Fencing Themed Parties

Why not give your child a very different birthday party by having the 2005 British Epee Champion, Chris Howser, introduce them to the sport of fencing.

In a 90 minute or 2 hour session we can take a group of kids (aged 6 to 14) from total beginner level to be able to fence matches on the electronic scoring kit.

The maximum number of party-goers will be dependent on age, coach availability and venue size. Please contact Chris for details. 

We supply all the equipment for the session and those attending just need to come wearing t-shirt, full-length track-suit bottoms, socks and trainers.

Costs – These do depend on group size and location, please contact Chris for details.

For more information and to see if we are available for your preferred date, email eliteepeeevents@hotmail.co.uk or call on 07887 522714.

References from past parties are available on request. 

Holiday Training Days

We are looking at the logistics of running Elite Epee training days over some holiday periods around our Northamptonshire base subject to venue and coach availability.

These training days will have Chris Howser or invited guest coach as lead coach with appropriate coaching support depending on numbers at each course from other local coaches/experienced fencers.

The detail of what groups of fencers are targeted for each course and course themes are detailed on each application form.

Private Lessons

Chris Howser is available to give private 1 to 1 lessons in Yarwell (PE8 postcode area, 3 minute drive off A1/A47 Junction near Peterborough).

Individual lessons are £60 for a 1 hour session.

This rate covers the hour of coaching, hall hire (in our local village hall) as well as any kit that may need to be borrowed for the lesson.

If there are several people coming together for consecutive lessons or you wish to purchase a group of lessons in advance, rates may be able to be reduced, please contact Chris for details..

Chris is available to travel to you to give lessons, however there would be an additional charge for travel time/fuel etc.

For more information, or to book a lesson, please call Chris on 07887 522714, or preferably email chrishowser@hotmail.co.uk..

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Background – Chris Howser

Chris Howser was the 2005 British Epee Champion and has won medals at the Senior British Championships on 4 occasions in total. He has been ranked as the British Number 1 in epee and has won silver medals at 3 Commonwealth Championships. With over 30 years of fencing experience, of which he has been a qualified coach for 20 years, he has a great experience in Epee fencing to pass on to his pupils and is still highly competitive having been in the Top 20 in the British Ranking in January 2013, has been the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Northamptonshire Champion as well as reaching the top 8 of the British Championships in both 2012 and 2013.  In 2023 he reached a ranking of 6th in Europe on the Veteran Rankings for Category 2 (aged 50-59).

Chris initially qualified as a coach in 1990 and steadily improved his qualification and is now a Registered England Fencing Coach (Level 4). In total Chris’s fencers have won 10 British Epee championships ( from Under 12 to Senior level between 2002 and 2011) as well as a similar number of England Youth Championship Epee titles.

After several years working in the financial sector in the City of London, Chris started to coach full time in the 2001/2002 season and developed a very successful training set-up in the Redhill & Reigate area of Surrey, creating links between school clubs and the Redhill & Reigate Epee Club which Chris founded. In 2009 Chris had over 250 fencers doing the sport in the local area within schools and the club which Chris organised/coached at.

Between 2001 and 2010 the level of fencers in the Redhill & Reigate area has improved steadily to a point that in 2011 Epeeists from the Redhill & Reigate Epee Club (www.redhillandreigateepeeclub.com for details) won 2 out of the 6 England Youth Epee Championships that took place and had an additional 5 medallists from the club.

Having been a Pentathlete as a teenager, he has a great understanding of the different tactics used in one-hit Epee, as used in Pentathlon, and has coached many Pentathletes in the South East and East Midlands areas. Over the last 9 years Chris’s fencers have won numerous fencing events at the British Pentathlon/Tetrathlon Championships (well over 20 in total) as well as a similar number of overall Pentathlon/Tetrathlon National Championship titles. In 2009 fencers from R&REC won 5 titles at the British Youth Pentathlon Championships (out of only 8 age catagories) and most of those pentathletes were at the top of their fencing events which had a great effect on the overall titles.  Two former R&REC fencers went to win Gold at the Tokyo Olympics, with both Joe Choong and Kate French winning taking the Modern Pentathlon Titles.

In 2010 Chris moved up to Yarwell (East Northamptonshire), just near the A1/A47 junction close to Peterborough, and started to develop the same structure of fencing in the local area that he had so much success doing in Surrey since 2001. Unfortunately R&REC closed over the Covid break, with fencers moving to other local clubs.

By 2023, well over a dozen fencers that Chris has started in their fencing path or currently coaches at OPS Epee Club have represented Great Britain at International Level as part of GBR Epee or Pentathlon teams, with fencers representing GBR at World Championship level in Under 17, Under 20, Senior,as well as Veteran age-groups.  Fencers from OPS have been winning British titles at multiple age-groups to continue the general development of the sport locally.

Kids Taster Days

We have generally changed the way we are introducing youngsters to fencing and doing this through taster sessions at our evening club sessions rather that as stand alone days.

This was due to the low conversion rate to our evening sessions after taster day sessions.

Contact
For more information and to be added to the Oundle, Peterborough & Stamford Epee Club mailing list email chrishowser@hotmail.co.uk or call on 07887 522714.

Evening Beginner Courses

Evening Beginner Courses in the Oundle, Peterborough & Stamford Area

We plan to run courses from time to time, however this does depend on having suffice space in our venues.  We will contact all those on our waiting list once dates are set with course details.

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We will be running beginner courses to allow new beginners to fencing to learn the basics of the sport to an Intermediate level so that they are then able to join the main Oundle, Peterborough & Stamford Epee club (as it does not take on total beginners to the sport).

Details of any currently arranged courses are detailed below and if those dates are not suitable for you, please email chrishowser@hotmail.co.uk so that we can add you to our mailing lists and we can then let you know when new dates are set for future courses. If you do have a group of 8 to 12 friends that all want to learn how to fence we would be able to discuss dates/times to suit your timetable

New Dates – tbc

Rather than taking on new beginners through beginner courses, our Stamford Session is accepting new beginners within the main club session, so you can learn the sport without attending a specific beginners course. – Contact chrishowser@hotmail.co.uk for details

Duration 5 weeks

The courses will cover

  • Introduction to the sport of fencing
  • Safety in Fencing
  • Warming up for fencing
  • How to kit up ready to fence
  • Basic Footwork and Bladework skills
  • Basic Tactics
  • Use of the electric scoring equipment
  • How fencing bouts/competitions work

Attendance to the course will teach those attending to an intermediate level so that they will be welcome to join either of the main Oundle, Peterborough & Stamford Epee Club sessions.

Who
These evening courses are targeted for teenagers and adults, however if you are a family and wish to bring younger kids along (generally a minimum of 8 years old), please simply get in touch so we can discuss the logistics. Fencing is very much a sport for people with a wide level of fitness levels and ages, however if you do have any underlying medical condition it is advisable that you check with your doctor before commencing fencing

We are going to be running daytime holiday/weekend taster days set up specifically for slightly younger children (8 to 13 years old), please see the specific section on the site for daytime taster days for kids for more details. In addition, if there is sufficient demand for sessions for 6 to 8 year olds using ‘Mini Fence’ equipment we would be happy to run courses accordingly.

Course Price
Detailed on Application form.

If you wish to withdraw your application more than 1 week prior to the course your payment will not be cashed. Refunds after that point will not be given, however we would offer you the chance to transfer to a future course in cases of injury/illness which would cause you to miss 2 or more consecutive sessions.

What do you have to bring
Those attending these sessions will need to bring a drink as you may well get warm when taking part. You must wear full length track-suit bottoms, t-shirt, trainers with socks. We will supply all the actual fencing kit required for the sessions.

Course Numbers
Courses will generally be limited to a maximum of 12 to 14 fencers per course (will vary depending on coach availability and venue space) so it is imperative for you to apply for the courses as early as possible to avoid missing out. If there is the demand we may bring in additional coaches/experienced fencers to allow a larger group.

Continuing fencing after the beginner course
All those who have successfully completed the beginner course will be welcome to attend the OPS epee club in Oundle on Thursdays or the Peterborough sessions on Monday evenings.

Please see the OPSs page for details of the club/costs etc.

Contact
For more information and to be added to the OPS Epee Club mailing list email eliteepeeevents@hotmail.co.uk or call on 07887 522714.