Iron Tide Historical Fencing splits Sunday practice for beginners and advanced fencers

Iron Tide Historical Fencing changed the feel of its Sunday work at Sims Park by splitting the session into beginner instruction and advanced training, a small scheduling move with big consequences for a club trying to grow. The practice ran Sunday, June 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in New Port Richey, and the structure made the answer simple for anyone curious about HEMA: newcomers had a place to start without being thrown into the deep end, while experienced fencers still had room to push pace and intensity.

That matters in a sport where the first hurdle is often not technique but access. Iron Tide’s setup lowered the intimidation factor by separating first-timers from seasoned swordsmen in the same public venue, rather than forcing every participant into the same pace. For anyone looking to join locally, the beginner track was the obvious entry point; fencers already comfortable with blades and drills could use the advanced side to sharpen tournament-ready work and keep their training honest.

The move also fits the club’s broader identity. A December 2025 profile said Iron Tide was started by Eric Flentge with co-founders Levi Lawrence and Raphael Honey, and that the group teaches sabres, German longswords, Messer swords, arming swords, and bucklers. The club began in armored combat before pivoting to sword fighting and fencing in part to reduce concussion risk, and it had about six to eight members at the time, a small roster that makes a clear onboarding path especially important.

Sims Park gives the club a visible home base, and that public footprint has helped frame historical fencing as a regular local activity rather than a curiosity tucked away from view. Iron Tide has already carried the sport into community settings such as James M. Marlowe Elementary’s Great American Teach-In, and the same city now hosts other historical fencing activity through the Society of American Military Swordsmanship at the New Port Richey Recreation & Aquatics Center on Tuesday evenings. The city’s class listing says beginners need no prior experience or equipment and places the curriculum in the long arc of American military swordsmanship from the Colonial period through World War II.

Iron Tide Historical Fencing Inc. was incorporated on December 1, 2025, in Hudson, Florida, underscoring how quickly the club has moved from startup status to a more organized public presence. With Sunday practices now split by skill level, the club has built a cleaner runway for new faces and a better training lane for veterans, exactly the kind of structure that can keep a small HEMA scene growing without dulling its edge.