Para Fencing

Wheelchair fencing ("Para Fencing") is a fast moving game of
tactics and techniques, and is one of the original sports of the
Summer Paralympic Games.

History of PARAFENCING

Wheelchair fencing was first introduced in 1953 by Sir Ludwig Guttmann -- who is also the founder of the Paralympic Movement. In 1960, wheelchair fencing debuted at the first-ever Paralympic Games in Rome, Italy. Though at the time, only three medal events were contested (men’s sabre, men’s sabre team and women’s foil) and only Italian athletes competed. Today, male and female athletes compete in all three weapons (foil, epee, and sabre) and the sports is officially known as parafencing.

About PARAFENCING

Athletes compete in wheelchairs that are fixed to the floor, limiting the movement of the chair. The chairs are placed at a fixed distance, which is determined by the fencer with the shorter reach and adjusted before the start of the bout. Fencers have complete freedom of the upper body, allowing them to lean, duck, turn, and lunge in their chairs.

Athletes are divided into A, B and C classifications, depending on their core strength and mobility. Class A athletes have the greatest range of mobility and strength in the hand and torso, while Class C athletes have the least.

FOR GROUPS

Private Clinics

Do you have a group of athletes on your sports team, in your rehab program, or from your school who would be interested in trying parafencing? Please contact us to plan a group clinic! Clinics can be scheduled on weekdays before 4pm and on weekends. We welcome groups to our facility, and in some cases, we can come to you! Cost varies by clinic details and organization’s resources.

FOR INDIVIDUALS

New students should fill out our interest form before registering, and we will contact you about scheduling a trial lesson

Parafencing Classes

Summer

Membership

Mondays 6pm-7pm & Saturdays 12pm-1pm

Ages 14+

Our Parafencing program is designed for new and continuing fencers. Classes will be focused on the tactics and skills required for parafencing. Athletes will learn rules of right of way, technical rules of the game, and the skills required for bouting. Classes will focus on foil tactics and techniques. Athletes may choose to attend all or some weeks.

Private lessons are available upon request.

Wheelchair fencing is becoming more popular. Boston hopes it catches on.

Aaron Askanase, a wheelchair user, had been searching for the perfect adaptive sport, and he found it: parafencing. “I was looking for an adaptive sport that ... was going to make me feel good after I left, not in more pain,” he said. He has been training at Boston Fencing Club for the past eight months, got a chance to test his skills Saturday against Noah Hanssen, a Paralympian who competed in Paris last summer. “It felt good that I scored a couple points,” Askanase said. H