Fencing lessons for Darien families
A $40 trial lesson, one hour, gear provided, ages 5 to adult, at Tim Morehouse Fencing Club in New Canaan.
Text us and the desk answers by text. If you call, you hear a short greeting and get a text back.
Class times change by season. Text the desk for this week's times.
Darien is the shortest drive on this site. Tim Morehouse Fencing Club, at New Canaan Country School, 635 Frogtown Rd, is about 15 minutes from Darien, straight up the road. Children from age five, teenagers and adults start with a $40 one-hour trial lesson with the gear provided. This desk books it; the club teaches it. How that works.
Fencing near Darien
There is no fencing club inside Darien. The two clubs that used to serve this end of the county from either side, Stamford Fencing Club and Fairfield Fencing Academy, are closed or not running classes. What is left, and what was always the closest for Darien, is the New Canaan club, with classes, private lessons, camps and a competitive team under one roof. For a Darien family that is a quarter of an hour, not a project.
15 min
about, Darien to the club
The drive from Darien
New Canaan sits directly north of Darien, and the roads between them are the ones you already use. From the centre of Darien or Noroton Heights the run is north on Mansfield Avenue or Hoyt Street into New Canaan, then across to Frogtown Road on the western side of town. From Tokeneke or the Post Road end it is the same roads with a few minutes added at the start. Allow about 15 minutes. A weekday class is reachable after school without an early pickup, which is the practical reason Darien families make fencing work more easily than anyone else on this site.
The desk texts the entrance and parking details with every booking.
What a first visit looks like
The $40 trial lesson
One hour, mask, jacket, glove and weapon provided. Bring sneakers, long athletic pants and water.
02Classes by age
Kids from five, teens and adults, each in their own group.
03Private lessons
One coach, one fencer, one weapon, booked through the desk.
04Camps and the competitive team
School-break camps, and a team whose fencers hold USA Fencing membership.
Class times change by season. Text the desk for this week's times.
Before you text
Have four things ready: who the lesson is for and their age, whether they have fenced before and in which weapon, that you are coming from Darien, and which days could work. The desk books the trial lesson with the club and texts back the day and time, the entrance and parking at New Canaan Country School, and the short list of what to bring. If the slot does not fit, say so and the desk sends the next one.
What a Darien family gets for fifteen minutes
A full program rather than a satellite class: all three weapons, groups for every age from five up, private lessons, camps in the school breaks, and a competitive team whose fencers hold USA Fencing membership, in a club founded by a 2008 Olympic silver medalist. Darien is close enough that a child can try the trial lesson on a weekday without the whole evening going to the drive, and close enough that a private lesson later on is a short errand rather than an outing.
Darien questions people actually ask
Where is the nearest fencing club to Darien?
Tim Morehouse Fencing Club at New Canaan Country School, 635 Frogtown Rd, New Canaan, about 15 minutes north of Darien. It teaches foil, epee and saber to children from five, teens and adults, and was founded by Tim Morehouse, 2008 Olympic silver medalist in saber. This desk books the trial lesson there.
Can we fit a weekday class in after school?
Darien is close enough that a weekday class is usually reachable without an early pickup, which is not true for every town on this site. Class times change by season, so text the desk with your child's age and the days that could work, and the desk sends back the slots that fit.
What does the trial lesson include?
One hour on the strip with the mask, jacket, glove and weapon provided, for forty dollars. Bring sneakers with a clean sole, long athletic pants and water. Nothing has to be bought before the trial, and the coach will say what is worth buying if your child carries on.
Do we pick a weapon before the first lesson?
No. The club teaches all three weapons, and the coach watches a beginner for the hour before suggesting one. Our guide on foil, epee and saber explains what each rewards, but the coach's suggestion after the trial is the one to go with.
Is there a team for a child who gets serious?
Yes. The club has a competitive team, and fencers who train to compete hold USA Fencing membership and fence under the club's name. That is a conversation with the coach after a fencer has been training for a while, not something decided at the trial.
