By Amy Pratt

Most children picked up a long stick in their backyard and then fought an epic battle with their friends, pretending the stick was a mighty sword.

While many have put down their weapons as they age, the West Virginia University fencing club offers students the opportunity to continue with an actual sword, or foil.

Each semester, the fencing club holds a beginner’s class meeting from 7-9 p.m. on Mondays in Stansbury gym, and equipment is provided. Even though a few weeks have passed, interested students are still encouraged to attend.

"You haven’t missed enough, and if people show up next Monday, they could still get started and not really be far behind," said Caleb Shaw, the club’s treasurer who also instructs the beginner’s class.

Gillain Junker was interested in kendo, a Japanese style of martial arts that uses bamboo swords, but since WVU does not offer the sport, she decided to try fencing.

"We’ve mostly been working on the basic steps and stuff like that, which is not too hard. It’s a lot of awkward positioning, (but) I did dance for a while, so it’s a little easier for me," Junker said.

Austin Gibson is also a beginning fencer. He has participated in other forms of fencing before, but not the style of fencing the WVU club team participates in. Gibson decided to join the fencing club in order to get involved at WVU and has enjoyed learning the basics.

"Footwork. Lots of footwork," Gibson said. "We mostly focus on footwork at the beginning. So far I’m having a lot of fun with it—it’s a good work out too because we do a warm up exercise. Footwork is a killer on your thighs. It’s a really good thing to learn, it’s a really fun thing to learn," Gibson said.

Logan Mullennex and Malcom LaRose, a music education student and a physics student, joined the team together this year, both looking to get more involved in the University.

"I just like sword fighting. I’ve never actually done it, but I thought it’d be neat," LaRose said. "I was looking for something to do here because I think I had way too much free time, so I looked at fencing club."

Mullennex joined after LaRose brought him to a practice and he enjoyed the sport.

The club usually attends tournaments in or around West Virginia. They will host a tournament on Oct. 17 at the Rec Center, and they plan on attending the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio in March.