Club History

The Beginnings of Columbia Classical Fencing, LLC

In the 1990s, Dr. Patrick Peritore—a political science professor at the university—began teaching fencing in Columbia, Missouri. His “Columbia Fencing Academy” started at first with only a handful of members, but, over the coming years, the academy’s membership would eventually include dozens of Mid-Missourians. We were always impressed at how far people came—sometimes as far as an hour’s drive away—to experience fencing. This convinced us that there was a definite and consistent demand for fencing in this region.

Eventually, Dr. Peritore retired to Brazil. The academy’s members continued meeting for a time, led by Patrick T. Morgan, one of Dr. Peritore’s first fencing students.

CCF Head Instructor, Patrick Morgan

The Formation of CCF

To continue to meet the demand for fencing in Mid-Missouri, Mr. Morgan organized Columbia Classical Fencing, LLC in 2010. He renamed the new club to emphasize its emphasis on classical fencing, that is, fencing as it was practiced in the West in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 CCF’s Instructors

Mr. Morgan is CCF’s head instructor and manager. He has been studying and teaching classical fencing for over 15 years. Mr. Morgan’s fencing has focused on the classical French school. Although CCF’s head instructor, he continues to train, whenever possible, under classically-trained maestri and instructors across the country and then passes on that knowledge to CCF’s members.