What are we about?
At Baulkfield, we are a fun-oriented, inclusive, and friendly bunch of people who love our hobby and our community. Our student body is extremely diverse in terms of age, gender, gender expression, and orientation, and we will not tolerate the intolerant.
We cater for those who just want to turn up, swing a sword, and perhaps meet some new people. as well as to experienced martial artists and also to those who might want to compete.
Our club is one of a growing number that have discarded rote learning except as a last resort regression.
Instead, we develop skills via constraints applied to training games to ensure maximal transfer of training to actual fencing. We adapt the style to the student rather than having the student adapt to the style, and there is research to support the idea that this reduces the chance of injury. Everyone is different, and each is best coached to find their own movement solutions adapted to their own body.
You do not need to own any equipment or have any experience or particular athletic ability to train at our club. To begin training with our branches though, you must be 18 years old.
Which Weapons do we focus on?
Longsword, a two-handed knightly sword circa late 15th century.
Rapier, a long one-handed thrust-oriented dueling weapon of the 16th and 17th Centuries.
Sidesword, (neologism). An earlier and more cut oriented type of 16th century sword.
Daggers, bucklers, and occasionally shields (rodelas) are used with Sidesword and Rapier.
Smallsword, a short thrust-only style of sword circa 18th century.
At Baulkfield, we run these weapons side by side every lesson of the year. We do not change weapon sets regularly like many other clubs and students can change between them as they like.
Your First Lesson
- Your first lesson is a free trial.
- Please wear athletic shoes and clothing and bring a water bottle.
- You can take this trial lesson on any week of the year.
- You don’t need to bring any other equipment of your own to start with.
After some lessons
- You can train without any kit of your own for 3 or 4 lessons, after which you will want at least a mask, gloves and groin protector (for those with testicles)/Chest protector (for those with breasts).
- First up, a fencing mask.
- JG fencing at Revesby offers a basic Epee mask which is what we recommend. (The website is old but completely legitimate).
- For those with external genitals, you will need a box (groin protector).
- Get this from any sports shop.
- You will also need a pair of gloves of some sort.
- Padding is good, but almost any glove will do.
What’s on this term?
- At Baulkfield, we train every weapon every lesson.
- There’s no waiting months for your favourite to come into rotation at Baulkfield.
- Want to train just one?
- That’s fine.
- Want to train a combo of 2 or even more across a lesson?
- Go for it! It’s your lesson, and the choice is yours.
- There’s some pretty good evidence that doing the same activity with a different weapon leads to better learning on both.
- Again, you don’t need to bring anything to class the first time you attend.
Baulkham Hills – Thursdays – 19:30-22:00
Baulkham Hills Community Centre
390 Windsor Rd via Seven Hills Road & Conie Ave (very close to the M2 and M4)
(If driving, make sure you come in off Conie Ave or you’ll never find us.)
Baulkham Hills Australia 2153
Term dates are as follows:
Term 1 2026 – 05/02/2026 – 02/04/2026.
Term 2 2026 – 23/04/2026 – 02/07/2026.
Term 3 2026 – 23/07/2026 – 24/09/2026.
Term 4 2026 – 15/10/2026 – 17/12/2026.
Strathfield – Tuesdays – 19:00-22:00
Strathfield Homebush Uniting Church.
Carrington Ave Strathfield (Close to Station)
Term dates are as follows:
Term 1 2026 – 03/02/2026 – 31/03/2026.
Term 2 2026 – 21/04/2026 – 30/06/2026.
Term 3 2026 – 21/07/2026 – 22/09/2026.
Term 4 2026 – 13/10/2026 – 15/12/2026.
Class Structure
Baulkham Hills
- 7:30 – 15-minute mobility-focused (non-strenuous) warmup plus a warmup fencing game.
- 7:45 – 45 mins. Games with a task/objective focus. No choreographed drills!
- 8:30ish – Padded weapon play for those without their full kit, and free-fencing for those with.
- 10:00 – Finish.
Strathfield
- 7:00 – 15-minute mobility-focused (non-strenuous) warmup plus a warmup fencing game.
- 7:15 – 45 mins. Games with a task/objective focus. No choreographed drills!
- 8:00ish – Padded weapon play for those without their full kit, and free-fencing for those with.
- 10:00 – Finish.
Membership Fee
An annual fee of $25 to cover insurance needs to be paid to Stoccata Central directly
(If you attend multiple branches, you need only pay the membership fee once).
Existing Members
New Members
Training Fees
Training fees are $150 per school term per branch attended.
(Some students attend both branches as two lessons per week is more than twice as effective as one lesson)
Staying up to date and in touch
The best way to stay up to date with everything that is happening at Stoccata Baulkham Hills is either via Discord, however any announcements or important posts are also replicated onto Facebook.
Come and join us!
You are more than welcome to just turn up any time and observe one or two lesson if you like. You are also welcome to participate in a free trial lesson.
You are welcome to use the form below to email any questions, but it’s faster to join the Facebook Group or Discord server and do the same.
Stoccata School of Defence 