Fencing in the News

[LongBlade]

Princeton fencing coach Michel Sebastiani to retire
Newsday.com
June 23, 2005

www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--princetonfencing0623jun23,0,3600068.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton fencing coach Michel Sebastiani will retire at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season, his 25th at the Ivy League school, the university announced Thursday.

Sebastiani, who will be 68 when he steps down, has guided the men's program to a 199-84 record and the women's program to a 126-82 mark.

Under his guidance, the teams have combined to win nine Ivy League championships and six IFA national championships. He has coached three NCAA individual men's champions and one NCAA individual women's champion. Sebastiani's men's teams have finished in the top four of the NCAA or IFA 16 different times.

The men's team has had 19 straight winning seasons, while the women have had a winning record 11 of the last 12 years.

"Michel has left an impressive legacy through his work with Princeton's fencing program," athletic director Gary Walters said.

A native of France, Sebastiani holds two master's degrees from the National Institute of Sports in Paris. Before becoming a fencing coach, he was a member of the French national modern pentathlon team for the 1960 Olympic Games and an officer in the French Foreign Legion paratroopers.

He formerly headed the top fencing academy in the country in Houston, and in November of 2001 Sebastiani opened a fencing center in Princeton, the Cercle D'Escrime de Princeton-Sebastiani.

[LongBlade]

En garde: Fencing youth heads to National Tournament as top-ranked Texan in age group
Dallas Morning News
June 24, 2005
Staff report

www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/neighbors/carrollton/news/stories/carr_fencing_6-25.407a9410.html


READY TO COMPETE: Carrollton fencer Connor Gibson, 12, gets ready to compete in El Paso recently.

Twelve-year-old Carrollton resident Connor Gibson qualified for the National Fencing Championship Tournament to be held in Sacramento, Calif., the weekend of July 4.

Gibson has been competing as a saber fencer for the past several years.

This year he has qualified for the national championships in two age groups, the Youth-12 and Youth-14 divisions. Connor is currently ranked No. 16 in the nation in the Youth-12 division and No. 60 in the nation in the Youth-14.

In addition to qualifying for nationals, he also tied for first place in the state in the Regional Youth Circuit in his age group. The regional circuit tournaments are the main qualifying arenas for Nationals and generally draw competitors from all over the state.

Gibson’s best finish in the Regional Youth Circuit this year earned him a gold medal in El Paso on March 12.

Gibson fences for the Dallas Fencers Club, taught by his coach, Waldek Czaja. Several other members of the club have also qualified for nationals, but Gibson is the only Carrollton resident and is the highest-ranked participant.

For more information, see the club’s Web site at www.dallasfencers. com.

[LongBlade]

Perth Olympian charting course toward worlds
By ROB BRODIE
Ottawa Sun
6/26/05

slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Swimming/2005/06/26/1105665-sun.html

Mike Brown likes his form as the biggest swimming meet of the year draws closer.

The Perth native turned in a pair of golden efforts at the Mel Zajac Jr. international swim competition last weekend in Vancouver.

Brown's triumph in the 200-metre breaststroke was hardly a surprise -- it's the event in which he posted a sixth-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Canada's best result of the Games swimming competition.

He finished in 2:17.85 last weekend at the UBC Aquatic Centre. The Canadian record holder currently ranks No. 5 in the world with a 2:11.97 clocking, making him one of Canada's top medal threats at July 16-31 world aquatic championships in Montreal.

In the 100-metre breaststroke, Brown and Morgan Knabe of Victoria tied for first, both hitting the wall with identical 1:03.71 times.

"I'm in pretty hard training right now and to go my best time when not fully prepared in the 100 is very encouraging," said Brown after the race. "That's a good sign that my endurance is already there at this point in the season."

Brown plans to race both breaststroke events in Montreal.

WRITING SOME HISTORY: Ottawa's Sherraine MacKay is about to become a published author. Last weekend, she helped write a little history on the fencing piste at a World Cup event in Havana. Mac-Kay and the Canadian women's epee team brought home a bronze-medal from the competition -- Canada's first-ever World Cup team medal in fencing. Canada beat Poland 45-35 in the bronze-medal match after falling to Ukraine 45-38 in the semi-finals. The Canadian team also included Monique Kavelaars of Appin, Montreal's Julie Leprohon and Catherine Dunnette of Calgary. "We've shown the fencing world that we are a force to be reckoned with and our eyes are set on gold for the worlds," said MacKay with an eye toward the Oct. 8-15 global event in Leipzig, Germany.

THREE'S A CHARM: Make it three Ottawa Gymnastics Club graduates headed south to the U.S. on athletic scholarships. The club announced that Zuyen Vuong has accepted a full gymnastics scholarship from Eastern Michigan. The Ypsilanti, Mich., school is giving Vuong a package that is 50% athletic and 50% academic. Vuong, 17, had been part of Ontario gold medal teams in the National Open category at the past three Canadian championships. Also headed off to U.S. schools this fall are OGC's Melanie Banville (Alabama) and Heather Purnell (Stanford), both Athens Olympians.

ON THE MARRAKECH EXPRESS: Three area track and field athletes have met the necessary performance standards to represent Canada at the world youth championships, July 14-17 in Marrakech, Morocco. The group includes Allan Brett, Ottawa, men's 1,500 metres (3:55.90); Jenni Biewald, Ottawa, women's 1,500 (4:32.65), and Eganville's Melissa Bishop, women's 400 metres (56.30).

AROUND THE AMATEUR SCENE: Gatineau's Sarah Potvin-Bernal placed second (women's K-1) and John Hastings of Ottawa was third (men's K-1) in at the Nowy Sacz Cup senior international whitewater slalom competition in Poland. Laura Boudens of Killaloe finished fifth behind Potvin-Bernal ... The Ottawa Fury men take on the Brooklyn Knights today at Keith Harris Stadium. It's a 2 p.m. start.

[LongBlade]

The art of fencing--Sport takes intense concentration, tactical thinking
By Andrea Garcia
Fairfield Daily Republic
Fairfield, CA, USA
6/26/05

www.dailyrepublic.com/articles/2005/06/26/features_top_stories/feat01.txt


Annabel Wiechmann, 8, prepares to start a fencing class with instructor Stephen Bergdahl at the Fairfield Community Center. (photo by Christine Baker)

The sport of fencing is a child's dream turned reality.

Inside a small room that fronts cascading water from a makeshift lake, a group of 10 young students move about impatiently before an instructor.

Eight-year-old Annabel Wiechmann holds a sword half her size before placing a wired mask over her face.

"These masks don't let you breathe," the Fairfield resident comments out loud to herself before reaching for the white colored vest, or lamé, as it is called in fencing. "Now I need to know what glove to put on."

Around her, other boys and girls scramble to pull the equipment and garb from several bags resting on the floor, except for two boys, who are already armed with swords and masks. They begin to dual in a playful manner.

"Ah, you got me," says one boy dramatically to the next, and they resume in their moment of mischievous fencing.

Within six minutes, the chaotic surroundings that echoed through this room subside and only the voice of 20-year-old instructor Stephen Bergdahl captures their attention in this much-anticipated moment.

"Watch what I'm doing," Bergdahl of Davis tells the students as he stands before an opponent with his sword, or foil, held high. "Where is my point? Make sure your point is on your target. Ready? En guard."

Anxiously, the children begin to dual with their partners. But their expressions of fulfillment, hidden behind the masks, beam clearly through the mesh.

This group of students, gathered on a weekday afternoon at the Fairfield Community Center, are taking a beginner's class in fencing, a sport that has been around since the Dark Ages and one that was once the primary offensive weapon in Europe.

The class, which has about 25 students between the beginner and intermediate class, is a satellite for its main location in Davis, named the Davis Fencing Academy, and is run by fence guru Simon Pitfield.

But contrary to what most believe, fencing is not the choreographed bouts seen on films, such as "Zorro" who swings from one end of the room to another. Instead, it is a fast and athletic sport that is regarded as an art form, and is defined by an individual's expression.

It is a sport that requires intense concentration, the action and development of muscles as well as tactical thinking.

It is a weapon from the past that has become a sport in today's world.

Fencing in Davis

The sounds of slashing swords and sudden jumps embrace the several onlookers at the Davis Fencing Academy on a Tuesday evening.

Six strips, or piste, measuring 6 feet-by-40 feet, are strategically painted across the large wooden floor. And fencers, all dressed in their white dueling suits, perform an intense dance with their swords on these strips.

They stand with long elastic cords attached to their bodies, which run from a box on the floor to the inside of their uniforms. This is the way points are tallied, scored by touching the valid target area with the tip of the blade. The cord then detects the touch and posts the point on the scoring machine.

Three types of weapons, all found in this one academy, are used in the sport of fencing - foil, epée and sabre.

Foil, a flexible blade weighing less than one pound, measures approximately 35 inches long. To score points, the tip of the blade must land within the torso of the body.

Epée is the closest weapon to the classical dueling weapon and is heavier than the foil, weighing about 27 ounces. The entire body is the valid target area.

The sabre is the modern version of the calvary sword and is similar in length and weight to the foil. The sabre, however, are edged weapons. That is, a touch with the saber - point, flat or edge - to any part of the opponent's valid target area will register a hit.

Pitfield, armed with a foil and a British accent, practices off to the side with Adam Yergovich, a Davis resident who placed third in the Men's Foil at the Bay Cup Fencing competition.

"I'm setting him up for the next lesson," 28-year-old Pitfield says of his friendly bout with Yergovich. "You always start with the basics and move on from there. If you don't do that, you stand losing skills and other things deteriorate."

Twenty-three-year-old Yergovich has been fencing for more than five years. He began by taking fencing classes at the University of California, Davis, followed by teaching lessons at the Fairfield Community Center when the program opened a year ago.

"It's a really tough workout that has a physical and mental component, and that makes it fun," he says, then wipes the sweat off his face. "You've got to have both, you can't have one without the other. It's tough."

Yergovich, who was born and raised in Benicia, turns to look out the wall-length windows.

"It's funny to see the 24-Hour Fitness next door with people on treadmills staring out the windows when they can come here, stab at people and get a good workout," he says, and begins to laugh.

On another side of the room is 10-year-old John Hallsten, who ranks No. 1 in the country under the Youth-10 Sabre category by the U.S. Fencing Association.

"You have to work really hard at it to be really good," he says modestly.

Hallsten's goal is to enter the Olympics one day, however, he says, that's a plan for the future.

"I still have to compete in the internationals," he comments with big, green eyes. "But that won't be for a long time."

The reality of entering the Olympics may not be so far away for Hallsten, however. His coach is 22-year-old Mihaly Csikany, a Hungarian national team fencer who came to the United State a year ago.

As Hallsten practices with a young fencer, Csikany stands watching over him. He appears patient with his student, but observes and critiques each maneuver Hallsten makes. And it's this attitude that has taken the young sabre to the top.

"All of my students have gone on to tournaments," he says passionately and confidently. Csikany has 28 students at the academy. "I want to create more champions because fencing is my life. I want to die fencing."

Mr. Pitfield

Pitfield opened his Davis academy a little more than six years ago with 27 students. Today, the fencing coach has roughly 250 students divided among the main academy and eight satellite programs from Fairfield to Sacramento.

"Our numbers doubled from what we had last year," he says.

Pitfield, a native of England, believes that the sport of fencing is finally making a resurgence in the area.

"I think it's because fencing is a great way to gain physical fitness and it appeals to a target group," he adds.

The target group Pitfield is referring to are children ages 10-12. It keeps them away from the television and computer and is an organized activity, which parents seem to like.

"It's not something they do where they swing away with blunt objects or go in the backyard and pick up sticks," Pitfield says. "They learn to control their muscles, how to think and outsmart their opponent and teaches a lot of sportsmanship."

"In order for a person to use the sword they must have good control of themselves both physically and emotionally," he continues. "Plus it's safer. Fencing is 50 percent safer than soccer."

John Hallsten's father, Jeff, agrees with Pitfield. The 10-year-old boy dropped soccer for fencing a year ago, and takes lessons five days a week, three of which the family travels to Davis from Sacramento. But, Pitfield says, it's the right choice.

"It's a perfect fit for John and he chooses to do it," the Sacramento father says of his son, who was also valedictorian of his fifth-grade class. "Within six weeks of training, John won a gold medal in the Bay Cup event. It's just an amazing sport."

Back at the Fairfield location, Wiechmann continues to fence with the others. Occasionally, she removes her mask to wipe the sweat off her forehead. In the corner, her dad, Mark Wiechmann looks on with pride.

"She loves it," he says of his daughter, who also speaks fluent Russian. "I would have liked to have done this when I was younger."

And the slashing continues.

[LongBlade]

National Fencing Championships 2005
Di-ve.com
Malta, The Mediterranean
Monday, 27 June 2005

www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=189360&pid=1

The National Fencing Association Malta recently organized the 8th edition of the National Championships held over an action packed weekend at the Mtarfa gymnasium. This year the events also featured the youngest three groups of fencers hailing from the Engarde and St. Paul Fencing clubs. The norm in previous seasons was that fencers under twelve years of age would participate solely in club level competitions in preparation for the National Ranking tournaments. The Council of the N.F.A.M. this year took the decision to hold the Nationals across the whole range of age categories which favoured the introduction of a Ranking classification for the younger fencers. Ranking points obtained would be carried forward even when the cadets cross over to an older age category and are subject to the same rules of National Team selection as are the senior fencers. The fencing cadets are mainly concentrating on the foil whilst the seniors participate in foil as well as epee.

There are three fencing 'weapons' -- the foil, epee and sabre. This last weapon is not practiced locally in order to allow the clubs and National Association to concentrate resources on the other two weapons.

During the national championships the fencing bouts were all presided by two Sicilian referees accredited to the Federazione Italiana Scherma (F.I.S.). The allocation of Italian referees for National Ranking competitions in Malta was made possible under the terms of the protocol signed between the two associations in 2004. This year the F.I.S. also loaned scoring equipment which had been adjusted to the new rules for foil fencing introduced by the Federation Internationale D'Escrime (F.I.E. -- the world governing body).

In the cadet events Cain Arpa, Danika Formosa, Paul Borg and Kurt Mifsud took Gold in the U10, U13 (Girls), U13 (Boys) and U16 categories respectively. In the senior events Norman Martinez made it a double once again by winning both the Men's Epee and Men's Foil events. Young Pierre Bianchi, fresh out of a successful participation at the World Championships (Austria 2005) lost 15-9 to Martinez in the finals and claimed a very valid Silver placing. Antoine Bonello and Kurt Galea shared a joint third placing. In Men's Epee Marcus Muscat Baron eliminated Juan Formosa to proceed to a top quality final against Martinez. Muscat Baron succumbed 15-11 to Martinez who claimed his second gold and National Champion title for the weekend. Juan Formosa and Kenneth Spiteri had to content themselves with a bronze placing.

In the Ladies Foil Susan Ronald claimed the national title after beating Mary-Jo Scicluna 15-9 in the final. Bronze placings went to Mary Abela and Rebecca Thomas. The tables were turned in the ladies epee events with Rebecca Thomas taking gold in a hard fought final against Ronald (15-14). Maria Abela and Jessica-Ann Spiteri were joint third. Owing to the rules of the N.F.A.M. which permit expatriates permanently resident in Malta to participate in National Championships the Epee Champion title went to Ronald in lieu of Thomas.

The President of the N.F.A.M, thanked all the participants, the Sicilian referees, Kenneth Spiteri (General Secretary), Nicky Bianchi (Sports Director) and Alex Micallef (Treasurer) for the ample help which they provided to make the Nationals a success. A special thanks was given to Danika Formosa who dedicated Friday evening in helping to set out the scoring equipment prior to the weekend.

The local fencing community is now looking forward to the 'Malta Open' fencing tournament to be held at the end of June. This event, organized by the St. Paul Fencing Club has like in previous years attracted foreign participation.

Results:

Category under 10 (mixed Boys/Girls)

1st Cain Arpa (SPFC), 2nd Martina Formosa (SPFC), 3rd Maria Paola Micallef (EGFC), David Trapnell (SPFC).

Category under 13 (Boys)

1st Paul Borg (SPFC), 2nd Anton Saliba (SPFC), 3rd Sami Chenbout (SPFC), Daryl Pisani (EGFC).

Category under 13 (Girls)

1st Danika Formosa, 2nd Sarah Grech (EGFC), 3rd Ruth Micallef, J.A. Vella (EGFC).

Category under 16 (Mixed Boys/Girls)

1st Kurt Mifsud (SPFC), 2nd Andre Zahra (SPFC), 3rd James Grech (EGFC), Mathew Saliba (SPFC).

Category Senior Mens Foil

1st Norman Martinez (SPFC), 2nd Pierre Bianchi (SPFC), 3rd Antoine Bonello, Kurt Galea (EGFC).

Category Senior Mens Epee

1st Norman Martinez (SPFC), 2nd Marcus Muscat Baron (SPFC), 3rd Juan Formosa (SPFC), Kenneth Spiteri (EGFC).

Category Senior Ladies Foil

1st Susan Ronald (SPFC), Marie-Jo Scicluna (EGFC), 3rd Mary Abela (EGFC), Thomas Rebecca (SPFC).

Category Senior Ladies Epee

1st Rebecca Thomas (SPFC), 2nd Susan Ronald (SPFC), 3rd Mary Abela (EGFC), Jessica-Ann Vella (EGFC). National Champion: Susan Ronald.

[LongBlade]

Fencing champ opens Somerville club with help from longtime fan, landlord
By KARA L. RICHARDSON
Staff Writer
Courier News
New Jersey, USA

www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050627/NEWS01/506270314/1006

SOMERVILLE -- In a mountainous Ukrainian town, Yefim "Jeff" Khovitch would follow news of the famous hometown fencer, Vasil Stankovich.

Stankovich, known for his smart study of opponents, won two silver Olympic medals and was a world champion in foil fencing.

However, the two men wouldn't meet until more than two decades later when they moved half a world away. By chance, they both settled their businesses in Somerville.

Khovitch, who now lives in Bridgewater, started the Country Fresh restaurant in the Downtown Somerville Shopping Center six years ago and later became a landlord by buying the Granetz Building on West Main Street.

Stankovich's fencing career led him to five Class A World Cup wins and to become coach of the USSR National Foil Team. He eventually came to the United States to coach.

When Khovitch heard he was in New Jersey last year, a mutual friend set up a meeting.

It turned out that Stankovich, while working for a fencing studio in Montclair, was searching for a space for his own fencing club.

Khovitch happened to have two floors of his building available with long, narrow spaces, a perfect setting for the linear fencing field. One of the two floors had been vacant for 15 years.

"He was a legend in the sport," Khovitch said of the encounter. "I said wait five minutes, I'll put it together."

The two men are now friends. They helped each other lay the hardwood floor, to give fencers the support and cushion needed for their lightning-quick matches with dance-like grace.

The Maestro Fencing Club opened in April -- offering group and private lessons, camp and open floor time. Stankovich, who lives in Edison, and fellow coach Yevgenity Nazarov teach foil, epee and saber fencing.

The classes have attracted a variety of people -- from a 5-year-old boy to a senior citizen. Neither had fenced before.

For an Olympic and international fencing champion, Stankovich learned to fence relatively late in life. He was 16 years old and had a love for all sports.

But he fell in love with fencing because of the game's mental aspect. The training in college was physical, with practice matches and workouts. However, he said the most important preparation was to study his opponent.

"It's a mental game," Stankovich said.

For example, when Stankovich faced a very technical fighter, he charged and thwacked him to startle him. That technique has worked several times for him.

In Stankovich's studio, he hopes to provide intense workouts, both mental and physical, for his clients. He said fencing builds stamina, coordination, speed, agility, poise and self-assurance.

Andrzej Niewiadomski of Raritan signed up his 5-year-old son, Kacper, for lessons. Niewiadomski hopes his son will learn the discipline and reflexes that fencing can build.

Niewiadomski, a native of Poland, said he wanted to keep the tradition of one of his country's most honored sports alive in his family.

"I always loved this kind of sport. My brother was a fencer, and he was quite good," Niewiadomski said. "It goes back to tradition, the old days."

[LongBlade]

Csikany now teaching at Davis academy
By Chris Saur
Davis Enterprise staff writer
Davis, CA, USA
6/27/05

www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2005/06/27/sports/local/188spt0.txt

Mihaly Csikany's journey, which led him to seven Hungarian national fencing championships, as well as a couple of international championships, all started with a couple family trips when he was 7 years old.

Now, the journey has brought him to Davis where he's a coach at the Davis Fencing Academy. In between, there's been a lot of hard work.

Csikany grew up in Hungary where fencing is major, roughly on the scale of golf or tennis as the top individual sport in the country. Csikany knew he wanted to do something which would make him an important man, but until he was 7, he didn't know what. That is when he made two separate trips that changed his life.

"I went to visit my grandfather, who was in the military and when I got there, I saw this man who was like 80 years old," Csikany said. "My grandfather said, 'do you know who this is?' and when I said no he said, 'I would like to introduce you to Rudolf Karpati.' "

This left him speechless even at a young age because Csikany had just met the most famous Hungarian fencer in history. Csikany still has a signed picture of Karpati to this day.

While meeting Karpati may have peaked his interest, another family trip solidified the thought that he was going to work as hard as it took to be a great fencer.

At this time, Csikany's family had moved out of the small town where he grew up and into Budapest. But when they went back to visit, they would stay at the home of Csikany's mother old boss. This boss had a daughter that was a 10-time fencing champion.

The first time they went to visit, Csikany opened the door to a room which was covered in awards, medals and trophies.

"I said 'all right, let's do this,' " Csikany remembered.

That same year, Csikany joined a club, but it was still some time before he was actually able to fence.

"There were 31 kids and the club didn't have much money," Csikany said. "We only had 28 sets of equipment, and I had to wait a year before enough kids dropped out so I could train."

At this time, Csikany had to choose between one of the three types of fencing -- foil, epee or sabre. Csikany recalls asking his coach which one he should pick.

"He told me that it is like when you throw a ball at someone in dodge ball," Csikany said. "The kids who do this (Mihaly cringes and blocks his body) I tell them to do foil. And the kids who try to catch the ball but are still afraid and they drop it, I tell them to do epee.

"I was the kid who catches the ball and that is why I am a sabre guy. In sabre, you follow the rules but you are also a little more (aggressive)."

After making the decision, Csikany jumped in head first, training two-or three hours a day five times a week for four years before winning his first medal at age 11. Three years later, he was the 14-under national sabre champion. After winning the under-15 national championship and the 16-under national title, Csikany joined the Hungarian National team to start international competition.

The young fencer was ranked ninth or 10th when he joined the team, but hard work on and off the piste (fencing ring) paid off.

"Most of my teammates didn't like me because I was always trying to work harder then them," Csikany said. "I was up running at 6 a.m. because I knew they would still be asleep. Soon I was in the top three."

The national team came to the South Bend, Ind. for the world championships in 1999 where Csikany won his first world title, claiming his age group and taking fifth overall. After tasting international success, Csikany began to train even harder.

Over the next few years, he traveled the world, spending six months a year at home in Hungary where he was on the cover of sports magazines and being recognized for national awards and six months of the year competing. At age 19 and 20, he was in the top eight in the fencing World Cup and in 2003 Csikany took fourth in the European championships and seventh in the world championships.

He would compete in three European championships, three world championships and claim the Hungarian national title seven times.

After accomplishing everything he wanted as a competitor, Csikany wanted to take on the challenge of coaching, so he moved to the United States.

"If you want to be a coach in Hungary, there is no opportunity if you are not at least 40 or 50 years old," Csikany said. "In the U.S., fencing is really growing and they need coaches."

Six months ago, Csikany joined the Davis Fencing Academy after working for a club that closed in Sacramento. So far, he has had two of his pupils win the Pacific Coast Championship and another is now competing for Ohio State. He expects the same hard work from them that he used to put in when he was training. The only difference is that Davis kids don't have to wait a year for equipment to become available.

"I got to the top because a I never gave up," Csikany said. "I want them to train as hard as I used to work because you can't just want something you have to work to get it. You don't have to be really athletic to be a good fencer, you just have to love the sport from your heart, work hard and never give up."

[LongBlade]

Boeing Is Well-Equipped as Airlines Race to Offer High-Speed Web Access
By Peter Pae
L.A.Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles, CA, USA
6/27/05

www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-boeingnet27jun27,1,2380171.story?coll=la-headlines-technology&ctrack=1&cset=true

34,000 FEET OVER THE ATLANTIC — An hour into a recent Los Angeles-to-Munich Lufthansa flight, Boris Kushnir flipped open his laptop and e-mailed the parents of his nine teenage fencing students en route to an international competition in Kiev.

"You don't know how excited they were to know I was telling them this from an airplane," said Kushnir, a fencing instructor at the Beverly Hills Fencers' Club.

Later, he chatted by e-mail with a friend in Russia and then surfed the website for the fencing competition. Kushnir paid about $15 and spent two hours on a direct network connection while airborne.

Traditionally, airplanes have been one of the few places where the Internet has been kept at bay. But more airlines are hoping to differentiate themselves in the lucrative business-traveler market by offering high-speed Internet access.

And that may be good news for Boeing Co., which has invested more than $1 billion to develop the Web technology, analysts said.

The aerospace giant launched its Connexion by Boeing system last year. Since then, Deutsche Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines Ltd., SAS' Scandinavian Airlines, Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. have added the service on 64 aircraft flying 100 routes daily. Six more foreign airlines will add it by next year.

Boeing is also installing its Internet system in all of its new 787 passenger jets slated to fly in 2008. Boeing has 266 orders for the plane.

Some airlines also want Boeing to install its Internet system on Airbus' upcoming double-decked, 555-passenger A380 that will fly in late 2006.

Airlines pay Boeing a one-time equipment fee for the Internet package — which includes the antenna, wireless routers and a computer server. Boeing and the airlines then share the Internet fees paid by passengers.

"We see it as a several-billion-dollar-a-year market," said Laurette Koellner, head of Connexion by Boeing.

[LongBlade]

Fencing club carves up opposition
St. Albans Review & Observer
St. Albans, England, UK
6/28/05

www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/sport/localsport/display.var.609634.0.fencing_club_carves_up_opposition.php

The St. Albans Fencing Club took home a bumper collection of medals from the Hertfordshire Fencing Association and consolidated their position at the top of the county league.

St Albans scooped ten medals, including four golds, at the event, which took place at the DeHavilland Sports Centre.

The highlight of the day was Paul Davis' win in the mens senior competition, with the 17-year-old beating Watford's Andy Docherty in impressive style.

Stewart Batey was awarded the title of Masters at Arms after winning bronze in the Mens Foil and Epee and silver in the Mens Sabre. Stuart Brooks also took silver, in the Mens Novice Foil while Paul Davis won the Men's Under-20 Mixed Foil.

[LongBlade]

The Knights of Cobourg Fencing Club to set fencing roots
by Vince Versace, Staff Writer
Northumberland News
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
6/28/05

www.durhamregion.com/dr/nn/leisure/story/2882007p-3338343c.html

COBOURG - Fencing is a sport with a proud heritage and Cobourg fencers are hoping to set down the roots for the sport locally with the Knights of Cobourg Fencing Club.
"The sport is not about hurting the other person," says Jill Jankovich, club organizer. "It is a noble sport, the kids learn about respect. Fencing is fast and exciting and is not the type of sport where you run people into the boards."

Fencing is a dynamic and exciting sport which requires coordination, timing and balance, notes Ms. Jankovich. There are three disciplines for fencing: foil, epee and sabre, all with their own rules and techniques. Ms. Jankovich placed her son Harrison in fencing in Grade 4 and the 16-year-old is now one of the key organizers of the club. Harrison fences in Kingston and he and his mother thought a club in Cobourg was a viable idea.


Harrison Jankowich/photo by Peg McCarthy

"There is a club in Toronto and one in Kingston and Cobourg is right in the middle of the two," says Ms. Jankovich. "We know we can have 15 kids already for the club and there might be more people looking for something closer."

The club has reached an agreement with the Northumberland YMCA to host demonstration seminars at the Elgin Street facility. The YMCA has also indicated it would be willing to help provide an eight- to 10-week fencing program. The club is looking for a full-time coach and the Ontario Fencing Association has indicated it will recognize the club.

"The sport teaches kids to get along as a team as well because they travel to competitions together and train together," says Ms. Jankovich.

The training involved in fencing contributes to a healthy lifestyle and improves mental alertness also, says Ms. Jankovich. The club's mission statement is to help fencers learn about commitment, courage. discipline and honour.

Besides the Northumberland YMCA location, the club says it would provide its meetings and training in one of the local high schools but a coach needs to be in place before this fall.

"It is a sport which is great for girls and boys but we need someone to help provide that necessary coaching," says Ms. Jankovich.

For more information on the Knights of Cobourg Fencing Club or to inquire about coaching opportunities call 905-372-4777 or e-mail at [e-mail]

[LongBlade]

Fencing championships could bring 7,500 families here for 10-day stays
By Vanessa Krause
Miami Today
Miami, FL, USA
June 29, 2005

www.miamitodaynews.com/news/050630/story7.shtml

The Miami-Dade County Sports Commission has tentative approval to host the 2007 US Fencing Association national championships, which could bring 7,500 fencers and their families to Miami Beach for about 10 days.

"Our role is to generate economic impact for the community through sports, primarily amateur sports," said Mike Sophia, commission executive director. The county commission created the sports commission in 2003.

Mr. Sophia said he expects to have contracts for the event in the upcoming weeks.

"We bid on it, and we've been tentatively awarded the bid," he said. "I don't foresee any major obstacles. We had a pretty good bid, ideal facility, we have plenty of hotel rooms and a variety of different levels of service."

Based on facility requirements, Mr. Sophia said, the Miami Beach Convention Center is the only place that could hold the event.

"It would occupy two halls in the center, because they need massive amounts of square footage for 50 fencing strips," he said. Hotel accommodations would potentially be in Miami Beach, Downtown Miami and the Miami International Airport area.

Generally, three key elements are considered in bids, Mr. Sophia said: the financial package, including financing put into the event, venue and rental costs; whether the venue is suitable and exceeds expectations; and the hotels' rates and proximity to the venue.

"We have a very strong fencing club here, and this [Miami] is a very popular destination," Mr. Sophia said.

Local workers and volunteers would be needed for manual labor. The fencing association would bring people to run and administer the event.

This year's national championship, July 1-10, is in Sacramento, CA. Mike Testa, Sacramento Visitors & Convention Bureau spokesman, said he plans for about 4,000 people to attend, occupying about 700 hotels rooms, with an economic impact of $1.4 million.

[LongBlade]

Fencing club have edge at top event
By CHRIS HUDSON
Shropshire Star.com
Shropshire, Eng, UK
6/30/05

www.shropshirestar.com/show_article.php?aID=34689


Edward Hill, left, Andrew Holding and Mark Wood

Members of the Wrekin Sword Fencing Club have won the prestigious White Horse Trophy, beating top teams from across the country.

The competition is hosted by the renowned Abingdon Club in Oxford and Wrekin Sword's victory saw them claim the coveted crown for the second time in three years.

The team - made up of foilist Edward Hill,19, sabreur Andrew Holding, 23, and epeeist Mark Wood, 23 - beat the hosts in the final by 30 victories to 28.

They had booked their place in the final with a victory over Guildford in the quarter-finals and a 30-27 win over Milton Keynes in the semi-final.

A total of nine teams competed in the event. A round-robin preliminary round saw all nine sides fence against each other to determine their seedings for the quarter-finals.

Wrekin Sword quickly established themselves by coming out on top in that stage to be seeded first.

Defending champions Stourbridge, who defeated Wrekin Sword last year, were knocked out in the quarter-finals this time around.

[LongBlade]

Davis produces golden display
EDITORIAL
Herts Advertiser
Hertsfordshire, Eng, UK
30 June 2005


www.herts24.co.uk/content/herts/sport/story.aspx?brand=HADOnline&category=SportGeneric&tBrand=herts24&tCategory=sporthertsad&itemid=WEED30%20Jun%202005%2012%3A42%3A10%3A473

St. Albans Fencing Club were led by a new teenage sensation as they topped the medal table in the Hertfordshire 2005 County championships at the De Havilland sports centre in Hatfield.



Paul Davis, aged 17, was the shining light for St Albans as they fought off competition from across the county. Davis scored a momentous triumph in the final of the Men's Senior competition, beating Watford's Andy Docherty in a display of lightning fast attacks. Davis further enhanced his reputation as he won his second gold medal in the Under 20's Mixed Foil.

Stewart Batey was awarded the title of Master at Arms for his medal-winning performances in all three fencing disciplines, with two bronze medals and a silver. In the Ladies Foil, SAFC fencers took all three medals, with novice fencer, Alexandra Sanders, achieving an impressive silver in the Ladies Senior competition. It was a clean sweep for St Albans in the senior ladies with Rachel Thomson claiming gold and Alexis Dolling finishing behind Sanders in the bronze medal position. Stuart Brooks won silver in the Men's Novice Foil and Alexandra Sanders gold in the Ladies Novice Foil.

[LongBlade]

There Are Ample Reasons to Condemn Posada Carriles
By Roger Aguilera
Periodico26.CU
Havana, Cuba
June 30, 2005

www.periodico26.cu/english_new/carriles/reasons010705.htm

Las Tunas, Jun 30 (AIN) "I have ample reason to demand sentence against terrorist Luis Posada Carriles," said Anolan de la Cruz, who would have died in the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 along with the Cuban fencing team on board that plane.

Alonan had been part of the initial selection for the fencing team to participate in the Centro-American Games held in Venezuela in 1976.

Before returning to Venezuela, where she is now working, sports trainer Alonan said the time has come for the criminal and his henchmen to be unmasked. The masses of Venezuela are calling for the terrorist's extradition from the US to that South American country, she said.

Anolan recalled the day on which she and a group of fencers went to Jose Marti International Airport to welcome their champion team home, and how their joy turned to anguish when they learned that their friends had been killed off the coast of Barbados.

The welcoming ceremony prepared for that day -October 6 - was transformed into tears and mourning for dozens of Cuban families and the entire Cuban public, she said.

[LongBlade]

Seekonk teen is New England fencing champion
by Katie Almeida
Bristol Phoenix
Bristol, RI, USA
July 1, 2005

www.eastbayri.com/story/301242940307914.php



SEEKONK - Lucas Preston, 13, of Seekonk won the New England Men's Under 12 Division title for fencing on Father's Day, Sunday, June 19. "He came home and said 'Mom, that's my Father's Day present'," said Hope Preston, Lucas' mom. "Winning felt great," Lucas said.

"It was the first time I really won a major championship. It took a lot of work."

"I couldn't have done it without the support of my coach and my family," he added while his mom looked at him with pride.

Alexander Ripa, his coach for the past two years, is also very proud.

"He has done very well," Mr. Ripa said.

"He is an excellent fencer, and he has been working really hard. Winning the division title was a great realization of all that hard work."

Lucas, who just turned 13, became interested in fencing as a young kid.

"He was the kid with the stick, you know, always poking the others," Ms. Preston said.

"He always loved 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Princess Bride.' I had taken fencing in Boston so I said 'hey, you should try this.'"

"It's nothing like the movies," Lucas said.

Lucas got his friend, Peregrine Badger, 13, of Providence, to duel with him on Friday, June 24. They hooked up to the cables, shook hands, donned their helmets, and started fencing.

It's a careful, calculated sport, that keeps your mind racing, even just as an on-looker. Their duel was filled with lunges and fake-outs, a lot of balancing, and laughter.

The air was filled with the clean smell of fresh sweat and the sound of scuffling feet. The students lunged at each other, knocked each other's weapons out of the way, and landed point-scoring shots. They are called weapons, not swords, because they do not have a sharp point or blade.

Lucas has a particular style, as do most of the students who walk around as if they were made to hold a weapon. He won the duel, but that fact seemed to be almost an afterthought.

"It's a tremendous work out," said Mr. Ripa, who started fencing in Boston 20 years ago.

"It's a mental work out too, so it's really intense."

The Rhode Island Fencing Academy (RIFAC) has produced excellent fencers since it opened in 1994. They have won every possible New England Division title, as well as numerous other national and international titles. One of their students won the gold medal in fencing at the Junior Olympics.

This year, RIFAC won Men's 12, Men's 14, Cadet, Junior and Senior titles. The only men's title they didn't win was Men's 10. Several students have been recruited and will attend schools such as Brandeis and Harvard for fencing.

"It's such a great sport," Mr. Ripa said.

"These kids will travel nationally, and internationally, so they have friends all over. It opens up a lot of opportunities."