did many homeschooling trips here... Wonderful place to bring your children and family to observe or to participate.. read more

I've been fencing here for five years. It is the most welcoming, collegial, supportive group of fencers you'll find in NYC. No fencing snobs or dilletantes here. Not to mention the coaches are extremely friendly and patient with newcomers of all ages. I'm not sure I should say this, because the secret will be out, but the fees here are a relative bargain for fencers compared to other clubs in the city. Bonus: you can take a (serious!) yoga class here after you fence on Thursday nights. read more

BFC was the first competitive fencing club to open in Brooklyn, in 2003. I came here once with the boyfriend (who's practically a member) to fence a bit. There's a big, well air-conditioned room for open fencing and another one for private lessons, as well as showers, locker rooms, and random rooms into which fencers are naturally inclined to dump all their stuff. I've never taken a private lesson, but this was accurate as of 2 years ago: each lesson is a half hour for $35-- actually an intense bit of work for a moderate price. They also offer group classes for various ages/skill levels/weapons. For those not looking for lessons and just wanting to fence, the floor fee is $10. Since I'd left all my equipment in Illinois except for my sneakers and glove, it was another $10 to borrow the works: weapon, body cord, knickers that didn't quite fit, jacket, lamé, mask. You can't appear on the strip in anything other than your whites. If you're an epee or sabre, be forewarned that BFC seems fairly foil-centric, especially the younger you go down the age groups. I think the entirety of Stuyvesant High School's fencing team gathers here. Essentially, it's a tight knit community, and for this reason it all felt a bit exclusive, where everyone knew everyone else and was otherwise somewhat standoffish. This could easily just be the spirit of fencing as a sport, though, coming from someone who is well outside the circle (i.e. me). Still, you'll need to be assertive if you want to fence new people. Luckily, this is not a problem for seasoned fencers, as they are known to be arrogant assholes. :O Anyway, BFC is one of the top fencing clubs in the city, though not as well-known (nor as reviled) as Fencers Club in Manhattan. Membership fee is unpleasant, but hey, it's a fencing club. read more

I helped organize an event here with 18 people for an Intro to Fencing. We informed everyone to wear sweatpants and long sleeve shirts, but people don't really listen and that's too bad. When you're doing active stuff like this you don't wear jeans and the people that do, probably don't really do much physical activity let alone have a gym membership. Anyhow the instructor, Mike was awesome. The movements were really interesting and not like any martial art (could you say fencing is a martial art?) I've ever taken. Your right leg is the leading leg (if you're right handed) as opposed to a regular fighting stance leading with your left. Very different muscle groups are worked when holding a foil trying to poke people and I'm seriously considering a membership. read more

Honestly, A very wholesome experience learning the ways of fencing. Brooklyn fencing center makes fencing feel like a home away from home. I started fencing here at the age of 12 and progressed to heights that I thought I wouldn't be able to. Ultimately a place I will always get to call home. read more

Brooklyn Fencing Center is a warm and supportive place where all my children -- not just the daughter who fences -- are known by name. Rolando is an excellent coach with fencers on the National and even International circuits, but he is also kind and committed to pudgy second-graders and rambunctious boys who just want to play-fight. Fencing is a great urban sport because it takes place inside all year, requires minimal equipment, and does not require scheduled team practices. Get your kids to try it! read more

Going to the Brooklyn Fencing Center was one of the high points of my high school experience. Guided by head coach Rolando Balboa, I learned the ins and outs about fencing, hard work, and team work. Most importantly, though, I always had a ton of fun.There's a bunch of space to train and state of the art equipment as well. Wish I had more time to go back and pick up fencing again, but anyone who's even remotely interested in the sport, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the Brooklyn Fencing Center. You won't regret it! read more

I rarely write negative reviews but I feel compelled to warn parents about this establishment. I signed my daughter up for 2 weeks of camp here and she enjoyed it so I signed her up for monthly lessons as a beginner. The instructor convinced me to put her in a more advanced class with children who were more skilled. I followed his advice and he also convinced me to sign her up for supplemental lessons so she would have more confidence in the advanced classes. Again, I followed his advice and signed her up for a 10-pack of private lessons. In the more advanced class, they said I needed to buy the uniform and helmet so again I made those purchases from them. They were very friendly to me when I was shelling out thousands of dollars for monthly and private lessons but during the middle of the school year, I had to move out of Brooklyn. I contacted Brooklyn Fencing to see if I could get a partial refund for the private lessons since my daughter had only used a few lessons in her package but, all of a sudden, Brooklyn Fencing, which was very prompt at getting back to me when I was spending money stopped returning any of my messages. Their final message to me was that Rolando would get back to me. It's been two months now and I have asked them to contact me and they have ignored me. I'm very upset by their treatment and I feel that they exploited me as a single mom to get as much money from me as possible. It's very disheartening because I feel very disrespected and I would never trust anybody in this establishment again. Sad to feel like I dealt with a company that has such a low bar in business practices. They have so little respect for their clients that they don't even bother returning their messages. read more

It's one of the few fencing clubs where you can feel comfortable as both competitive and recreational fencer. Most of the clubs tend either to be very competitive and if you just want to have fun you feel out of place or they have no competitive program at all. BFC has both and is very good at balancing it! So whether you want to fence for fun or professionally this club will fit your needs! read more

Brooklyn Fencing Center is my second home thanks to the wonderful and supportive staff. In my freshmen year of high school I struggled to transition to the new environment that required confidence. With the help of Rolando (the head coach) I was able to gain that and learn so many more life lessons, meanwhile becoming a stronger competitive fencer. I started off fencing in the beginning of spring and by summer i was fencing at Nationals! read more