“Even with the young age of most of our members, we still have about an 80 percent win rate,” said Green, a Chinese and secondary education senior. “The schools we are having trouble with are the ones we’ve always had trouble with.”

The only section of the fencing club that has not been affected by the large amount of newbies is the men’s epee team, which team captain and genetics senior Ian Rozich calls “the powerhouse of the fencing club.” Rozich said the men’s epee team has never been stronger.

The fencing club competes in the Midwest Fencing Conference, which consists of 16 schools with varsity or club programs. Members can also compete in travel squads and United States Fencing Association individual tournaments.

The fencing club practices year-round, even with the teams next tournament not until Jan. 25.

There are four weapons used by the fencing club: the sabre, foil and epee. The foil is the lightest of the weapons and the epee is the heaviest and least flexible. Each blade has respective rules regarding what areas on the blade can be used and where the blade must touch on the opponents body to score points.

Although the rules and regulations of fencing are strict, the team doesn’t let the seriousness of the sport get in the way of camaraderie. Even new members are welcomed into the club as family.

Emily Titus, a biochemistry sophomore, delved into fencing with no prior training at the beginning of the school year. Since then, she has become an integral part of the team.

“Honestly, my roommate dragged me here the first couple weeks,” Titus said. “I went to a tournament a couple weeks ago, and that made me want to keep with it. (Fencing) is a huge adrenaline rush. It’s unconventional, so it interested me. (The team members) are all really nice. We have a good balance between friendship and sportsmanship, if I didn’t have one or the other this wouldn’t be so much fun.”

And fun is what the team has a lot of — even rigorous practices that run from 8 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday don’t put a damper on the joking and smiles exuberantly displayed during training.

“(Fencing) isn’t for everyone. You either love it or you don’t. I think it’s a great stress reliever and a lot of fun,” Genetics sophomore and first year men’s epee team member Matthew Wexler said. “We get to stab people and hit them with swords — what could be more fun than that?”