FIERCE COMPETITION IN MALCHOW
The regular fee entry fee deadline for the Dallas NAC is February 8, 2010.
I just returned from the world cup in Malchow, Germany where I competed with two other team mates from the US, Gerard Moreno and Andrea DeMello. In men's B sabre there were 19 fencers, 16 went up and Gerard finished 17th. In men's A sabre there were 21 fencers and I won only one pool bout and later lost in the first round to Redondo, ESP 15-14. I finished 18th. From what I could tell at least in men's A sabre there seems to
be two basic schools of thought, Citerne FRA & Pylarinos GRE both fenced as if they were wielding an epee, mostly going after the hand with lots of stop cuts, remises, and point attacks. Both fencers were very successful using this tactic, as they were very fast and had a very long reach. Citerene and Pylarinos finished respectively 2nd and 3rd while Stanczuk POL, who fenced in a more traditional sabre style finished first overall.
With the new timing and speed of modern sabre, there is no doubt that mistakes will happen and occasionally calls determined to be simultaneous will be a prep on one side and (in response to this prep,) an actual attack from the other side. In order to win this touch, I think it is very important that the director see very clearly both actions so that the proper call will be made.
Any time where there is a question about calls, it is your right to have the action explained to you by the referee and if for any reason you feel that the ref doesn't understand your action, then it is time to change that tactic to avoid further inadvertant touches by your opponent. Basically anytime something doesn't work, change it immediately!
There was certainly much drama and disagreements about the calls in sabre, particularly during the team competition where it dramatically affected Greece and allowed France to advance to the finals at 45-44. The last touche was repeated several times, but where the controvery came was when Pylarinos made the last touche and Noble attempted to test his manchete, in his excitement, Pylarinos removed his glove which forced the referee to annul the touche and return the score to 44-44. The next touche was awarded to France and Greece was defeated.
In men's A foil there were 21 competitors, and in the pools I won 3-2 which seated me 11th in the DEs. I drew Hummer GER and easily took him out. In the second round I fenced with Lemoine FRA and lost 15-8 or 9? Lemoine went on to win the gold. I finished 13th. In men's B foil there were 20 competitors. In DEs 16 went up and Gerard finished 16th. Yusapov RUS defeated Latreche FRA in the finals. It was a very close bout.
In women's B epee there were 10 fencers and Andrea finished 10th. Briese-Baetke GER won the gold. In women's B foil there were 12 fencers and Andrea finished 11th. Breur GER won the gold.
No Chinese fencers were at this tournament and only a few fencers came from Hong Kong, mostly women. Other than noticing some considerably younger faces whom I did not know, I think I had my best results in foil. As for women's saber, I do not believe there were enough competitors in the B category and in the A category, the final was between two Russians.
ABLE-BODIED FENCING VERSES WHEELCHAIR FENCING
The wheelchair is little more than a platform, secured to the fencing frame that allows the fencer the freedom to move back and forth, in and out of harm's way from his or her opponent. By moving side to side, including half-turns and ducking, each fencer does what he or she can to evade his or her opponent’s blade to avoid being touched while simultaneously trying to score a touch against his or her opponent. Of the three weapons, two are priority or right of way, saber and foil. In the third weapon, epee, there is no priority and it is even possible to score simultaneous touches.The game tends to develop more quickly in wheelchair fencing than in able-bodied fencing because wheelchair fencers are in such close proximity to one another, literally fencing at arm's length distance. Unlike able-bodied fencing where the fencers can move up and down a 14 meter long strip, the field of play or piste for wheelchair fencing is considerably smaller, between some 3 to 4 meters in length and barely a meter wide. The wheelchairs are placed in a metal frame and are securely fastened so that the fencers' wheelchairs remain at a fixed distance and at a specific angle to one another (110° +/-2° to the center bar) throughout the bout.
Mario & Jacob prepare to do a fencing demo during a recent abilities expo in Arizona while Riana and Drew look on.
TRAINING CAMPS IN FEBRUARY & MARCH
Les Stawicki, national coach for wheelchair fencing is having a training camp inLouisville,Kentucky, the weekend of Feb 27th and 28th, Saturday and Sunday. If you plan to attend this camp, contact Ginny at Methodist Rehabilitation Center email:TriClimb@aol.com and let her know. There will also be a regional training camp in Phoenix, (Mesa) Arizona. The dates are: March 12-14, 2010. Details for both events are available here and/or navigate to the Schedule Page for further details.
A IWFC schedule for international tournaments has finally been posted and I've included a link for fencers interested in pursing international competition. Please see the IWFC schedule link on the Links Page of this website.
If you plan to compete internationally, you should familiarize yourself with requirements for drug testing and joining USADA if you haven't already done so already. There is a link for your convenience on the Links Page for you to begin this process.
WEBSITE LAST UPDATED Wednesday, February 5, 2010