A 12-unit beginner course designed for students with no prior experience. Each class is 40 minutes long.
This course is intended to provide students with the fundamentals of fencing, including footwork, bladework, bouting and refereeing. It will allow students to develop the ability to analyze a fencing bout, and promotes creativity in applying acquired skills in a fencing bout.
This course will use a combination of lecture, demonstration, group exercise and partner drills.
All of the necessary fencing gear will be provided to course participants. Athletic shoes, long athletic sweat pants, are required but not provided.
In order to get P.E. credit, participants cannot miss more than one class throughout the course.
Jarek Koniusz enters his 11th year at the helm of MIT's men's and women's fencing program with over 28 years of international level competition, as both a coach and an accomplished athlete. In 2002, Koniusz was selected by the US Fencing Federation to coach the United States sabre team in the World Cup competition held at Koblenz, Germany.
Koniusz holds a master of science degree from the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland. He has earned the title of fencing master in sabre, epee, and foil. His athletic achievements include gold medal World Cup finishes and a silver medal in the 1989 World Championships. In spring 2002, Jarek was honored by the Polish Fencing Federation with a Lifetime Achievement Award, given to the fencer who has made a lasting contribution to Polish fencing in its 75 year history.
Koniusz has built MIT fencing into a perennial powerhouse, qualifying 20 fencers to the NCAA National Championships and guiding MIT to nine New England Championship titles in the last six years. Seven of those fencers began their career with Koniusz, serving as a testimony to his outstanding coaching ability.