Tyler Fencing Club founder Doug White practices with members of the fencing club on Thursday. The club meets every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Glass Recreation Center.

Tyler rec members are leaning toward exercise and learning chess-like moves at fencing classes

The sounds of squeaking sneakers, movement and heavy breathing fill the Glass Recreation Center in Tyler on Thursday’s nights as adults and kids are getting exercise.

It’s not an open gym for basketball, which is evident when a the unique sound of metal ping rings through the air.

The sound is a foil, or sabre, used in fencing, as the Tyler Fencing club holds weekly classes at the Glass Recreation Center at 7:30 p.m. each Thursday.

Doug White, owner and coach of the Tyler Fencing Club, opened the doors of the club one year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally from the Dallas Fort Worth area, White attended fencing clubs and previously worked as a fencing instructor for fun. When he moved to Tyler three years ago, he discovered there wasn’t a place to fence.

“So since there wasn’t one, I decided I would start one. When I talked to the Glass Recreation Center, they provided the spacing and we just decided to start one up, so that’s what we’ve done,” said White.

White explained that there has historically been a class taught at Tyler Junior College periodically when there’s enough students who sign up.

“One of the drawbacks, as I view it, was that they required all of their students who took the class, then to immediately purchase their own gear. That can be kind of prohibitive for a lot of people, especially if you don’t know that you’re going to continue doing it. That’s one thing that I thought we could improve upon, is let people fence without having to go to make those purchases,” White said.

The Tyler fencing club provides the unique opportunity of offering the protective equipment and weapons for club members to use.

“If they want to continue to do it overtime, I would encourage them eventually to purchase their own things, especially if they want to compete, but it’s not a requirement. If they want to come in and use club equipment all the time, that’s what they can do.”

White has been fencing since 1989. What started as an elective in his Freshman year of college, fencing has become a hobby that has brought him fun experiences, the opportunity to travel the country and make some good friends along the way.

Now that he has his own fencing club, he can share his passion with locals.

“What I love most about fencing is that it kind of breaks out of what I would call the traditional Texas sports; football, baseball, basketball, and allows people that might not fit the mold in being the biggest or the strongest or the fastest, to compete in a way that those things aren’t necessarily the most important things,” White said.

Although a very individual sport, fencers have the opportunity to do what they want to do in the sport, without anyone else affecting the outcome.

“I, for one, really like that. That it’s solely up to me in terms of how well I do,” White said.

“That’s one of the big draws in my view. Amongst fencers, it’s often called physical chess because you’re trying to stay two or three moves ahead of your opponent at any given time, in order to score a point and win the battle.”

The fencing club is located at the Glass Recreation Center, which requires fencing club members to have a yearly membership for. The yearly membership for the recreation center is about $30 a year, but the fees for the club are only $10 per week.

“If you don’t show up, you don’t pay. There’s not a requirement, you don’t sign up for the entire month or anything like that. You pay as you go. You just show up, it’s $10, it goes to the glass,” White said.

Uniforms and equipment are included in the club fee.

“I didn’t want to rule anyone out because of their financial background,” White explained.

The club is made up of about 50 percent of children, but often their parents also become involved in fencing. There are no limits of age that can attend, but according to White, the best age to begin fencing is at about nine to 10 years of age.

“What’s happened a lot is that the kids come in because they’re interested, and then the parents become interested. So they can fence each other and it’s a great way for parents that maybe don’t have a physical activity, to enjoy something that does get the heart rate up. It’s a pretty good workout when you’re fencing.”

There is a veterans category of fencing, which is available to adults and seniors.

Similar to most businesses last year, the Tyler fencing club was affected by the pandemic. For a while, the Glass Recreation Center was closed completely, but when they started allowing people to come back, the fencing club had to practice outside.

“We definitely lost some people as a result of the pandemic, but it is starting to grow again,” White said.

White is also a school teacher for Tyler Independent School District and teaches eighth grade.

“I like working with young people, whether it’s fencing or school teaching. It’s kind of been my draw,” he said.

The fencing club plans to attend state or national tournaments nearby. It’s a goal of the club to go and have the full experience of going to a larger tournament, seeing what they’re like and having fun.

“I encourage people that if they have an interest in it, I encourage them to come try it. It’s a sport that falls outside of the norm and we have a lot of fun and a lot of camaraderie.”

Those interested can in attending can call 903-287-0058.