"Aberystwyth Fencing Club was formed in its current incarnation mainly as a result of the intervention of Munro Taylor, who was a highly respected figure locally and in the Fencing world.

It was created for people in the town who had expressed a desire to try the sport and for fencers who wanted to fence in the town.

The Club has moved on 3 occasions, now finding itself based at Penweddig School and we meet there every Thursday at 8-00pm - 10-00pm. We have gained equipment thanks to funding from the lottery Fund, Ceredigion Council Grants and Millennium Stadium Charitable Trust.

Fencing suffers from a few common misconceptions, one of those is that it is best suited to extremely fast and athletic people. Although fencing of course contributes to fitness and enjoyable exercise, it can be enjoyed by all, we have fencers both young and not so young.

It is difficult to pin down the appeal of fencing as it has not only three weapons to master and some definite principles, it can be played out in many different styles. It can be graceful and delicate, aggressive and powerful and perversely disciplined or chaotic and indeed is also a reflection of the character of the people who fence.

People fence for so many different reasons: To learn how to perform all those moves they've seen performed by swashbuckling swordsmen in film, to enjoy the thrill and challenge of a competitive sport or just to enjoy the company of people who share a common interest. Our own Club has all these factors.

We have youth fencers, who have learnt the sport quite young, always keen to practice every week and who are now going on to have success in competition. Welsh Fencing, the organising body behind fencing in Wales, actively supports youth fencers and holds training days, competitions and weekends dedicated to our young fencers.

Novice fencers have joined us through our starter courses, run by British Academy of Fencing (the recognised body for Coaching in fencing) Certificated Coaches. Beginners to the sport will find everything in these courses including equipment and coaching to a basic level where they can begin to enjoy the sport and go on to learn more in a safe and comfortable environment.

Competition success is something we are starting to get used to. We have at least one fencer who regularly attends Open and Closed events as well as others and sets a benchmark for everyone at the club.

One of our greatest areas of success in recent years has been with the over 40s, or Veterans as they liked to be called, with up to three places on the Welsh Veterans Squad, a twice winner of the Master at Arms trophy and members who were part of the Epee team they beat all the home nations in the first 4 Nations Cup held for the first time this year.

A regular date in our calendar peculiar to Aberystwyth is our Town vs. Gown Tournament that also has a triangular competition, with past university students returning to us to take part, held every year around Christmas time with a trophy dedicated to Munro Taylor and is followed by a dinner.

Not confined to fencing in the U.K we have fenced in France with a twinning trip to St Brieuc and fenced in Ireland in the prestigious Duffy Tournament.

We've even fenced in fancy dress!

So come along and join us, experienced fencers will be more than welcome to enjoy our facilities including electric boxes and beginners are invited to join our Starter Courses for more details please see our website listed on this page. Or visit Welsh Fencing to find out more about fencing in Wales."

Article by Paul Wilson