Marcus Mepstead Takes Bronze at Lion of Bonn

Marcus Mepstead on the medal stand

This past weekend, Marcus competed in Bonn, Germany at the first world cup of the 2022 - 2023 season. After a 4-2 record in the pool round, he fenced against Fabian Braun of Germany (one of his two losses in the pool) and won 15-7. After a 15-9 victory against Roey Rosenfeld of Israel, Marcus was qualified for the top 64 on day 2.

Seeded 48th, Marcus’ first-round opponent was Guilherme Toldo of Brazil. His previous record against Toldo was 3-5 going into the match but managed a 15-9 win this bout. After two close matches against Kwanghyun Lee and Gyeongmu Kim, both of South Korea, Marcus was on to the top 8.

In the top 8, Marcus fenced against Mohamed Hamza of Egypt. Hamza was Marcus’ first-round opponent in the Tokyo Olympics where the Egyptian secured a 15-13 victory and went on the make the top 8. Through another tough matchup, this time Marcus was able to lock down a 15-13 win of his own to earn a career first world cup medal round appearance.

In the semi-finals, Marcus was up against 2018 individual world champion Alessio Foconi of Italy. Marcus took a small lead at the beginning of the match, with Foconi tieing the score at 5-5, before taking a small lead of his own at the end of the first period. With increased intensity in the second period, Foconi went on to win the match 15-8.

Congratulations to Marcus and to Coach Dan on a fantastic opener to the international circuit. With this result, Marcus is currently ranked #17 in the world!

Read more about Marcus’ medal winning performance over at British Fencing

Marcus and Dan with Lion of Bonn Award

A Day at BBFC: A Photo Essay by Moxie Harfeld

@moxievisions

Moxie Harfeld is a member of BBFC and a graduate of Full Sail University's Film Production Program. She graduated at the top of her class as the recipient of the Advanced Achievement Award and four (4) Course Director Awards.

After graduating from Full Sail, Moxie briefly worked at QVC Studios as a Production Coordinator. She then became a Staff PA on the Netflix Film, Hustle.

In January 2022, Moxie made the move to New York where worked as a Production Assistant on shows such as BULL, FBI, Gossip Girl, The Untitled Mike Daniels Project, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Moxie expanded her network in the New York area which allowed her to transition from working in the production department to working in the camera department. In August 2022, Moxie officially joined Local 600 International Cinematographer’s Guild. She worked as a Digital Loader on TV shows and Feature films such as Wu Tang: An American Saga, FBI, Dear Edward, Let the Right One In, and From Paradise with Love.

The Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club Turns 12!

Brooklyn Bridge Birthday Logo

When I opened BBFC in 2010, I never imagined that it would grow the way it has. I started the club with just , 4 strips, and 13 students, but it never would’ve happened without the support of my then-pregnant wife, Sasha, as well as a ton of invaluable hands-on construction from Miles Manning, Frederic Gindrey, and Cyrus Summerlin, with consulting support from Buckie Leach.

I planned on BBFC being a feeder club to the larger foil programs in the city. I just wanted to provide a higher quality fencing education than was currently available at the time. However, if you want to hear the universe laugh, make plans. 

I am so grateful and appreciative to everyone who has stepped through the doors at 68 Jay Street, #508 over the last 12 years, as we have been able to expand to over one hundred fencers, a staff of 5 full-time coaches, and 11 strips. The success of BBFC is due in large part to our amazing staff: Senior Coach Henry Kennard and Coaches Jose Samora, Michael C. Green, and Jean Goto, as well as past staff members Brendan Meyers, Robert Nunziato, and Katya Belkina.

I’m also proud to say that BBFC’s competitive results are recognized at every level of the sport. From winning local tournament medals to Olympic ones, we help athletes achieve their athletic dreams using an empathetic coaching model that uses fencing as a metaphor for life to help young people handle the stresses of everyday life.


Thank you!

Dan

PISTE Showcase

Nzingha Prescod Lunges in front of Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club Mural

The Prescod Institute for Sport, Teamwork, and Education (PISTE) will be hosting its first fundraising event on October 20th from 7-10pm at Samsung 837 in NYC!

Olympic Gold Medalist Lee Kiefer and Olympic Bronze Medalist Gerek Meinhardt will be joining as special guests and will be signing autographs for fans. Lee will be receiving the PISTE Trailblazer award for historic accomplishments.

The event will feature heavy hors d'oeuvres, drinks, a fencing showcase by our students, fencing in virtual reality, an award presentation to our special guests, and a panel about social impact and our organizational evolution. All ages are welcome to join

Get Tickets Here

If you're unable to attend but would like to support, The Lorenzini Family Foundation has generously offered to support by matching our donations on their Cauze platform, up to $20K

Donate Here

Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club will be donating $2600.00 to sponsor two PISTE fencers!


Sports Nutrition Guide for Youth Foil Fencers

Healthy food for fencers

If you develop a good understanding of sports nutrition and put a plan into action, you’ll have more fun fencing because you’ll likely see improved performance in training and competitions. That will help separate you from your competition.

No matter your goals, nutrition can help you get there. Sports nutrition not only refers to the foods and fluids you eat and drink before, during, and after training sessions, but also the additional nutrition you need day to day to support your weekly training. The foods you choose to eat every day play a much larger role in your performance as an athlete, and more importantly, your overall health. You cannot be the best athlete you can be if you are constantly sick or injured. A solid understanding of nutrition overall is what supports healthy growth and development and your immune system, and enables you to get the most out of your training.

Even making small changes to your nutrition can make a huge difference in performance! With proper sports nutrition, you will have more energy, power, strength, and speed.

Check out our full guide on youth sports nutrition by clicking the button below.

Fueled and Focused

BBFC is Now Open on Sundays!

We are offering a Recreational and Future champions class for both Mini Musketeer and Cadet age groups. Here is the schedule for Sunday:

10am - 11am Private Lessons

11am - 12:20pm Mini Musketeer/Cadet Recreational/Future Champions

12:30pm - 1:30pm Private Lessons

You can view our entire 2022-2023 class schedule online here.

Full Schedule

How to Wash Your Fencing Gear

Cartoon image of a washing machine and laundry

Thanks to one of our fencing parents for writing this quick guide on how to clean your fencing equipment

Jacket, Plastron & Knickers

  • Ideally, wash as often as possible

  • Cold water, with detergent and an added cup of baking soda (the baking soda will help remove odor and stains

  • If the jacket, plastron and knickers are staying in a club locker for a week more, wash with the baking soda and detergent, and then turn everything inside out and wash a second time with the baking soda and detergent. Always hang dry - Never put in the dryer (especially for FIE)

  • Never use bleach

Lamé

  • A growing fencer will probably grow out of a lamé before it needs washing However, if you are so inclined to wash the lamé first check to make sure that you purchased a "washable lamé" Hand wash in the sink with a detergent for delicate clothing

  • Then put lamé on a hanger and rinse with the shower head, hang to dry

  • Never use bleach on a lamé

Masks

  • Some masks have removeable padding and bibs, hand wash and dry flat.

  • To wash the mask: place it in the kitchen sink and rinse with a faucet sprayer and gentle dish soap like Dawn. (If your bib is not washable, be careful that it doesn't get wet)

  • Gloves Hand wash in the sink with detergent and baking soda Let the glove soak, rinse and repeat until the water runs clear

  • Dry flat

Fencing Equipment Guide

We get a lot of questions about the equipment in fencing, usually about what’s needed for our classes. To start, Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club provides all of the fencing equipment that you’ll need for introductory lessons or our recreational classes. You just have to wear athletic shoes and long pants and you’re ready to go!

Here, we’ll go over the equipment you’ll see around the club in practice, as well as what’s required for competitions.

All of the equipment icons were provided by www.clubweapon.com with their permission.

Fencing Jacket Icon
FIE Fencing Jacket Icon

Fencing Jackets

Fencing jackets offer some padding, but primarily function as safety equipment to prevent injury.

When you purchase your own jacket, we can’t recommend getting a front-zip jacket enough. It will definitely improve your fencing life. Any standard jacket is legal for competition in the US. For international competition, the FIE (the international governing body of fencing) requires FIE-certified jackets.

Fencing Pants Knickers Icon
FIE Fencing Pants Knickers Icon

Fencing Pants

In practice, BBFC requires long pants or fencing pants. Competition requires pants specifically for fencing. These pants will fasten just below the knee, so you’ll also need to wear long socks that cover the knees. Some vendors sell fencing-specific socks, but any soccer socks will do. International competition requires FIE pants as well.

Fencing Glove Icon
FIE Fencing Glove Icon

Fencing Gloves

In fencing, you only need one glove on your weapon-hand. We sometimes see beginners stuff the cuff of the glove into the sleeve of the jacket, but the cuff needs to be on the outside to protect you from a point slipping up the sleeve. In class, we use standard fencing gloves that range from XS - XL. Higher quality gloves will usually have more specific sizes.

Foil does not require an FIE-certified glove, but competitions do typically inspect your glove for any holes or significant tears. Your glove will need to be in good shape to be approved for competition.

Foil Fencing Mask Icon
FIE Foil Fencing Mask Icon

Fencing Masks

In fencing, each weapon has its own specific mask for competition. Foil masks have lamé material on the bib of the mask for use with the electric scoring system. For our beginner classes, we provide standard epee masks that have all the same safety features as the foil mask, just without the scoring part necessary for competitions. If you buy your own, you’ll want to get a standard foil mask along with the cords to attach to the rest of the scoring equipment.

In foil competition, you’ll need a mask with lame material on the bib as this is part of the target area. In the us, a standard foil mask is legal, but international competition requires and FIE-certified mask.

Fencing Chest Protector Icon
Underarm Protector Plastron Icon
FIE Underarm Protector Plastron Icon

Chest Protectors & Underarm Protectors

Underneath the jacket, you’ll wear an additional layer of protection. The hard plastic chest protectors help with the impact of being hit while the soft underarm protector (also called a plastron) serves as a redundant safety layer on the weapon-arm side where you’ll receive the most hits. Competitions require a layer of approved foam over the hard plastic to reduce any ‘skipping’ of the opponent’s point on the hard surface. The hard plastic chest protector is optional for men, but mandatory for women. Underarm protectors are mandatory for everyone. At BBFC, we require boys under 10 to wear chest protectors as well.

Practice Foil Icon
Competition Foils Icon
FIE Competition Foils Icon

Fencing Foils

In class, we use standard practice foils with French grips. These are inexpensive and can be a good starter weapon for your own, but we usually recommend that if you’re going to buy a weapon you go ahead and get a competition-ready foil. They’re a little more expensive, but overall more cost-efficient if you’ll end up competing later since the competition foil can still be used in practice.

To compete, you’ll need to bring at least two competition-ready foils with you. We recommend that you bring three. These electric foils have a plug so that they can be connected to the electrical scoring equipment. US competitions don’t require FIE certified foils like international competitions do, but this is one place where we do recommend making the upgrade anyways. An FIE foil can be twice as expensive as a non-FIE blade, but it can easily last more than twice the lifespan before breaking.

Fencers 10 and under are required to use Size 2 blades. Everyone else should get size 5 blades.

Our club recommends 2-pin plugs for the socket type, and x-small or small visconti grips for children.

Foil Fencing Lame Icon

Foil Lame

For electric fencing, you’ll need to wear a special vest that designates the target area in foil fencing (the torso). You only need one foil lame to compete. The inexpensive lames are typically lined with copper which can oxidize and turn green over time. The more expensive lames typically use nickel and other tarnish-resistant materials. Be sure to get a front-zip lame!

Body cords & Mask cords

Electric fencing will require a body cord that runs from the weapon, up the sleeve of the fencing jacket, and hooks into the electric scoring system. You’ll also need a cord that connects your foil lame to the bib of your foil fencing mask. Competition requires twosbody cords and two mask cords, but just like with the foils we recommend that you bring three of each.

Our club recommends 2-pin style body cords to go along with the 2-pin sockets recommend on the weapon.

The Massialas Fencing Tour is Coming to Brooklyn

Alexander Massialas Fencing Tour Poster

BBFC is excited to host 3x-Olympian, Alex Massialas, and the Massialas Fencing Tour Powered by Panda Express, this summer! The Tour will stop by Brooklyn Bridge Fencing for two days of fun on August 20 and August 21.

Available Sessions:
Saturday, 8/20 (11 & Under): 9am-12pm
Sunday, 8/21 (12 & Over): 9am-12pm
AlexanderMassialas.com/tour

The Massialas Fencing Tour is an in-depth clinic that not only aims to build a solid foundation for fencing skills but also provides tangible best practices in leadership, goal setting, and mindset training that new and experienced athletes can apply in and outside of the sport. In collaboration with Panda Express, the Tour will also provide scholarship opportunities to athletes from underserved communities.

BBFC Named Top 3 Club for NCAA Recruitment

FencingParents.org released an update to its NCAA statistics guide.

It highlights 15 of the 44 universities with NCAA Fencing programs that are deemed ‘highly selective’ with acceptance rates at or below 16%.

Of these 15 highly selective schools, 12 of them are Division I institutions.

Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club ranked 3rd placing foil fencers into these highly selective Division I programs!

Click below to find the full report.

Full Report