Our History and Coaches

When head coach and owner Julia Richey came to the US in 1999, she was told that there was no fencing in the US! Of course that was before Mariel Zagunis, Tim Morehouse and our other Olympians really got started showing the world that the US fences. When she relocated to Columbus, OH after a year in Virginia, she decided to start her own fencing club in order to provide students with the kind of fencing education and life skills that she felt were most important.

In 2001, Royal Arts was formed to teach fencing not only as sport, but as a lifelong love and providing lessons for life. Focusing on youth fencing in America, Ms. Richey built the program up to be one of the largest in the area, started the Arnold Fencing Classic as one of the largest tournaments in the country and part of the largest mutli-sports festival in the nation (probably the world), the Arnold “Schwarzenegger” Sports Festival. She has already produced one national champion with several more being groomed right now.

In September 2009, Tim Mills, a USFCA certified and owner of the largest club and youth program in Indiana, relocated to Columbus to teach sabre.

Together our coaches have built an unparalleled program for fencers of all ages.

Our Instructors

In addition to Ms. Richey and Mr. Mills, Royal Arts has additional instructors assisting in teaching this sport. Currently the primary instructors are Russ Halsey and Alyson Michael.

More Than Just Fencing…

At Royal Arts we love to fence. Fencing teaches skills for life. We utilize those skills and do many other projects to compliment the experience of our members. We are the host of the largest independently run tournament in the nation, the Arnold Fencing Classic. We also do lock-ins, camps, host other tournaments and do projects such as short filmmaking with the members.