Fencing is like playing Capture the Flag—it's fun, great for encouraging healthy competition, and safe as long as you're not using lightsabers. Keep your Jedi robes unscathed with today's Groupon: for $35, you get a 90-minute youth fencing class (a $70 value) at Manhattan Fencing Center in Midtown.

Featured in the New York Times when hosting the U.S. Olympic fencing team's training in 2008, Manhattan Fencing Center is home to prestigious instructors who have coached or fenced at Olympic and national levels. During a 90-minute youth class, scheduled most weekday afternoons and weekend mornings, little swashbucklers from 7 to 13 can learn strategic skills for foiling sword-wielding foes and skewering excessive kebabs. Students build fencing foundations of fancy footwork, basic parrying, attacks, drills, and open bouting within a noncompetitive environment, which encourages character building and patience. The center provides all safety equipment and sabers, so participants can leave their Michelin Man costumes and cardboard broadswords at home.