Baited Blade Classical Fencing

The Founder

Robert McPherson was a quiet kid who tended to keep to himself.  On many Saturdays when other kids were out playing he might be found watching old movies.  He developed a love of the old Swashbucklers.  Even at this young age, Bob found he had an eye for action; he could tell when a move was too impractical or when it just seemed right.  Throughout his teens, Bob talked of swordplay and fencing.  He purchased his first fencing book in the book store at Washington University while on a field trip there with school.  Bob did what he always did in those days; he read and he dreamed. 

It wasn’t until September of 1982 when Bob found that he was enrolled in a fencing class.  The then twenty year old had been talking about maybe someday, getting into fencing so much that a friend signed him up (To shut him up of course).  They were hanging out in the friend’s kitchen and his buddy informed him that he had a fencing class to attend that Thursday and that Bob owed him $20.00 for the cost of the class (yes, that is what a fencing class cost back then).  Bob went and though some beliefs and personal myths were dashed that first night (this was really hard), he was hooked.

It did not take the young student long to work his way into teaching.  Even though Bob was not as strong, fast or coordinated as many of the other fencers, above all he understood theory.  From the spring of 1985 on he was a teacher for the club where he belonged.  As time went by, Bob became increasingly dissatisfied with the artificiality and departure from tradition that ran rampant through the sport of fencing.  With every competition he attended he became more dispirited.  Even though his career on the strip was beginning to take off, even though he had become one of the most sought after directors, he withdrew from the world of competition and tried to find solace in his weekly practices with the blade.  Along with fencing in the club, he kept reading and learning about the art’s origins.  Along with this, Bob discovered stage fencing.  That was yet another avenue where Bob could use his understanding of sword action to his advantage; he became quite accomplished as a fight choreographer.  Even with all of these directions, the direction fencing in his club and in the world was going left him wanting something more.  Through no fault of Bob’s first instructor, Bill Starr, Bob was finding it difficult to be happy with the art as he was practicing it.  It was time to strike out on his own.  

A Different Kind of Club

In the very early part of 1993, Bob offered classes to the tenants of his apartment complex.  He invited like minded friends from his fencing world to participate and the small group was called Pheasant Run Fencing Club.  He knew it would not be a permanent name but it was a start and here, Bob could teach the art his way.  He immediately separated what his group was doing from the rest of the current fencing community and they progressed.  At the same time, he continued fencing at his club. 

Some people in his new circle brought him in contact with a larger world of fencers who had pulled away from the mainstream and Bob discovered the “Classical Fencing” movement.  This was the stimulus Bob needed.  His club was growing and it was time to choose a permanent name. 

It didn’t take long to come up with Baited Blade.  It represented the very nature of what this new club was trying to accomplish.