The club was founded a week after the International Olympic Committee awarded Melbourne the 15th Olympiad on 28 April 1949.

In addition to encouraging public participation in the sport of fencing, the club sought to train and develop competitive athletes in three weapons to represent Australia at the Melbourne 1956 Summer Olympics.

Overall the club has produced 48 per cent of Australia's total number of Olympic fencers.

Fencers from the US, UK, Italy, Kuwait, France, India, China, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore are frequent visitors.

Overall total of medals achieved by VRI Fencing Club members for individual and team events at the British Empire Games (1954–1958) and British Commonwealth Games (1962–1970), prior to the establishment of the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in 1974.