Why no street shoes?
Fencing has lots of dynamic back and forth movement, powerful pushes, sudden stops, and explosive lunges, all while trying to hit someone with 3 feet of steel. The last thing anyone wants is to slip in the middle of a big lunge or crash into someone because they couldn’t stop. Dust, dirt, water, and debris can cause a real hazard on the fencing strip.

In addition, the metal fencing strips we have are, to be honest, pretty expensive. They are exactly the same kind of strip that would be used at national, international, and Olympic competition. They’re made from interlocking aluminum pieces, and the cracks and crevices can get dirty pretty easily. Worst of all, salt corrodes aluminum and would permanently damage them. We all know how salty everyone’s shoes get in the winter.

That’s why, like most other gyms, I’m requiring street shoes stay out of the fencing area.

What shoes should I wear for fencing?
When you’re first starting, I recommend you use a cross trainer or a court shoe (tennis, low top basketball, volleyball, or racquetball shoes). Definitely avoid wrestling shoes and any “toe shoes” (like Vibram).

There are fencing-specific shoes out there, but you don’t need those right away. I personally like the Nike Air Zoom (used to be called Ballestra).