursday groups if they started in the same week, which helps if a late meeting pulls you away.

The club's site says the £180 course fee includes membership and a stock of quality equipment you can borrow, and it describes the finish line plainly: by the last lesson you should know the sport in general and feel competent to bout with the more experienced fencers. Keep going and the club says you can step straight into its ongoing classes, which it says make it probably the only club in London offering group lessons at advanced-beginner and intermediate level.

Visitors from other clubs, cities and countries are welcome, but the club wants notice and payment in advance through its visitor form. The drop-in fee is £23, and adding equipment hire costs another £16. There is no need to pay the visitor fee if you have booked an individual lesson that day: you simply join the others before or after your lesson.

On the visitor page the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings are marked intermediate or advanced, while Saturday from 2 pm to 5 pm is marked for all levels. That is the practical difference for a traveller: a holiday fencer who has not bouted for a year should aim for Saturday, rather than a Thursday night of epee and sabre.

Membership costs between £25 and £160 a month, depending on how many days a week you choose to attend, and the club lists concession rates for full-time actors. Individual tuition is sold as a block of four one-hour lessons with a fencing master, tailored to your style and temperament, and private lessons start from 6 pm. Weekend intensive workshops run on Saturdays between 12.30 pm and 3 pm.

The coaches named on the timetable are Olga, Dumi, Tim, Jon and Oxana, and the club describes most members as recreational fencers with a strong competitive section alongside. It also organises training holidays abroad, weekends away and socials, which explains why the 300-strong membership behaves more like a community than a drop-in gym. Team-building and group events run here too, for those who would rather duel with colleagues.

Skip the Monday session if you are new to a visit: the timetable marks it as limited places, and the Saturday afternoon is both longer and open to every level. Do not leave your first course booking late either, since the Friday group was already full for its 6 November start and the early-bird price expires on 29 October. If a course is full, the Monday and Thursday groups are the fallback.

If Finsbury does not suit your commute, the club's second site at Central Foundation Boys' School on Cowper Street is a short walk from Old Street, though only the two venues listed on the club's directions page should be treated as its own. A fencer who wants something near home can also look at the clubs listed on British Fencing's own directory.

Bunhill Fields, at 38 City Road, is a burial ground a few minutes' walk south-east of the hall, and it is where the poet and painter William Blake lies, along with Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan. It makes a quiet loop before a night of bouting. Wesley's Chapel, at 49 City Road, sits opposite, with its Museum of Methodism, and is an easy detour on the walk back to Old Street station.

Venue: Finsbury Leisure Centre, Norman Street, London EC1V 3PU, with the visitor booking form on londonfencingclub.co.uk. Getting there: Old Street (Northern line) is the nearest station and Barbican is on the Metropolitan and Circle lines; the club lists buses 55, 56, 141, 214, 243, 271, 505, 43, 21 and 4 for the area. Bring a t-shirt, tracksuit bottoms and trainers; beginners' equipment is provided.

Booking: courses and visitor sessions are booked online through the club's website, and the club's FAQ and terms are on londonfencingclub.co.uk. No phone number is published on the club's site, so contact goes through its web form. Costs at a glance: £23 visitor fee, £16 hire, £180 six-week beginners' course, £25 to £160 monthly membership. If you want a local assistant to build the evening around it, ask the Karpo APP.