East Bay Fencers Gym

I’m writing this review as a parent of teenage sons who have fenced at EBFG for about 3 years now. Full disclosure: I don’t personally fence, have no experience with other gyms, and my sons don’t compete, (although the gym is extremely active in competition and fully supports member participation). My kids just attend classes for fitness and fun on a weekly basis, 2 – 3 times/​week. As a fun, rigorous, unique workout, EBFG is a fantastic option.
The coaches have all been very friendly and helpful. I hear no complaints about coaches from my sons, and all of my own interactions with the coaches has been really friendly and informative and supportive. They make a point of reaching out whenever communication is needed, and are always happy to chat if I drop in or call.
Billing is convenient and fees seem reasonable. I always try to remember that this is a small business and it must be very challenging to make ends meet. The gym is labor of love for the people who work there and run the business.
The facility is basic, but it has all the necessary equipment. It’s a little funky — this is not a super-​slick chichi gym. During hot weather it can be stiflingly hot inside, and while this doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem in practice, better ventilation would be a welcome upgrade.
Parents, family and friends are always welcome to sit in on sessions, and they even have free wifi, which has been super handy on days when I’ve needed to get some work done while waiting for the boys. Even though the neighborhood is a little edgy, in practice we’ve never had any bad experiences there. Another plus is that it is really easy to get to from the 980 freeway, and just a few blocks walk from BART. There is usually street parking, some of it is free, some metered.
EBFG has been a great experience from my perspective as a parent. My older son, who is normally not very social, has really benefitted from the additional opportunity to socialize with other people his age, and as he transitioned into adulthood, he was warmly welcomed into the adult classes. The adult members were very kind to him. My younger son absolutely loves the camaraderie and has developed several friendships with his fellow students. I really appreciated that the coaches didn’t pressure us to convince the kids to compete. (They both tried competition, but found it tedious — this is a problem with the way competitive fencing is organized in my opinion — it certainly has nothing to do with EBFG.)
If you have kids who are interested in fencing, I highly recommend Abdul and EBFG.

I’ve been fencing for many years and all I can say is that The East Bay Fencers Gym is good for Épée bouts and not much more. It’s in a rougher part of Oakland and has an arena feel to it where only the strong survive. There is no real camaraderie to speak of, especially for new-​comers. There is a bit of a cult of personality around the coach, which is normal for many clubs, but here is feels forced and also required to fit in. Most of the fencers are men, which is not unusual, but women don’t really seem that welcome. I know an adult female fencer who felt as if she had to run a gauntlet to be accepted. Over all I would say there are several better clubs in the Bay Area. Ones that have a nice friendly feel and where the bouting, while not as strong, is very still good!

I can’t speak for the quality of the fencing instruction which may be top notch. My review is simply a buyer’s beware. They charge $ 25 per child for a trial lesson. For that much, you get footwork training, not even touching a sword. This might be very appropriate for a first lesson, but I just want to caution any parents out there who are used to a complimentary trial class or very reasonable charge for the first class. The owner Abdul if very adamant that you are getting MORE than what you paid for. I understand that he has an overhead, and maybe he only wants committed and wealthy students. Again this is just a buyer’s beware for any parent whose child does not know if they will even like it.

Just an update… fast forward 4 months and both boys love fencing and we love the gym and the coaches. We’ve not had any problems and are so glad to have discovered fencing and to have found this great gym. Would highly recommend this sport for both girls and boys. You can talk to Abdul about having your child try it out first.

I have been fencing here for several years. The instruction is fantastic, the atmosphere most friendly, helpful and supportive. Épée really is the dominant fencing for adults but they do have youth foil– which my two daughters are in and love. Re billing, this club is like any other fencing club gym or other monthly service– you have to give 30 days notice if you are going to drop– clearly notated on the membership form. Why someone thinks that a 24 hour fitness, your corporate cable company or anyone else deserves 30 days notice and a small independent business does not is beyond me…

Longest review ever, but it doesn’t reflect the quality of instruction — you’ll learn a lot here, very quickly, and you’ll sweat your ass off. All good things. Coaches and assistant coaches are all good teachers who give useful corrections and are clearly talented. You get thrown in, and you swim.
But what went down with my experience of their billing and contract terms (and more importantly, the owner’s response to it) was not a good thing. It sucked. It was weird. The billing part was a little loose right from the start. The first time I went in, I had a private lesson with the owner. I lasted about 20 minutes (it’s hard!) and he ended up not charging me. Really generous, right? Sure, but then I signed up for a membership and they charged me the full $ 135 monthly fee … even though I started on the third week of June. I shrugged it off, no big deal.
And the membership contract part? I got handed one the first time I came in, as if it was a given, and yes, I felt a little pressured to sign it. I deflected the first time (said I’d do it next time), and it was the same experience the following week. I ended up signing so I could hurry and get on the floor, and made the classic mistake of not actually reading it. My fault. Turns out they have a 30-​days-​in-​advance-​of-​next-​due-​date cancellation policy, which means as soon as you sign it, you immediately owe them $ 270, even if you decide right away that it’s not for you. It’s not a wildly unusual policy for gyms, but you don’t expect it there, and you’re not given a copy of the paperwork.
Not realizing that policy was in effect, I emailed the gym a week before the new month to say I wouldn’t be coming anymore, at which point they politely informed me I’d still be charged for all of the following month. I wrote back to say I hadn’t know that, and asked whether — since I wouldn’t be coming in at all in August, i.e. would be not be taking up any of their resources — they would consider not taking that money. (Since we were being pleasant at the time, I mentioned that I was saving up for a September wedding.) Radio silence. On the last day of July, $ 135 for the following month cleared my account. I’d not only been charged, I’d been charged twice in one month.
The silence and the double-​charge was annoying, so I wrote to ask for a copy of my signed contract. At this point I just wanted some peace of mind, and to understand exactly what I’d signed. That was a week ago — still haven’t received it. What I have received are a lot of voicemails from the owner, the last one pretty damned nasty. We spoke once on the phone, a conversation during which he continually told me how generous he’d been to me (was that the free 20-​minute lesson that actually cost $ 67?) and wouldn’t let me talk. That was fun to field at work. And in the voicemail I just got, he said, among other things, «I guess you’re having money troubles or whatever.» (Is that a reference to the wedding? Seriously?!)
I think part of the problem is that it’s difficult for us to communicate with each other because we don’t share the same first language (I said I would be writing a Unilocal review based on my experiences; I think that sounded like «I’m going to leave a horse head in your bed» to him, based on his vitriol), but I also think it’s escalated to an insane, freaky place that’s totally inappropriate.
Oh, and in terms of a copy of the signed agreement, they did actually send one — but it belonged to some other girl … and contained all of her credit card information. L — - Rath, your Visa’s safe with me.