How have these developed over time and what have they looked like? The only ones I have seen are modern fencing halls (essentially gyms) and the one in the James Bond film Die Another Day (looks cool and full of lots of swords).

I've always had the idea that if I won the Euro lottery or something (I need to start playing but that is another matter entirely...) I would build my own, so let's say I have (or indeed, you have). What would it look like and what would you consider essential to have in a fencing hall?

Good question. Prevost, in his 1891 fencing treatise has a plate that shows a Salle and a floorplan for another. I'll put them up in a few minutes. The Salle looks like a pricey club.

Steve

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Wow, that's great Steve, I'd *love* to have a place like that...

If I were to win a smaller lottery, and wanted to build a salle, I would include the following: an open space for practice with a seating area for observers that is not in the way of the fencers; a separate space with some comfortable seating and tables to act as a library and lounge; bathrooms; showers; changing areas with lockers, and enough space that people aren't always stepping on other people's equipment; some sort of entry space so that people coming and going don't disturb class; an office space; a lockable storage space.

Unless you've spent a lot of time in a fencing or martial arts club, you may not think about all the people that you should provide amenities to, though this varies with your target audience. For example, if you teach kids, some parents will want to stick around rather than just drop off their kid. If there is a comfortable place for them to sit and read, work, and interact with other parents, then they become involved in your club -- but if they have to sit outside in their car, they are lost to you. If you teach high school students, you may need to provide a place for them to do homework or hang out before or after class, or while waiting for rides. If you teach adults, you will have more luck keeping them as members if they can shower. All of these things together help form a strong community, and that sense of community is one of the biggest selling points for a club of any sort.

I'd be curious to hear what Bill Grandy and Sean Hayes have to say about this too, since they both run salles....

I don't suppose anyone out there has a private Salle attached to their residence that they'd like to tell us about? If if won that lottery that I don't play, I'd just be adding my own facility on to my house, just large enough for myself and a handful of friends. And guest quarters for travelling sword masters, naturally.

My mind always turns toward Regency England styles when this fantasy plays - a modest version of one of those assembly rooms one sees in those Jane Austen movies (I, uhhh, only watch them for the sets... and the costuming. Really). High, vaulted ceiling, hardwood floors, colonnaded portico for seating with a small balcony above (for the musicians, for those serious duels, I suppose). Big mirrors. Skylights and chandeliers converted to electric. Dang, now I'm depressed, I want it now.

Seriously, though, I'd love to see photos or hear descriptions of peoples' private halls, if anybody wants to share.

Sincerely,
Eric Norenberg

I'm lucky enough to count amongst my friends the owners of this stately pile (Brancepeth Castle, see below).

When I joined my WMA club last year, my first task was to get them out of the uninspiring school gym hall they were in, and set them up in a location more appropriate for the study of historical swordfighting techniques. We moved to the banqueting hall of the Castle, complete with massive stone fireplaces at either end, a hammerbeam ceiling, quartersawn oak floor and large stained glass tracery windows, and a grand porche-cloche tower over our main entrance.

The perfect setting for a salle.

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The setting for the Fencing Club I run is definitely a budget example. We occupy a poorly lit, rather narrow High School Balcony with an oversized closet functioning as our armoury. It may not be much but we are actually happy to have a place to fence. Although a bit cramped for 50 students, we make the 100 ft. long 20 ft. wide space work with three full strips, one for each weapon.

Now, if I could design the perfect salle, it would have three things. Lots of space, plenty of light, and room to organize all of our equipment! And if it happened to be located in a castle, I definitely wouldn't complain. You can color me green with envy!

Julian,
I am ridiculously jealous! That would be my dream practice hall! :)

Eric Myers wrote:

I'd be curious to hear what Bill Grandy and Sean Hayes have to say about this too, since they both run salles....

Oh, I don't run my academy. The owner/head coach is Alex Ryjik. I'm the head director of our historical swordsmanship program. But that said, I did and do have a large say in what goes on there, and when we moved into our current building, we had a lot of ideas on how to put it together.

Basically, we have the "public" area: You walk in the door, and there's a front desk person who can greet you and help with questions for newcomers, or help members with any business matters. To the right is a large seating area for observers, parents, etc. Right by this area is also the school store, where we stock basic gear. To the left is a side room with a couple of vending machines and tables. This is a place where parents can go if they're waiting for kids but are working on their laptop and want privacy, or where parents with extra little ones might go, or anything along those lines. There are also the restrooms that have showers and changing facilities.

The seating area overlooks the main fencing floor, which is a slightly raised wooden floor with shock supports underneath, as well as electric reels mounted on pillars. The pillars are also wrapped with red carpet-material (was sounds gaudy, but looks good) which allow them to be used as targets as well as pells for the longsword guys. Along the walls are targets for practice. The ceilings are high enough for longsword practice. Beyond the fencing floor is the student area, where there are benches and a warm-up area. The warm-up area consists of padded mats on the floor for stretching, as well as a place to store medicine balls, jump ropes, etc. The students can leave their gear on the benches. There are also a couple water coolers as well.

Beyond that is the private coaches area, where the instructors have shelves and such to store their own gear and teaching tools.

We also have a storage room for all of our cleaning supplies and such, as well as the business office. I know there's more, but I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. As you say, Eric, there's a lot of things you need that you just don't think of until you have a school to take care of! Our old place was in a converted limo garage, and when we bought the new building, we gutted it and had contractors build it from the ground up to be more-or-less exactly what we needed.