Silver Lake Fencing Club has been teaching the art of swashbuckling since 2014. Owners Victor Yuan (left) and David Weissberg call fencing “physical chess because you are always thinking of the next series of moves.”
Eastsider Staff Photo by Brenda Rees
Silver Lake—Donning thick gloves and a protective helmet, I felt like I was getting ready for a spacewalk. Instead, I was suiting up for an introductory class at the Silverlake Fencing Club, which has been teaching the art of swashbuckling since 2014. Inside this bustling studio off Hyperion Boulevard, advanced fencers duel furiously, their foils slapping loudly with force and power.
The club was founded by Carolyn Zoe, who moved to the East Coast two years ago. It is now owned by David Weissberg and Victor Yuan, who have since tripled membership and added new classes, including sessions for kids.
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Weissberg, who works as a creative director, came to fencing “late in the game,” describing a midlife crisis 10 years ago. But instead of buying a motorcycle like his friends, “I’m the idiot who bought a sword, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Yuan also found fencing about a decade ago, first as a member of an elite team on the East Coast, and after relocating to L.A., as a coach at schools and studios.
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Both love competitive physical pursuits. Fencing, they say, gives them—and their members—a mental and bodily workout.
“It’s like physical chess, because you are thinking of the next series of moves,” says Yuan. He notes that size often doesn’t matter, and a hulking opponent can often be no match for a smaller, strategic foe.
Sharing space with a dance studio, the club attracts scientists, architects, professors, artists, musicians, filmmakers and more. Yuan loves to watch shy students realize their power. “They give it 100 percent. And you can see the smile on their faces.”
During my class, Yuan gave an overview of the gear and rules, demonstrated stances and lunges, and showed how to block and attack. We learned to move more “like Mr. Krabbs than Squidward,” keeping the distance between our feet and stepping forward in attack mode. We dueled with each other, clanking our blades, and raising arms overhead as we lunged, blocked and searched for the elusive hit. And boy, did we smile.
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