About Us

Woodside Fencing Center, Inc. (WFC) was established in 1986 as a fun, family-oriented fencing school, club and training center. It is conveniently located in the heart of Woodside, Queens, N.Y. (take the #7 train or the LIRR to 61st Street-Woodside stop and walk to 57th Street). We offer beginner, intermediate and advanced fencing classes for recreational fencing as well as competitive training for those who wish to participate and succeed in fencing tournaments.

Fencing is a sport for children (as early as 9 years old), teenagers and adults. It instills discipline, sharpens reaction time, provides a full body workout and builds confidence.  Modern fencing requires the courage, stamina, speed, and agility of a fighter combined with the ability to out-think an opponent. There is nothing like the exhilaration of battle, the pleasure of movement, and the physical/mental challenges that you gain from fencing!

The modern sport of fencing resembles the old dueling styles of past centuries.  For protection, today’s fencers wear a steel mesh mask, strong protective clothing and use flexible, blunted blades. Safety is the key. We follow rules set by the United States Fencing Association and United States Fencing Coaches Association.  

WFC is a US Fencing Coaches Association Guild Academy and is certified to train USFCA  Assistant Coaches. Woodside Fencing trains with all three competitive weapons: Épeé, Saber and Foil.   Members of our Fencing Team have earned medals in all three weapons at national, regional and local tournaments. For the past ten years, our staff has worked with the Sports and Arts School Foundation. We work in multiple capacity with  SASF/NYC Department of Education Public School System:  Champs, festivals, championship clubs, mentoring and summer programs. Our business consists of contracts with over thirty (30) New York City public schools. WFC also trains and develops NYC physical education teachers towards satisfying their continuing education credits.     WFC has also participated in fencing presentations for film production (most recently, a promotional video for the Olympics), as well as concept content for major corporations and community events/fairs.

Our Mission:

Woodside Fencing Center is wellness center that incorporates cross training with the Olympic Sport of Fencing. This expansion has created more opportunities for your workout. The two to three hour workouts are based on circuit training principals. We have a personal atmosphere where you can ask health related questions to Mr. Witold Rak an exercise physiologist and fencing coach. The recommendation is to workout at your desired Target Heart Rate (THR) and improve your line of best fit. To determine your optimum aerobic fitness in the upper and lower % of MAX HR and at the Aerobic = Lactate Threshold (AT).

Facilities:

Facilities are in a large studio semi-outside for ventilation. A rubberized electrical fencing strip with Campoli scoring lights at both ends of the strip indicate if a Touche’ has landed. This makes it easier for the flow of fencing. Circuit Training Equipment – it is more fun to workout in a group. Tunturi 603 E Air cycle – for both upper and lower body exercise. Tunturi Air Group Rower – to elongate the muscle fibers in your arms. Body Guard 990 Bicycle Ergometer – to tell your exact work load = Kpm. A Bench Press with free weights, jump ropes, exercise physiology and anatomy charts explain your work out.

Workouts = Session:

Approx. 2.5 – 3 Hrs. – Include Warmups, Streching (flexibility), Fencing footwork, Lessons, Pools.

Warm-ups: 15 Min.
With the exercise equipment, Jump rope, Free weights.
1. Start with an

Upper Body

exercise on the Tunturi 603 E Air Cycle. Build your aerobic power and strengthen your heart muscle. Work on your shoulder, and upper arms. This will improve your bladework.

2. Secondly, work out your

Lower Body

with the Body Guard 990 Bike Ergometer. This will increase the power in your fencing footwork. You can adjust the workload in Kpm to reach your optimum heart rate (HR). Equate your foot extensions on the bike ergometer as though you do a lunge.

3. Move on to the Tunturi 701 R Air Group Rower that makes you do an isokinetic exercise with accomodation resistance to stretch your muscles.

Stretching: 15 – 30 Min.
We accentuate sport specific (Fencing) stretches such as a Lunge stretch; Hamstring, Groin, Achilles tendon, hip flexor stretch, lateral leg stretch and etc. These stretches get us ready for fencing footwork which is the art of how to move on the fencing strip.

Fencing Footwork Exercises: 15 – 30 Min.
The “Fencing Dance” of the Touche’ is how to move on the strip. This is done in all the Fencing Salles in the world. We cover the advance, retreat, lunge, Balestra (jump-lunge). Here you get a chance to stretch out even more. We do this without and then with weapons (foils, sabre, epee’). The weapons make the transition to real competitive fencing.

Fencing Lessons: 15 – 30 Min.
Fencing Lessons are given at your own pace. We cover a standard USFCA lesson outlined at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Fencing Lessons are given after footwork and tailored to your fitness and fencing experience.

Fencing Pools = Competitive Fencing: 60 Min.
This is done after footwork and lessons. We fence a round robin style or a pool format. This is usually done electric. Bring your own electrical fencing gear. Make sure you have weapons that work. We have Campoli Lights for self determination of your touches’. We also practice directing during competitive bouts.