Red Door Fencing, located in Des Moines’ historic East Village, is an epee club that promotes competitive and recreational fencing by providing quality instruction, a safe and supportive training environment, and fostering personal growth and community engagement.
We offer beginner classes, lessons, and training for children, teens, and adults. Our fencers compete in local, regional, and national tournaments, and we host additional educational opportunities (referee seminars, coaching workshops, fencing/training camps, etc.) and tournaments.
We are an affiliate member of USA Fencing, the national governing body for the sport in the U.S., and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Today Evan competed against 30 other high schoolers in Men’s Epee at the SPA Invitational tournament in St. Paul, MN. He was 4-2 in the first round (pools), seeded 11th going into the 2nd round. He went on to win four 15-point bouts and brought home the silver medal. Way to go, Evan!
We’re on the news! KCCI News Channel 8’s Hannah Hilyard and Cortney Kinzer featured the club in this lovely piece about fun ways to keep your new year’s resolution of being more active:
RDF sent one athlete to the December NAC in Cincinnati, OH last Friday. Sarah took home the 8th place medal in Division 2 Women’s Epee and earned back her “C” classification.
This past Saturday, we held a youth tournament in our newly-expanded facility. The U19 epee, Y12 epee, Y14 foil, and Y14 saber events drew mostly local youth fencers, including 9 from RDF, but a few from out of state as well. We were so glad to have so many fencers and their families participate and we’re excited to do this more often! Special thanks to Levi, Evan, Alex, and Troy refereeing, and Cheryl for taking pictures and fetching coffee!
In Y12 Epee, Corina and Graham tied for 3rd, and Judah placed 5th in his first tournament after less than 2 months of fencing. In U19 Epee, Colin earned the silver medal, Alex and Evan tied for 3rd, Simon was 5th, Ellie was 7th (also her first tournament!), and Weston finished 8th.
The day after Thanksgiving, Sarah and Colin traveled to Peoria, IL to fence at the Midwest Regional Open/Junior/Cadet Circuit tournament. Colin fenced well and was 2nd out of pools in Junior Men’s Epee but lost his first direct elimination match, putting him 5th overall. Sarah had a bit of a rough time in Div 1A Women’s Epee pools, but upset 1st seed to make it to the final bout, where she lost and ended up with the silver medal. The next day, she fenced Division 2 Women’s Epee. This time she was 1st out of pools and lost 3-3 in overtime in the finals, finishing 2nd again. Full results: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/98DB13E3190D485B94C13A6783BFABA4#today
Div 2 Women’s Epee medalists
Div 1A Women’s Epee medalists
Sarah (right) makes an attack in the Div 1A Women’s Epee finals
Sarah was 7th and Evan finished 15th in Mixed Epee (his first tournament as an epeeist) at the Sioux City Challenge yesterday. Sarah also tied for 3rd in Women’s Epee. Full results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=41974
Evan cleverly changes targets to score on his opponent’s leg in Mixed Epee at the Sioux City Challenge
Sarah competed at the October North American Cup tournament in Milwaukee, WI on Sunday. In Division 2 Women’s Epee, she went 3-3 in the first round (pools, where you fence to 5 points), won her first 15-point direct elimination bout, and lost her next bout 12-15. She placed 52nd of 127. Full results: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/events/results/C35BE1F20B1F40DBAAED338591C3EE34
The Valley (High School) Fencing Club hosted a tournament at RDF last weekend, and we think it was pretty successful.
The high schoolers did a great job running their tournament, which had 3 saber events, 2 epee events, and 1 foil event. There were about 40 fencers from almost every club in Iowa (8 from RDF), plus a few from other states, and three people earned new classifications. We’re very impressed with the kids’ professionalism and organization skills (they made t-shirts, signs, awards, and even had concessions – with healthy snacks, too, based on feedback from their first tournament last spring!).
In Unrated Mixed Epee on Saturday, Daniel A. won the silver medal, Ethan placed 6th at his first tournament, Colin placed 9th at his first US tournament, Simon was 12th in his first senior (ages 13+) event, and Kaden finished 16th but sure made Daniel A. work for that victory!
On Sunday, Colin won the silver medal in the Open Epee event, beating the fencer who knocked him out the day before and earning his E18 classification! Nick ended 9th, Daniel was 14th, and Mindy was 16th in her first tournament.
Open Mixed Epee medalists: 1st – Colton (KCFC), 2nd – Colin (RDF), 3rd (tie) – Jesse & Quinn (ISUFC)
Thank you to the Valley Fencing Club for putting on the event, all the athletes who participated, the referees and coaches, and all of the parents and families that supported the event in various ways!
By “relaxing and recharging” in August, we actually meant “moving heavy items, tearing down walls, cleaning, and painting”. We’ve expanded the club to take up the entire basement of the building, which means we have a new entrance off E. 3rd St. (don’t worry – the ramp door will still be open) and room for 4 regulation-size strips so we can host small tournaments at the club!
Speaking of tournaments, Valley High School Fencing Club is using our space for their “Rajah Invitational” Oct. 5-7, and we’re having a youth tournament on Saturday, Dec. 8.
We especially appreciate all the help from the volunteers who helped us move junk, equipment, furniture and floor mats, painted, cleaned, and managed rainwater! We still have a few minor tasks that we’ll be completing in the next month or so (and the owner of the building is taking care of the sloped-toward-the-foundation sidewalk situation so there won’t be a small lake when it rains), but we’ve been able to start practicing in the space this first week of September.
BEFORE…
First round of painting, patching the floor, and electrical installation complete!
Painting of the stripe and the floor and arrival of the floor mats!
