ABOUT US

WELCOME TO UWA FENCING CLUB

Whether you want to learn a new sport, meet new friends, hone your skills, or push your competitive limits, UWA Fencing Club will help you get the most out of your fencing.

Fencing has a long history in Western Australia.  Duels (though illegal) were regularly fought at the turn of the century in both Perth and Fremantle, and wherever there was swordplay, fencing clubs would inevitably be needed.  The University of Western Australia Fencing Club was originally formed in 1947 by Mr Ken Anketell.  The Club had 26 members, and operated in the River Road Club Building, Boat House on the River in Matilda Bay (then known as Crawley Bay).  Stanley Gorringe, (then holder of the ‘Mr Perth’ title), was the first instructor.  

 

The Club, then only open to members of the University community, with a transient student population, would regularly be forced into recession, only to be reformed whenever a new generation of fencers (usually from other clubs around Perth) would find the abandoned gear in the Sports Hall lockers and reconstitute the Club.  The Club was known to be active in 1961, when it joined the WA Amateur Fencing Association (WAAFA) but by 1967 had declined once more.  

 

Ron Newick (formerly of Perth Amateur Fencing club and Perth Swords Club) helped to restart the Club as instructor, with Carol Negus (Swords Club), Jenny Debney and Anne Maria Arnold (now Mara De Jongh) of Cavaliers.  At that time, The Club was called “Westside Fencing School” and was affiliated through the Martial Arts Club of UWA.  The Club was still in existence in the 1980s, but by 1988, both UWA and WAAFA were no longer active, and the only fencing Club in Perth was Cavaliers Fencing Club.

 

 

In 1992 a then UWA student and Cavaliers fencer discovered aging equipment at the UWA Sport and Recreation Centre, and re-formed a small UWA Club which was still open to UWA students only.  Some non-university friends were later allowed to join the Club due to a technicality allowing associate memberships to be given to worthy members of the community.

 

By 1995 the Club was officially inviting members from the wider community.  At this time, between the two fencing clubs in Perth, UWA and Cavaliers, we re-constituted the WAAFA and modernised it to become the Western Australian Fencing Association Incorporated (WAFA).  UWA Club members also helped to form the Notre Dame Knights Fencing Club in Fremantle which was later to become Cavaliers.

 

Coaches since this latest, and continuous, incarnation of the Club from 1992 have included:

- Madam Tamara de Nicholii from France;

- Mirek Zabiello, originally from Poland;

- Neil Archibald;

- Kevin Dunne, from Ireland;

- Andy Martin, from England;

- Mathieu Meriaux, from France