Through the years, my boys have attended dozens of different summer camps in the Portland metro…read morearea. Sports camps, arts camps, city camps and YMCA camps. This summer we gave Northwest Fencing Center a try and for one son it was the highlight of his summer. He is my renaissance kid and wanted to spend his entire summer riding horses, acting, learning archery, fencing and attending Renaissance Faires. If there were a camp where you could build your own set of armor, he would have been first in line. The staff were nice and the camp was for a variety of ages. When I would arrive a few minutes early for the pick-up, all the kids would be playing a form of team tag, but following the fencing rules they learned earlier in the day. Even though they all wore fencing gear and masks, I could always pick out my son because of his enthusiasm and he would yell, "Huzzah" every time he bested an opponent. The only negatives are that this was a half day camp. As a working parent, I would have preferred longer hours. Also, their facility is geographically undesirable for our family. Convenient for many since it is just a few minutes off 217, but doing two round trips a day (especially during the morning commute hours) from my area were a drag. This is also the only reason why he isn't taking classes this fall. Fencing is a bit of a hot sport in our area, especially during the summer Olympic years since we have several competitors that train and teach in our area. Definitely more interesting and more active than making a clay ashtray.

I was looking for an individual sport that would appeal to my tween daughter, who never took to…read moreteam sports, soccer/tennis balls, and who despises leotards, ballet slippers and sequins. (We have tried them all.) She has finally found her tribe, and I cannot recommend this center and the coaches highly enough. NW Fencing Center has been home to world class fencers for decades, and the coaches are some of the best in the country. More importantly, they also happen to be decent, caring, principled humans, who have experience in working with kids and adults of all ages. They have gone out of their way to help my awkward, left-handed tween gain self-esteem; learn to maintain composure, and persevere with courage under pressure. It has truly been a life changing sport for her. On a whim, I signed up for the adult epee classes as a way to decompress during the pandemic and I have come to love it so much! I've met interesting, fun people from all ages and backgrounds during my classes. It has been a great experience for our family! The center supplies all the gear for beginner fencers, so you can try it out before committing. Come and check it out; it may just be the best thing you do all year!

They are excellent at teaching youth that want to try their hand at a new skill. Great step between…read moreknowing nothing and wanting to train to be an Olympian. Offer semi-private lessons to those wanting to learn more in-depth. Very affordable and fun!!

From the owner: Started in September of 2021, we wanted to start an Olympic fencing school where all were welcomed…read moreand at an affordable price, just to simply embrace the love of sword fighting.

My daughter LOVES the classes that she takes through the Academia. Her focuses are swords in the…read moreBuckler style and the Victorian self-defense. The instructors are great. Very well practiced, mindful of a student's abilities and challenging too. The classes range from week to week depending on skill levels and if there is a special technique to train in. My daughter entered the school with no experience or equipment. This was not a problem. Other students, more advanced, step in to assist in training. Equipment is handy to use and rent. And items, like the special leather gloves, are for purchase. All in all this has been a foundational experience for my daughter. She is gaining confidence, skills and mastering two practices. It is a great deal! Definitely come check out the Academia, it's worth it.

These guys are as real as it gets. Working with recently re-translated material from German and…read moreSpaniard sources this school is an incredible and rare resource for individuals who wish to learn from those traditions. The school is reasonably priced, located in a really good place accessible by public transportation. The instructors there are the nicest people you will ever want to meet. They are friendly, treat students with respect, and without the snobbery that many newcomers experience in other schools. In short, if you are looking to learn sword-fighting in the traditional form, which includes the training of the mind, body and spirit, you will find a home here.

Just started with Coach Meehan and he's awesome. I'm 45 years old and have never had a coach…read morebefore. I don't know what I'm doing but he does. He's been fencing it since 1983. I'm grateful to him and his son, Dylan, who works there. Apparently you can teach an old dog like me new tricks.

My daughter was fencing here for a few months and fell in love with sport. However recentlly The…read moreowner made comments about the attire she was wearing in a loud desrespectful way embarrasing her in a building full of other people. When I emailed about this ,and called he went on to tell me that my daughter was a liar and that I should have told him about "her sensitivity with criticism" which was not the issue. He was unkind and abbrassive and I have removed her from this class. She is devastated. I would not recommend this business unless you would like to be yelled at while being coached and if you when you approach with concerns be belittled and told your a liar. With that being said I gave it 2 stars because coach Andrew was kind and really helps the kids understand what they are doing right and what they could work on.

Love this gym, been a member for more than a few years- however, this review is for my personal…read moretrainer who deserves 6 stars or more. I live with chronic back pain and a year ago a friend told me to book an appointment with Aksana. Nothing else (I've tried it all) helped much so I went ahead with an initial training appointment and it changed EVERYTHING! i could barley walk normally when we first started and 3 appointments later I could move more freely and when my pain got bad it only took hours instead of days to reset. A year, and 14-15 appointments it has set the physical clock back years! Aksana has been a literal life saver for me and I am forever grateful!

After being a member for several months, I am dropping my star rating to a 3. One of the reasons…read morethat I was looking forward to this club was that I could work from here and then get a workout in. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi is so spotty, down more often than not, that I can't imagine being able to do any kind of work from the club. This also makes it challenging to use any kind of app which requires Wi-Fi in order to track your progress when you're lifting. The second reason I dropped my star rating was because there are a number of machines, for example the large cable machine in the main workout area, that are missing most of their weight stickers. Unless you are familiar with the weight progression of that specific machine, you are guessing at what weight you are actually lifting. Final issue, the attachments for the cable machine over in the room which has the Astroturf are very worn. A few are missing the rings to even connect and people have tied knots into the strap in order to make it work. These may seem minor but for the price you pay for a membership plus the sign-up fee, I would expect these little things to be easily taken care of.