News & UpdatesJune 11, 2015 We are now finished with the 2014-2015 fencing season. Hope to see you in September when we start again. For updates, please add us to your email mailing list. May 14, 2015 Due to complications with the Healthy Living Centre management, the Spada Zita Fencing Club will no longer be located at the Gym Mezzanine. We now operate out of the Westridge Community Centre located at 32 Willowdale Crescent. Sept 10, 2013 Finally the both the mezzanine and the gym have been completed. From now on we will back up in the mezzanine. Please refer to home for our new hours and class division. March 8, 2013 we have moved back to BU however the gym is still unavailable so until further notice we will be in the elephant room in the student union building. December 12, 2012december 19 is our christmas party after that we will be hopefully back in the bu gym and this site will be a google site so it is easier to find we do not know the restart date for next term but we will send it to you all when we get it. October 29 2012 we are now in the west end community center {http://www.westendccbrandon.ihyd.com/} and with such a growth of people we are splitting into 3 different groups beginner,intermediate and advanced and with that we are looking for more coaches so if anyone would like to volunteer talk to Trenton. september 13 2012 as of now with the bu gym under construction we need to find a new location until January notify you when we have found one March 9th 2012
Is the year flying by or is it just me? With only four training weeks left before summer break I want to thank all of my students for putting in a great effort this year. Crhistian has done a great job as assistant coach taking the Tuesday classes, Andy has been the first club member to participate in an MFA tournament, and everyone has done a great job in improving their skill levels.
We are 25 students and growing with some minor changes next year I hope that we have the opportunity to grow much larger. Our fencers range from Minnedosa in the north, to Wawanessa in the south, to Carberry in the East and Rivers in the west (ok northwest). We draw from a very large area and we have a diverse group of fencers.
With the new gym at BU we are hoping to get more space and with the success of our affiliate, the Brandon University Fencing Association we are talking about starting up more satellite clubs. This is a very exciting time for the club.
With growth like this I would like to see five of our students competing at the 2013 summer games and I would like to see 10 or more of our students competing in Brandon at the 2017 summer games, especially if Brandon is the successful bidder.
Final class this year is Thursday April 5th , Crhistian is leaving on March 25 Tuesday classes will be cancelled on March 27th and April 3rd.
January 4, 2012
I see that all of my posts since September have mysteriously disappeared so I will recap some recent events now. We have approximately 23 members which as about all we can handle on the mezzanine, although growing is what we are looking at doing it might be difficult given our current restrictions in space. The good news is that BU is building a bigger gym so there may be an opportunity to get more space next September.
We had all of our new students pass their beginner exam, congratulations to all of those beginners.
I would like to thank Angela (Hayden and Nicole’s mom) for providing us with Christmas goodies on our last class before Christmas. We certainly appreciate the gift.
Our club members can now join the MFA as individual Members, this does not allow the club to have a voice in the MFA but at least our members will have the opportunity to access provincial training and compete in tournaments. The registration method is not set up for our club yet hopefully, next week it will be good to go.
Just a reminder fencing lasses start this Thursday (5th) at 7pm, then will continue Tuesdays and Thursdays until April exams. Happy New Year and I will see you all Thursday.
September 20, 2011 Unfortunately, I had to miss the first day of training but Crhistian did a great job. This year we will have Crhistian teaching the beginners ion Tuesdays and I will taking the advanced classes on Thursdays of course fencers are free to attend both classes if they wish. We are still working out some details with the Manitoba fencing association but they are very eager to have us onboard. I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.
August 28, 2011 The
new year begins September 8th. We will be having a meeting that night,
fencing will begin on The 13th. This looks to be a very exciting year
we have both Tuesday and Thursday nights reserved for fencing. See you
all then. July 26, 2011 September is just around the corner, I hope that everyone has had a good Summer despite the flooding, then the heat, then the rain. I ran across an interesting concept today Dagger fencing. Though not a new concept this association is trying to incorporate traditional style swordplay into modern Olympic fencing. Check out the web site it’s a cool idea. http://www.daggerfencing.com/
I will post start dates closer to the September Start. Enjoy the rest of your summer and we will see you in the Fall.
June 24, 2011 Some news after a brief reprieve: Good Job Crhistian for landing a fencing instructor job with Brandon Universities Mini University. You can view the PDF Schedule here: http://miniu.brandonu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/MU2011_BROCHURE_WEB_v2.pdf
March 18, 2011 Only one more class until closing time, March 24th is the last class this year. I hope that all of my students will be able to make it. I will post closer to September the schedule for next year.
In the mean time we got some photos up, check out the new photos page.
February 18, 2011 Snow, snow and more snow!! What is up with bad weather and Thursday nights? We only have six training days left this year. I will not be able to make class on February 24th as I will be in Winnipeg that Thursday and Friday. Matt will be in charge in my absence.
So for March lets all hope that the weather will be nice so that we can maximize our time together and participate in some good fencing. See you all on March 3rd.
Additionally we are having a social for my daughter on March 12th. Spread the word, I am hoping to have over 500 people there. For details about my daughter please see: www.tatyannashope.com
Thank you.
January 27, 2011 Next week is the Winter Festival in Town; because it begins on Thursday the 3rd of February we will cancel classes. For more information on the festival click the following link:
http://brandon.ca/winterfestival
For those who missed last week the class invented an interesting new game to challenge their martial skills, if you want to learn more head down to the BU gym for regular classes.
January 10, 2011 Despite less than amicable weather, we had a pretty good turnout for our first day back to training. It was also nice to see a couple of new faces, let’s keep that trend.
This semester beginner students will be honing their mastery of the foil and the advanced students will be working with the epee and saber. I hope to make it a fun and educational four months before summer break. See you there!
Remember we train one night a week, Thursdays at 7PM.
December 21, 2010 Seasons Greetings from all of us at Spada Zita have a great holiday and we will see you in the New Year.
December 8, 2010 Congratulations to the entire class of beginner foil students, all of whom passed their exam, great job!
Thursday December 9th is our last class before Christmas break I hope to see you all there. If I don’t, classes will resume on January 6th.
There is a new affiliate of the Spada Zita club. The Brandon University Fencing Association (BUFA) is going to become an independent arm specifically dedicated for the students of Brandon University. I have high hopes that this group will be able to provide a significant contribution to both the students of Brandon University, the Spada Zita Fencing Club, and fencing in Brandon.
November 18, 2010 In light of the blizzard happening in the Brandon area Fencing is canceled tonight. Keep warm and we will perform the Beginner exams next week.
November 9, 2010 Just a reminder to all fencers and parents there is no class on Thursday November 11th. Additionally, the beginner fencing exam is scheduled for the 18th. Please ensure that you can make it.
November 1, 2010 The last couple of weeks have been progressive. On Thursday the club voted in a constitution and elected officers. Congratulations to the following:
Vice President: Crhistian Chavez Secretary: Meike Uhryniuck-Smith Treasurer: Angela Kaastra BU Student Rep: Nathan Berry
Two Committees were also formed on Thursday. These committee chairs hold special appointment to the board:
Equipment committee chair: Mathew Bohm Youth attraction, retention committee chair and website editor: Navan Forsythe
We look forward to leveraging the skills of these individuals to help move the club forward.
*Reminder to the beginner class, the foil exam is going to be on November 18th. Please do your best to make it that night.
October 14, 2010 We have had some progress with our scheduling issues. The kick boxing club has moved to an earlier time slot so there is little overlap. Unfortunately this means that starting our beginner fencers early is not going to happen. Until something new comes along training nights are Thursday Evenings from 7 - 9PM for all fencers. Please use the south stairwell and gather near the lockers.
We have begun to receive membership fees from our fencers, so a quick reminder to those who have not submitted their dues, please do so as soon as possible. I need all dues in before I can place an equipment order.
FYI Here is another link for equipment considerations:
October 1, 2010 Good turn out last night, I want to thank Alex and Lorne for coming out and doing some coaching, having some more experienced coaches will be great for the club.
We should hear more from the MFA about fees shortly after the 13th of this month.
There were some scheduling issues last night, we had to share the gym with the Kick Boxing club but we are trying to sort out the scheduling so that we have the gym Thursdays. In order to maximize training time, starting October 14, Beginner fencers will start at 6:30. We will see how this goes to determine future scheduling.
Reminder fees are due next week please click the club fees link to see the schedule. I will also be taking measurements for equipment at this time. Please wear comfortable, preferably sporty (sweat pants and t shirt or something like this) clothing.
September 29, 2010 Just heard from the President of the MFA, he is going to bring up "Out of town fees" at the next board meeting. Because we are out of Winnipeg and thus do not have the privilege of easily accessing the resources there, the MFA is thinking of discounting membership fees for those living outside the perimeter highway.
In the mean time, we will charge the presumed $50 recreational fencing fees. Club fees are due on October 7th, for details please click on the Club fees link.
September 28, 2010 The first two classes of the year were well attended. With five new youth fencers and several university students interested, combined with our experienced fencers, we were pretty much at capacity with floor space and equipment. It is great to see such turnouts!!
For all fencers interested in purchasing equipment have a look at the links below. For those who wish to lease equipment let me know so that I can place orders.
Next class will be the final trial class. Club fees will need to be paid on October 7th. I am still trying to contact the Manitoba Fencing Association. I will post the fee schedule as soon as I get an answer from the MFA.
September 13, 2010 Resources Since I am adding lots of links for your researching pleasure here are two more important sites you may want to check out:
Manitoba Fencing Association http://www.fencing.mb.ca/ Nice photo, not much information. Canadian Fencing Federation http://www.fencing.ca/ More information.
September 13, 2010 Equipment For those of you looking at getting your own equipment I have searched for suppliers some Canadian some American. Here is what I have:
https://www.physicalchess.com/ - This is the company that I have been directing people to. Their equipment quality is pretty good for the price. Anything that last Tyler more than a year has to be made well:)
http://www.fencingcanada.ca/ This comapny is out of Calgary. We have used them in the past and they are pretty good. Their web site isn't very visually appealing but it gives you a larger Canadian distributor who usually has stock in.
http://www.allstarcanada.com/ and http://www.mts.net/~sjsymons/ These two sites go together. The second link, Cross swords, is a distributor out of Winnipeg. He is, or used to be, a coach for one of the Winnipeg clubs. He is pretty good but Allstar is a little expensive, great quality but higher prices. Cross swords is a small company and often does not carry much stock. Orders take a while to fill.
http://shop.fencing.net/ Fencing net is a good general resource and they sell stuff too. I have never used them but they seem to have e good reputation. They are out of the states.
http://www.athoscan.com/ Athos is another company that I have never used. They have a Canadian site but I think it is still predominantly an American company.
http://www.sword-masters.com/catalog/ Finally, there is Sword Masters. They are also out of the States and though I have never used them they seem to have a decent reputation too.
Remember though if you are interested in competing you may need to buy the more expensive items from companies like Allstar or Leon Paul. Competitive fencing in Manitoba and Canada have very explicit rules on equipment. I am not aware of the ratings on physical chess items but I don’t think they are rigorous enough for our national standards. For the recreational fencer the less expensive equipment is certainly safe.
September 10, 2010 Fencing Starts on Thursday September 16th. Practice will be footwork for experienced fencers and general introduction for new fencers.
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Clothing for Fencing It is recommended that fencers wear comfortable pants (sweat or yoga type), sneakers or court shoes, and a sweat absorbing tee-shirt.
| Fencing Equipment Equipment is available at the club but it is recommended for students to purchase their own equipment. |
