Fencing lessons for Norwalk 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.
Norwalk families fence at Tim Morehouse Fencing Club in New Canaan, about 18 minutes from Norwalk, at New Canaan Country School, 635 Frogtown Rd. 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 Norwalk
Norwalk has no fencing club of its own, and the clubs that bracketed it on the map, Stamford Fencing Club to the west and Fairfield Fencing Academy to the east, are not running. The club that is running, with classes, private lessons, camps and a competitive team, is in New Canaan, and Norwalk is the town with the most direct road to it.
Norwalk is also the biggest spread of neighbourhoods on this site. Silvermine is already on the New Canaan line. East Norwalk, SoNo and Rowayton are at the other end of the city, and the drive from there is the number below plus the time it takes to get to Route 123.
18 min
about, Norwalk to the club
The drive from Norwalk
Route 123, New Canaan Avenue on the Norwalk side, runs from the centre of Norwalk north into New Canaan, and that is the whole route for most of the city. From the Silvermine end the club is practically next door. From the Merritt Parkway it is a short hop west and then north. Allow about 18 minutes from the centre of Norwalk; from Rowayton or East Norwalk add the time to cross the city first. A weekday class is reachable after school for most of Norwalk without an early pickup.
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, which part of Norwalk you are coming from, 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. Say which end of the city you are at; it changes which slots the desk suggests.
Why New Canaan and not somewhere closer
Because for Norwalk there is nothing closer that is running. The clubs that once sat to the west and to the east are gone or quiet, and Norwalk never had one of its own. What is in New Canaan is a full program: all three weapons, groups for every age from five up, private lessons, camps, and a competitive team whose fencers hold USA Fencing membership, founded by a 2008 Olympic silver medalist. Route 123 puts it about 18 minutes from the centre of town.
Norwalk questions people actually ask
Is there a fencing club in Norwalk?
No. The nearest club with a full program is Tim Morehouse Fencing Club at New Canaan Country School, 635 Frogtown Rd, about 18 minutes from the centre of Norwalk up Route 123. It teaches foil, epee and saber to children from five, teens and adults, and this desk books the trial lesson there.
We are in Rowayton. Is it still worth the drive?
Rowayton and East Norwalk are the far end of the city from New Canaan, so add the time to cross Norwalk to the 18 minutes. For that end of the city a weekend slot or a camp day may fit better than a weekday evening. Text the desk with the days that could work and it will tell you honestly which slots fit the drive.
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.
My teenager wants to start at fourteen. Is that too late?
No. Teenagers who start at twelve or fourteen are a normal part of any club, and a teen who takes to it can move onto the competitive track within the same club. Say the age when you text and the desk books the right group rather than a children's class.
Does the club teach adults?
Yes, adults from complete beginners up. Adults start with the same forty-dollar one-hour trial lesson as everyone else and fence with other adults. Adults who fenced at school or college and stopped can say so, and the coach starts from there.
