September 28, 2013July 22, 2018 reddoorfencing About Red Door Fencing

Come Fence With Us!

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.

Latest News:

May 8, 2021May 12, 2021 reddoorfencing Tournament Results

Duel in Des Moines Tournament Results

Last weekend, fencers from around the state and a few from neighboring states joined us for the Duel in Des Moines, which we jointly hosted with the Des Moines Fencing Club. They ran the foil and saber events in the gym at Fairmeadows Elementary and we ran the epee events outdoors in the parking lot. Full results are available here on askfred: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=47752.

In Open Mixed Epee, Daniel was 2nd, Sarah tied for 3rd, Evan placed 5th, Nick finished 8th, and Ava was 10th.

In Cadet Mixed Epee, Ava earned the gold after a close 15-13 match with Jack, who took home silver. In his first ever tournament, Ben placed 6th, and Campbell – in his first tournament outside the club – finished 7th.

In Unrated Mixed Epee, Jack earned his 2nd silver medal of the weekend, Steve tied for 3rd, Campbell was 5th, Ava finished 6th, and Cindy was 7th.

Everyone fenced hard, learned some good things, and has a lot to be proud of. We especially liked seeing the growth of several of our fencers who used to get very discouraged by a tough loss in pools. This time, they were able to shake off those bouts and get back on track mentally – a really important skill in fencing!

Although traditionally summer tends to be sparse for tournaments (most people are training for summer nationals in July, and after that they take a break or scale back), we are planning on hosting some more small tournaments at the club this summer, and the new fencing season starts in August.

November 9, 2020November 22, 2020 reddoorfencing Tournament Results

Jack-O-Lantern Tournament Results

On Saturday, 3 RDF fencers competed in Y-14 Epee at the Jack-O-Lantern Tournament at the old Franklin Jr. High. Ben tied for 3rd, Jocelyn finished 5th, and Cruz finished 6th. It was the first tournament for both Jocelyn and Cruz!

October 20, 2020 reddoorfencing Tournament Results

Equinox Epee Tournament Results

We finally got to have our (now not accurately named) Equinox Epee tournament the second weekend of October! It was a little smaller than usual, with 30 individual fencers participating in 4 events, but everyone was grateful for a chance to compete even though the circumstances were less-than-ideal. The tournament was held outdoors in the parking lot at Hillside Elementary, and everyone did a great job wearing their masks, keeping their distance from others, and not shaking hands! Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible!

Full results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=44116

In Open Mixed Epee, Evan tied for 3rd, Nick was 7th, Alex was 9th, with Daniel right behind in 10th. In Women’s Epee, Sarah tied for 3rd. In Div 3 (D & Under) Mixed Epee, Evan took home the silver medal, Daniel tied for 3rd, Alex came in 7th, Nick took 10th, Weston was 11th, and Rilee was 16th. In Cadet Mixed Epee, Jack tied for 3rd and Weston was 5th. We think everyone’s hard work in lessons and practice over the last 6 months showed!

Also congratulations to RDF fencers Evan on earning his C, Daniel on earning his E, and Nick on renewing his E!

August 26, 2020 reddoorfencing Uncategorized

2020 Equinox Epee Tournament Pushed Back to Oct. 10-11

Based on feedback from people who signed up for the tournament, it’s important that we are able to open it to fencers from outside the Iowa Division and that people have the opportunity to earn/renew their classification (rating). Rescheduling for October is our best chance at doing this, due to USA Fencing’s policy of division-locking of sanctioned events continuing through September.

We’ve submitted a request to DMPS to rent a parking garage. We went and looked, and two levels have sufficiently high ceilings and the concrete is in satisfactory condition. We think this is the best way to get good airflow but also minimize the chance of weather-related cancellation. We have also talked to our referees and while some will not be able to participate, there is enough interest in refereeing that we think we’ll be okay there.

On the plus side, this gives everyone more time to practice!

August 19, 2020August 26, 2020 reddoorfencing Events, Fencing + Social Distancing

We’re Still Working on the Equinox Epee Tournament…

We’ve understandably been getting a lot of questions about our Equinox Epee tournament, originally scheduled to take place in March, which we tentatively rescheduled for Sept. 19-20 due to the novel coronavirus. We hope to have a more useful update toward the end of the week, but here is kind of what we’re thinking so far…

We highly doubt we will be able to hold the tournament with the planned schedule and location, and we have cancelled Y10 and Y12. We do know that some groups have been fairly successfully conducting livestock shows outdoors, and WDMCSD has instituted a hard ban on any sort of tape on their new gym floors, so we will likely be in an outdoor location.

However, this would incur some unfamiliar expenses, so we are also calculating various factors’ impact on attendance and financial viability. Our ability to hire enough referees will also impact what we’re able to offer. We really want to be able to do something, but we don’t want to be a source of disease spread, so we plan to comply with many of the guidelines in USA Fencing’s Return to Local Events document – fencers should be prepared to wear a cloth or disposable/surgical under their fencing mask. If you’re one of the people who has not already been practicing this way, we recommend that you start experimenting with different types of masks so you can find something that works for you (and can acquire several because they will get sweaty) before the tournament.

Additionally, the Iowa Division Board is making sanctioning decisions on a case-by-case basis this year after reviewing organizers’ plans. Since we haven’t nailed down the venue, we’ve been unable to submit a plan. We are considering running the tournament without sanctioning if we are unable to secure approval.

For those considering attending, here is some state and local information about the COVID-19 situation to help you in your decision-making:

https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/pages/rmcc-data

https://www.polkcountyiowa.gov/health-department/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19/

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

May 29, 2020 reddoorfencing Fencing + Social Distancing, Schedule Changes

Re-Opening!

As our spring members know through email, we have opened this week for private lessons only.

Our plan for June is to continue with both private lessons and online footwork sessions – we completely understand that many people do not feel comfortable doing in-person activities at this time. If you’d like to join online sessions and weren’t a member this spring, send us an email and we’ll get you the link! You can also follow along with prior workouts on our youtube channel.

For in-club activities, we are following the same procedures as the week before we closed – cleaning of high-touch surfaces, keeping doors open as much as possible (easier now with better weather!), no shared equipment, no handshakes, 10 minutes between lessons, etc.

We are not requiring (non-fencing) masks at this time, although you are welcome and encouraged to wear them! We’re a little worried about how practical mask-wearing will be for those actively fencing and coaching – being able to breathe and communicate is important, too! However, fencers may want to consider trying to fence with a mask under their fencing mask as we aren’t sure what will be required when competitions resume. The coaches are trying to figure out a mask/mask combo that will work for us, too!

We also now have a way to pay online! We’re offering our usual monthly membership and a punch card that is good through August.

To schedule lessons, check your email for the link to the scheduler (only June is available right now). If you weren’t a spring member, send us an email to request the link.

We are also figuring out how to work in beginner lessons – stay tuned!

Depending on how things are going in the coming weeks, the next step is to start doing small group classes as well.

We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. We appreciate your patience and support as we muddle through this!