Reading Fencing Club was founded in 1948 and run by John Saville (RAF), with Frank Tanner as the general driving force and coach. Frank, schooled in the French style, became John Llewellyn's coach in his formative years.  From its outset RFC has been a competitive - if somewhat nomadic - club, having moved to Bulmershe College in 1975 and then, subsequently, to Winnersh.  Frank left in 1986 and the Club folded; meanwhile, John Llewellyn went to Paris to study at INSEP - the French national sports training centre - to become a maître d'armes and also to prepare for the Seoul Olympics.  On his return from Seoul John set about resurrecting RFC - holding a number of beginners courses and allowing the Club to grow again - deciding to direct his efforts to the next generation of fencers by teaching fencing in local schools.  John, three times Olympian and winner of the British Men's Épée Championship five times, left a strong legacy for RFC.

RFC is run by fencers, for fencers.   It has gone from strength to strength, providing training through most of the year, catering for all ages and abilities, and maintaining the strong tradition of épée from Frank Tanner's day.  In 2001, just after the Sydney Olmpics, many British pentathlon fencers moved from RFC to their new centre in Bath; RFC lost a large number of fencers (and revenue) and went to the brink of closure as a result.  This proved to be a short-term curse but a long-term blessing... RFC gradually found its feet again, slowly attracting new members, with 2003 proving to be a major turning point for the Club.  Having launched its popular and dynamic website, at the same time local fencers from Reading Activity Centre joined, and the addition of Robin Salt to our coaching staff has proved to be an asset ever since. People new to the sport enrol upon our popular 10-week beginner courses, coached by Robin and Alain.

Club membership has increased steadily ever since, outgrowing its base in Winnersh and moving to our current, more spacious and accommodating home at Reading Blue Coat School, Sonning, in 2006.  Over the years, we have invested our members' fees back into the club, with the introduction of 14 new sets of scoring equipment, and 2 of the UK's first state-of-the-art lightweight roll-out metallic pistes.  The club is now open three times a week through most of the year, closing only briefly during the Easter and Christmas holidays.  A small core of RFC members sees to the smooth running of club nights, whilst the day-to-day organisation of the Club is managed by the Barbasiewicz family: Colin (dad, and treasurer), and Philippe and Alain (boys, fencers!).  We reintroduced our highly popular club competition nights, and members also regularly take part in short footwork and bladework lessons on Friday evenings. Additionally, we now have a host of coaches available to give individual lessons to fencers, based on a booking system that allows the coaches to spend the maximum amount of time teaching. 

Building on its successes achieved so far, the club has strong links with not one but two fencing equipment manufacturers (Escrime UK and PBT UK).  We have our own range of leisurewear available to buy, designed by us and made by Tempest Sports - suppliers of GBR and England tracksuits.

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