Fencing in the News

[LongBlade]

Robot Made for Practice of Japanese Fencing
The Chosun Ilbo
chosun.com
Seoul, S. Korea
July 3, 2005

english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200507/200507030001.html

A team of Korean researchers at Seoul National University has developed a robot called MUSA made for the practice of Japanese fencing. Led by Professor Bang Young-bong, the team has spent one-and-a-half years to research and develop the humanoid robot that moves like humans.

Professor Bang said the 163-centimeter tall robot, weighing 70 kilograms, was unveiled to be a partner for fencing practitioners.

MUSA has a unique aspect. It can measure the amount of power put on its bamboo sword and defend attacks read by embedded sensors. The team aims to develop a more competent robot within the next three years.

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Kids Fitness Festival Set For July 21-22
The Town Crier
Wellington, Fla, USA
July 3, 2005

www.thecrier.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=72&twindow=&mad=No&sdetail=2795&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=

The Kids Fitness Festival of the Palm Beaches, formerly known as the Palm Beach County Sports & Fitness Festival, is scheduled for Thursday, July 21 and Friday, July 22. The event will take place at the South Florida Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The festival, hosted by the Palm Beach County Sports Institute, provides youth with an opportunity to develop their skills.

More than 5,000 kids are expected to attend the two days of family fun, sports and fitness education with live entertainment and interactive displays. Sports clinics at the event will include: badminton, baseball, basketball, BMX, bowling, boxing, cheerleading, chess, croquet, dancing, fencing, field hockey, fishing, football, golf, hockey, judo, jump rope, karate, lacrosse, martial arts, powerlifting, soccer, samurai sword, tae kwon do, table tennis, tai chi, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and yoga.

Several different organizations will offer hands-on exhibits, brochures and other resources at the festival. There will be booths explaining issues such as the long-term benefits of good eating habits and how to stay cool while playing outside in the hot sun. Children will also have the chance to mingle with their favorite local sports mascots and athletes, soar to new heights on the rock-climbing wall and visit the bounce house.

The festival costs $10 per day if registered by July 1 and $15 per day after July 1. All participants will receive a t-shirt and gift bag. Spectators and parents are admitted free when accompanied by a child.

Registration forms are available at local McDonald’s and Bank Atlantic locations in Palm Beach County or can be downloaded at www.palmbeachsports.com.

[LongBlade]

Sport piques interest
Sacramento again hosts the U.S. national fencing championship tourney
By Edie Lau
Sacramento Bee Science Writer
Sacramento, CA, USA
Sunday, July 3, 2005

www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/13172127p-14015586c.html


Caitlin Thompson of Oregon
celebrates after winning a
saber match Saturday.

In the midst of her housekeeping duties at the Sacramento Convention Center, Olga Gonzalez paused Saturday morning, spellbound by the sight of masked figures dressed all in white, jabbing at each other with thin swords.
"I like! It's nice," Gonzalez, a native Spanish speaker, said in halting English.

In her job helping to keep the convention center tidy, Gonzalez has seen lots of interesting sights, including volleyball matches and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Saturday's action ranked up there with the best, in her estimation.

The U.S. Fencing Association is in town through next Sunday for its national championship tournament. This is the second time since 2001 that the nationals have taken place at the downtown facility.

Drawing more than 2,000 participants, it is the largest fencing contest in the world, according to Boris Vaksman, a longtime competitor who is now refereeing.

Vaksman's heyday was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when, he said, he was national champion of Russia four years running.

He lives in New York City now, working as a loan officer for a mortgage company, coaching fencing and cheering on his 17-year-old son, Stanley, a top fencer among juniors (under 19).

Winning at the nationals nets competitors big points toward securing a spot on the national team, which represents the United States in international tournaments, Vaksman said.

Besides being a venue for elite competition, Vaksman said, the nationals allow open participation by fencers under the age of 13 and over 39.

Ten-year-old Malin Eiremo of Carmichael got to compete in her first nationals without traveling far from home.

Malin has been learning the art of swordplay since she was about 8, training at the Sacramento Fencing Club in Rancho Cordova. She's been in local tournaments before, but the nationals is different.

"Bigger," she said.

For her first such outing, Malin was cool and quiet, barely breaking a smile even when she won a bout.

She is one of the youngest among the 30 members from the local club who are participating, said club owner Paul Sears.

Malin's 17-year-old brother, Anders, also is competing, while their elder sister, Annika, 19, a fencer at Penn State but sidelined by an injury, cheers them on.

Spectators Saturday weren't limited to competitors and their family and friends.

Deborah Bagdazian didn't know a soul at the tournament. She went because she has been fascinated for years by the energy and grace of the sport but had never seen it live. When she read in the newspaper about the nationals coming to town, she eagerly made the short trip from her Arden area home to the convention center.

"I saw the women (compete). I saw the kids. I enjoy the men," she said, watching muscular and lithe young men in the elite Division I class face off.

One thing Bagdazian especially appreciated about the event was its gentility. "They're not screaming," she said.

Apart from occasional shouts of triumph and bursts of applause, the predominant sound on the tournament floor was the musical clink and clank of the metal blades.

Bagdazian, who works in an accounting office, said she has been thinking of taking lessons.

Now, after seeing the sport up close, she's sure of it.

"I'm 50 now. It's time to do things you've always wanted to do all your life," she said. "I'm going to do it."

IF YOU GO
What: U.S. Fencing Association National Championships
When: Through July 10. Competition begins variously at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. and runs most of the day.
Where: Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J St.
Admission: Free

[LongBlade]

Snapshots from camp
Arizona Daily Sun
Tuson, AZ, USA
7/3/05

www.dailystar.com/dailystar/accent/82294.php

School's out, but many Southern Arizona kids are keeping busy in a dizzying variety of summer programs

Even the kids at Kumon math camp might need a calculator to figure just how much fun is offered this summer.

School-age youths can try on a legal career, study the stars from a spot on Mount Lemmon, catch waves in San Diego, learn to parler français or even tame a horse.

To get a handle on summer vacation time that's hardly wasted on the young, we fanned out across town to sample some of the hundreds of opportunities for youngsters.

For a list of summer programs visit www.azstarnet. com/programs online. You'll need to check individual entries about space availability and changes since the list was compiled in April.

Four-year-old Sienna Fay screeches, "I can't do it! I can't do it!" as she tries to move out of her walker onto a stabilizing ladder.

Helga Tota, a special education teacher for the motor disabled, whispers some encouragement into her ear, and Sienna slowly moves from the walker to the ladder.

Her dark eyes light up, she grins at her mom, and her voice softens a bit.

"I did it."

Small triumphs like Sienna's are the goal at Let's Get Moving, a conductive education camp for kids with cerebral palsy. Tota has a degree from Hungary's Peto Institute, where the conductive education program originated. The technique, which uses stretching and strength training exercises to improve the children's mobility, is popular in Europe but not very common in the United States.

The children work at their own level and practice walking and other everyday skills.

Last year, 7-year-old Candace Pope came to the class in a wheelchair and left using a walker, said her mom, Cindy Pope.

They've come to Tucson from Levelland, Texas, for two summers now. Nothing like it is offered closer to their home, Pope said.

Tamy Winbourn of Phoenix was told her 3-year-old, Bryce, would never walk. During the last week of his first conductive education class, he stood and walked across the room to retrieve a toy.

"It's a godsend," she said.

Mary Hare, who started the Tucson program eight years ago, attributes the children's success to consistency. Her daughter, Beckie Gibson, co-founder of the program, says it forces the children to grow up and face their everyday challenges.

"They still have to live in this world and they can progress," she said. "Their drive - they're just incomparable to other kids."

Every superhero has to start somewhere. In Tucson, they start at comic-book-drawing class offered by Heroes and Villains.

In the class, nine boys are learning to draw stick figures and basic shapes: triangles, circles and squares. This will give them the foundation to draw in the future, said their teacher, 20-year-old Laura Zumwalde.

Each young artist takes his turn modeling his superhero form and drawing, learning how to depict overlapping limbs.

Eight-year-old Tyler Cummins busts out the "meditation pose," and his peers have to draw him as a stick figure.

Nick Blurton, a 9-year-old wearing a sports jersey, holds a football stance, using an eraser as a stand-in football.

If they know how the pose feels, they'll have a better idea of how it looks, Zumwalde told them.

They're working on drawing the superhero Starfire from "Teen Titans," but they have to grasp the female form first: mostly circles. They've learned the hourglass torso and to mark the hips in the right spot.

"It's anatomy, but without being too detailed," Zumwalde said.

'Before you say bad words," says 6-year-old Brett Dennis, "you have to stop and think."

But, adds his friend Dominic Rayo, 7, "sometimes people just choose not to follow the rules."

The wisdom from boys shaping Play-Doh while dressed for Pajama Day reflects the themes at Camp Crusaders Christian day camp for ages 5-14. It's all about making good choices and respecting others.

Crusaders traipse between the stations where they can do anything from build with wooden blocks to play "home living." Though the children make lots of noise, they don't fight, and sharing seems to come naturally. The older children buddy up with the younger ones, playing with their hair, demonstrating how to use toys or giving piggy-back rides.

Brett, building a tower of blocks, scooches over when someone else wants to play. Even though his "help" threatens the 4-foot tower that 11-year-old Jasmine McKinney has built, she doesn't ask him to stop.

Jordan Walker, 5, sticks close to the side of her friend Kileen Waterman, who at 6 sees herself as Jordan's protector.

When one of the boys runs past Jordan, accidentally upsetting her balance, Kileen pulls him aside and tells him he "almost knocked her down" and firmly issues an order for an apology.

Kileen says they learn a lot about the Bible. This week, they focused on Jacob. "A staircase was going up to heaven, and Jesus was standing at the top," she says.

Ten middle-school students spent a recent Tuesday at the University of Arizona working on the Mars mission, dubbed Project Infinity.

The day's objective: Find ship materials suitable for withstanding a journey to the Red Planet.

Jake Larsen, 10, and his camp partner, Brad Greeson, 11, test radio-wave disrupters by wrapping a cell phone in materials like cloth and tinfoil.

"Out of the materials we have, tinfoil is the best radio-wave disrupter," Larsen said. "When (camp instructor) Erika tried to call me, the phone didn't react. It's cool stuff."

Flandrau Center and the UA College of Science's Summer Fusion Adventure camps, run by the university's Conceptual Astronomy and Physics Education Research team, UA professors and Flandrau staff, are divided into weeklong adventures. Each week is a new class with a new theme aimed at different age groups.

Future themes include DNA investigation and "Not Your Brother's Science Camp," a week of activities geared primarily toward young girls.

"We're trying to make science fun and maybe spark an interest that they can take back to the classroom," said camp instructor Pebble Richwine. "Everything we do this week will tie into math, but the kids won't know it because they'll be having fun with science."

Anna Guerrero, 10, is decked out in her soccer jersey, but the team sweeper says it was her decision to spend her days at the summer science camp.

"I was going to start out at a normal summer camp where you hang around and go swimming and stuff," Guerrero said. "But then I thought that I'd like to learn more science. We didn't really cover that much science in school this year. I wanted to learn and have fun."

Campers at the Arizona Fencing Academy play typical giggle-inducing games like Simon Says. The difference is that "Simon" says "on guard" and "jump forward and lunge."

During a recent three-day beginners' camp, Yvonne Gallego, who has coached in Tucson for 35 years, introduced nine youths, ages 10 to 16, to fencing.

"It doesn't matter how big you are, it's how smart you are," she told the class.

Fencing may be a thinking game, but it also requires athleticism. Campers started the three-hour class with a jog, football passes, basketball dribbling, push-ups and lunging.

"It really is a sport," said camp assistant Youssri El Khadem, 18, who has been fencing for three years and competes nationally. "You use weird muscles you don't usually use."

Campers new to fencing learned how to handle the flexible swordlike foils, lunge and strike at targets.

"It's really fun, and they teach you new and interesting stuff," Austen Berens, 10, said.

Experienced campers held "bouts" - contests between two fencers - after donning protective clothing and a metal vest called a lamé. Fencers score points when their foil touches their opponent's lamé.

"It's really fast-paced," said Patrick Pinda, 15, who has been fencing for about a year. "It's a really great sport. It's like other sports - it's hard when you first start."

National competitor and camp assistant Alex Huber, 16, has been fencing for four years and loves the unusual sport.

"It's something totally different," she said. "It's a really incredible sport. It's all about having fun."

[LongBlade]

Irish Fencers Enjoying Strong Summer Results
Zagunis wins World Cup event in Austria while Providenza posts career-best 13th-place finish; several other current and former Irish standouts competing at national and international events.

Notre Dame Athletics
July 3, 2005
und.collegesports.com/sports/c-fenc/spec-rel/070405aab.html

Several members of the Notre Dame fencing program - just months removed from claiming the 2005 NCAA title - have continued to turn in top results on the national and international level, during various summer tournaments.

Sabre standout Mariel Zagunis flew from the NCAAs in Houston and days later won the 2005 Junior World Championship title, claiming the individual championship before combining with her Oregon Fencing Alliance club teammates Caitlin Thompson and Becca Ward to also win the World team title (March 23-30, in Linz, Austria).

Zagunis - who won the 2004 Olympic gold medal before beginning her Notre Dame career - overcame illness in placing 6th at a Senior World Cup event in Welkenraedt, Belgium (May 14-15) before winning the World Cup in Klagenfurt, Austria (June 4-5) and most recently reaching the title bout of the World Cup in Las Vegas (June 17-19).

Her first-place finish in Austria boosted Zagunis to 4th in the senior world rankings. She defeated fellow Notre Dame fencer and club teammate Valerie Providenza, 15-4, before a quarterfinal win over former Ohio State standout Louise Bond-Williams of England (15-12) and an easy semifinal win over Germany's Sybil Klemm (15-5). The title bout saw Zagunis edge her club and junior national teammate Ward, 15-13.

Zagunis - who battled through illness to reach the quarterfinals of the earlier World Cup in Belgium (losing to China's Zhao Yuanyuan) - nearly repeated her World Cup title in Las Vegas, coming from behind to take the lead before losing a narrow decision to Poland's Aleksandra Socha in the final bout (13-15). She then combined with Ward, Thompson and Sada Jacobson to win the bronze medal in the Las Vegas women's sabre team competition.

Providenza posted the best World Cup finish of her career in Austria, earning the No. 2 seed after the pool bouts (behind Ward) before ultimately finishing 13th. The 2003 NCAA champion (and '04 semifinalist) bested former World Cup medalist Sandra Benad of Germany in the pool rounds (5-1) before topping England's Rosalind Hull in the round of 32 (15-3) and 2004 Olympian Madoka Hisage of Japan in the round of 16.

The Las Vegas World Cup featured bouts in women's sabre and women's foil, with Providenza placing 37th (in a field of 37) while 2005 Notre Dame graduate Andrea Ament was 69th in the 83-fencer foil field.

A pre-summer North American Cup event held in Chattanooga, Tenn., featured multiple competitors with Notre Dame connections (April 15-18). Former four-time All-American Jan Viviani (a member of ND's '03 NCAA championship team) placed 5th out of 146 fencers in the men's epee field while Notre Dame rising sophomore Greg Howard placed 17th. Ament took 5th in the 87-fencer women's foil field - behind '05 NCAA and World Junior champ Emily Cross, Doris Willette, Samantha Nemecek and Iris Zimmerman - while Providenza was 9th among 52 women's sabre competitors.

In the women's epee bouts at the Chattanooga N.A.C., Notre Dame '05 graduate Kerry Walton placed 24th while junior-to-be Amy Orlando was 28th in that 52-fencer field. Rising junior Matt Stearns rounded out the ND contingent by placing 24th out of 69 men's sabre fencers.

The current USFA national rankings feature several Notre Dame fencers, with Zagunis 2nd in the women's sabre rankings (behind Sada Jacobson) while Providenza checks in at 8th. Ament is 5th in the women's foil rankings, with Walton (3rd) and Orlando (13th) ranking near the top of the women's epee rankings (Kelley Hurley and Maya Lawrence hold the 1-2 spots).

Rising junior sabre Patrick Ghattas - the '05 NCAA runner-up who went in to place 24th at the Junior World Championships - currently stands 13th in the USFA men's sabre rankings while Howard (36th) and junior-to-be Aaron Adjemian (57th) are included in the men's epee rankings. Viviani holds down the No. 4 spot in the epee rankings behind his 2004 Olympic teammates Seth Kelsey, Cody Mattern and Soren Thompson.

A large contingent of Notre Dame fencers currently are in action at the USFA Summer Nationals in Sacramento, Calif. (July 1-10), with those competitors including Providenza, Orlando, Ghattas, Stearns, Howard, Ament and Viviani. Other Notre Dame fencers competing at the Summer Nationals include rising juniors Frank Bontempo (foil) and Patrick Gettings (epee), sophomore-to-be foilist Melanie Bautista and epeeist Becca Chimahusky (who is set to her return for her fifth year in '05-'06).

Several fencers who will join the Notre Dame program in 2005-06 also are competing at the Summer Nationals, in addition to posting top results at the above events (check back to und.com later in the summer for a complete release on the Notre Dame fencing program's incoming class).

The fourth and final 2005 World Cup will be held July 9-10 in Vancouver while the World Championships are scheduled for Oct. 8-15 in Leipzig, Germany. Zagunis already has clinched making her fifth World Championship team with the U.S. fencing team.

[LongBlade]

San Marcos Daily Record
Local Schedule/Briefs
San Marcos, TX, USA
July 3, 2005

www.sanmarcosrecord.com/articles/2005/07/02/sports/sports4.txt

OLYMPIC FENCING SUMMER CAMPS - The ATAC Fencing Club and Texas State University are currently registering ages 8-Adult for the Summer 2005 Fencing Program. Two levels of instruction will be offered: Learn to fence and open competitive. Cost is $75 per course, all equipment provided. Classes begin July 11th. Visit the website at www.hper.txstate.edu and click on 'Learn to Fence Summer Camps' for registration form. For additional questions contact John Moreau at [e-mail] or 245-3761.

[LongBlade]

Fencing, ballet classes available
Renowned Masters in Both Disciples in Pahrump
By Phillip Gomez
Pahrump Valley Times
Pahrump, Nye County, NV, USA
7/6/05

www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2005/07/06/news/fencing.html


Photo: Phillip Gomez

Maestro Mel North and his wife "The Petite Ballerina" Gloria Bowen have come to Pahrump to live. They hope to attract interest in ballet and fencing in the classes they're offering to the community.

Classes for beginning to advanced students of both ballet and the traditional martial art of fencing are currently being offered by a Las Vegas couple internationally renown for their expertise in the two disciplines.

Fencing master Mel North and his wife Gloria Bowen, "the petite ballerina," have a fencing and ballet studio in Las Vegas, the Salle de Nord, but recently moved to Pahrump, where they have wanted to open a place to train youngsters interested in their respective arts.

Now, the couple has found a location at the Dragon Cloud Dojo, a martial arts academy at 2160 E. Calvada Blvd. They plan to offer classes for all levels of fencing and ballet beginning Tuesday.

Bowen has studied and danced in Europe, Russia, the Ukraine and Central America. A professional ballerina since the age of four, Bowen, trained with Alexander Godunov in Kiev, Ukraine and Pearl Lang at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. She has been seen on television, Broadway and on stages all over the world.

Her husband is an Olympic and World Teams coach, a master of the sport who has studied for decades under European masters in foil, epee and saber. He was head coach for 20 years of the UCLA fencing team. While in California several years ago, North was maestro of one of the largest fencing clubs in the nation with some 350 fencers.

The Norths want to bring ballet culture and the sport of fencing to youngsters and adults "who want to get in shape and have a wonderful experience while doing so."

Classes are being planned for Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or by private appointment. Call 751-0244 for more information.

[LongBlade]

Improving Newham take 20th place
Barking & Dagenham Recorder
London24
London, England, UK
06 July, 2005

www.bdrecorder.co.uk/content/redbridge/recorder/sport/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=SportAthletics&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=sportnewham&itemid=WeED06%20Jul%202005%2016%3A51%3A45%3A293

NEIGHBOURS Redbridge might well have stormed to an impressive victory at the London Youth Games, but Newham organisers confirmed themselves as happy with their own borough's performance at this year's event, writes DAVE EVANS.

Over 20,000 people take part in the annual Youth Games event that sees the Capital's youngsters compete against each other in a variety of sports from diving to fencing, canoeing to angling.

Newham finished 20th overall and for Richard Webb of the borough's Sports Development team that represents a step in the right direction.

"What we are looking for is to develop sport in the borough by investing in various sports and then hopefully that will reflect itself into results at the youth games," revealed Webb this week.

"Obviously 20th place was not the best, but it was pretty close between us and a number of boroughs around us and a few points either way would have seen us further up the table."

The big winners for Newham this year were the boys' mild learning difficulties football team, who triumphed in a tournament three weeks before the event.

The team was filled with boys from Langdon School and were expertly coached to victory by Rob Weaver.

Newham achieved admirable results in some unexpected sports and according to Richard Webb that is down to the efforts that have been made in the borough.

"We did very well in fencing and that is largely due to the club that we help to set up under the coaching of former Olympic fencer Linda Strachan.

"Also the Newham Archers club under Sue Harvey have been into various schools and again our youth games result backs that up."

Newham didn't compete in 10 sports including angling, where the organiser has been unwell, diving where there are no facilities in the borough and tennis where the sports development team are hopeful of a good result with their very young team next year.

"We are moving forward in a number of sports, which is in line with our programme of investing in coaching in the area," said Webb. "Hopefully that will help us to finish even higher next year."

If anyone has any queries about the Youth Games teams, they can contact Richard Webb for more information on 020 8430 2484.

[LongBlade]

Olympian takes on top sports post
Herald & Times
DOUG GILLON
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
July 07, 2005

www.theherald.co.uk/news/42611.html

JULIA Bracewell began fencing in her back garden aged five. Yesterday, she cut her way into the upper echelons of Scottish sport, when she was named chairwoman of sportscotland, succeeding Alastair Dempster.

The appointment was announced by Patricia Ferguson, minister for tourism, culture and sport.

Ms Bracewell, whose father, Professor Bert Bracewell, was Scotland's national fencing coach for 16 years, won Commonwealth foil championships in 1986 and 1990.
She also represented Great Britain at the Barcelona Olympics (1992), World Championships (1990) and European Championships (1991).

Yet she knows all about poor facilities. The national fencing academy where her father worked was a converted stable at Kirkliston.

Ms Bracewell, who has an OBE, is a legal consultant and non-practising solicitor and barrister. In her bar exams she won the Law of International Trade Prize and HLT Prize for Outstanding Results.

Before returning to Scotland, she was an international corporate lawyer in London for 15 years and a partner in two American law firms.

She was a member of the Sports Council of Great Britain and its successor, Sport England (1993-2001) and chaired the women and sport advisory group. She was also chairwoman of the international drafting group for the Brighton Declaration on Women's Rights in Sport (1994).

Ms Bracewell enjoys golf and sailing, and fulfilled a dream in 1995 when she sailed across the Atlantic on a Whitbread boat.

The sportscotland appointment is for four years, until 30 June 2009. The salary is £27,531 for two and half days a week. One of her first tasks will be to preside over the thorny question of relocation of sportscotland's headquarters at the Gyle, Edinburgh.

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UTSA student organization takes a stab at fencing competitions
By Bronwyn Wingo
Special Projects Writer
UTSA Today
San Antonio, TX, USA
July 7, 2005

www.utsa.edu/today/2005/07/fencing.cfm



Founded in 2002 with the name Swordplay@UTSA, UTSA Club Fencing has become a force in Texas collegiate fencing.

The student-run, coed team is one of several fencing clubs in South Texas, and despite the lack of a coach, members consistently perform well at foil and saber competitions conducted by the Southwest Intercollegiate Fencing Association (SWIFA).

Most of the members of UTSA Club Fencing are former students of Sara Price, who teaches foil and saber fencing at UTSA. Veteran club members train newcomers on the basics of fencing before separating into weapon-specific groups for practice.

"I like the challenge of foil," said fencing club president Chris Boney, a UTSA senior majoring in psychology and communication. "Other people might disagree with me, but I think it's harder than other styles because of the smaller target area and specific hitting style."

The team hopes to develop a stronger showing in epee, a third style of fencing not covered in the UTSA class.

Recently, some of the team members moved into the more competitive United States Fencing Association (USFA) circuit, which organizes competitions throughout Texas every weekend. USFA fencers are ranked for national competition with top athletes holding Olympic-level rankings.

Boney, who is ranked a D2005 in foil, will travel with fellow teammate Adam Brewer, who holds an E2005 ranking in saber, to the USFA national championships in Sacramento, Ca., this year.

The team has applied for varsity status, but with no other universities in the area with varsity teams, competition could prove difficult. "We know there are other schools interested in going varsity, but we haven't heard much about their progress in getting varsity status," Boney said. "Right now, the nearest NCAA team is in North Carolina, so it really wouldn't be practical."

As one of the most affordable fencing clubs in South Texas, UTSA Club Fencing is seeking sponsors to help with the cost of sending members to competitions.

"We provide everything members need for practice and competition," said Boney, "Sponsors would really help us take care of some of the costs."

With finishes like first place in foil and second place in saber at the last SWIFA competition, UTSA Club Fencing has a head start at proving its mettle... and metal.

For more information, e-mail Chris Boney or visit the UTSA Club Fencing Web site.

[LongBlade]

Chennai to host Commonwealth youth fencing next year
Newindpress.com
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Jult 11, 2005

www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IES20050710082012&Page=S&Title=Sports&Topic=0

CHENNAI: First Commonwealth Youth (U-20) fencing championship will be held here at the Jawaharlal Nehru indoor stadium from January 24 to 29 next year.

Participants from as many as twenty countries will be vying for honours in the championship, organised by the Tamil Nadu Fencing Association under the aegis of the Commonwealth Fencing Federation and Fencing Federation of India, said FFI secretary Pradeep Rana at a Press meet here on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu Fencing Association president and organising secretary of the event, R J Reuben told reporters that a maximum of four fencers could take part in men's and women's team events, namely, foil, sabre and epee.

Tamil Nadu has been chosen for the first edition as the sport is being nurtured in schools and colleges all over the state under the initiative of Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDATN).

SDATN vice president and former DGP, Walter Dewaram said that hosting such a prestigious event confirms the fact that Chennai is fast emerging as the sports capital of the country. “SDATN provides the best infrastructure for sports in the country. We are providing it for fencing also," he added.

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Triple bronze at Vancouver fencing Peter Bakonyi International World Cup
Presspoint.com
Vancouver, CA
July 10, 2005

www.sportsfeatures.com/PressPoint/show.php?id=23716

VANCOUVER – Vancouver has been overrun with swordplay as over 200 fencers from 22 countries have gathered to compete in the last world cup of the season before the October World Championships. Saturday’s action saw 3 Canadians pick up bronze medals.

Sherraine MacKay of Brooks, Alta., and Catherine Dunnette of Calgary shared the bronze medal podium in the women’s epee while Vancouver’s Laurie Shong came out of retirement to win the bronze in the men’s epee event.

Number 1 seed MacKay’s road to the medal round was smooth sailing with victories over Jess Beer from New Zealand, Alexie Rubin from the USA and Bianca DelCarretto of Italy. In the semis she faced Sophie Lamon from Switzerland and despite a late rally MacKay fell 15-13.

Dunnette defeated two Canadians, Emiko Ihara and Julie Leprohon followed by her biggest victory of the day over #3 seed Sonja Tol of the Netherlands. Catherine put up a good fight against #2 seed Cristiana Cascioli of Italy but lost 15-12 in her semifinal match.

Cristiana Cascioli beat Sophie Lamon 15-12 to capture gold in the final.

On the men’s side, Laurie Shong had a wonderful surprise working his way to the bronze after not picking up a sword for a little over a year. Shong’s only blemish came against Seth Kelsey from the USA falling 15-13.

Seth Kelsey went on to win the gold defeating Bas Verwijlin of the Netherlands 15-13 while Benjamin Solomon from the USA shared bronze with Shong.

Other notable Canadian results came from Magda Krol reaching the quarterfinals in women’s epee while Charles St-Hilaire and Igor Tikhomirov also reached the quarterfinals of the men’s epee event.

The women’s sabre and men’s foil events will be held today.

[chuck]

The following article was posted in the local newspaper (The Dalhart Texan) in Dalhart, Texas. Dalhart is located 90 miles northwest of Amarillo, Texas, in the northwest corner of the Texas panhandle.


THE DALHART TEXAN

GOOD FENCERS MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS


July 8, 2005

By Aaron Graves

[e-mail]


They now number six.

Six Dalhart natives have taken up the sport of fencing, known among laymen as "sword fighting". The fencing bug hit Dalhart a couple years ago, and now two of the six are good enough to compete nationally.

John Miller and Raymond Weld qualified to compete at the United States Fencing Association’s Summer Nationals in Sacramento, Calif. Both Miller and Weld placed well at the Plains Texas Fencing Championship held April 10 in Lubbock.

Weld won the Division III Men’s Epee competition in Lubbock. It was his second tournament win. Miller placed sixth in the Division II Men’s Foil competition.

In fencing, there are three kinds of weapons: foil, epee and saber. Each weapon used has its own scoring.

The foil, which Miller prefers, has a flexible rectangular blade about 35 inches in length. Points are scored when the tip of the blade lands in the torso area of the body.

The epee (pronounced EPP-pay), which Weld prefers, has a stiffer, triangular blade and is basically a dueling sword. Points are scored when the tip hits any part of the body.

Weld, who works as a chiropractor, made a surprising decision not to compete at the summer nationals, which was held earlier this month. Weld not only faced scheduling conflicts, but he preferred to hone his skills another year before making a stab (no pun intended) at the nationals.

Miller, pastor at the Nazarene Church, went to nationals for the sheer experience of it.

"It was a pretty neat experience, a 30 year dream come true," Miller said.

Miller tried to enter the fencing world when he was 18. At the time, it was a very elite sport and he could not get in. When Dr. Weld started fencing at Amarillo College a couple of years ago, Miller started tagging along.

Now, at 51, Miller found himself in the Sacramento Convention Center surrounded by 2,000 other fencers.

Miller qualified to compete on three different levels: Veterans, Division II and Division III. Being short on time and finances, Miller decided to fight it out in Division III.

In fencing, Division I, II and III denote skill level. The best ten percent of the nation’s fencers compete at Level I.

Miller fought six three minute battles in pool play July 5 to determine seedings for the direct-elimination bracket. In bracket play, the games are fought in three three-minute rounds with one minute breaks. The first one to 15 points, or the one with the most points at the end of the third round, wins.

In the bracket, Miller took out his first opponent. Two other fencers from the Amarillo College Fencing Association, Cole Wrampelmeier and Stephen Brown, fell in the first round.

Miller’s excitement got the best of him in the next game. He fell to Chris Pinkowski of Southern Calif.

"The coach said I could have beat him, but I rushed it," Miller said. Moving in too quick and aggressive can leave you vulnerable for attack, Miller explained.

Miller finished 104th out of 179 in the Men’s Division III Foil, and Pinkowski went on to finish 12th.

Although Weld did not join Miller and the other AC fencing students in Sacramento, he had an incredible journey of his own.

Weld accompanied his son, William, on a boys’ choir trip to England in March.

Weld made contact with the London Thames Fencing Club before leaving, and he received an invitation to come fence with some of England’s finest. Members of the club have won numerous All-England championships. Winston Churchill was a member of the club.

Weld fought nine matches and beat three of the club members. He scored 10 or more points in all of his matches.

"They were awesome fencers," Weld said. "It was a wonderful experience. I hope to go back and do better next time."

Weld’s tournament win at Lubbock was a nail-biter. He did not fair well in pool play and ended up in the middle of the seeding. He then went on to beat the number one seed 15-6. In the championship match, Weld won by one point.

The excitement and the challenge, along with the romance of it all, is what draws people to fencing.

"Once you’re addicted, that’s just it, you’re addicted," Weld said.

"It keeps me in shape," Miller said. "It is physically and mentally challenging. It’s a lot of fun. It’s the most intense game of tag you’ll ever play."

Miller compared fencing to a game of chess because you have to think several moves ahead. You spend time learning your opponent’s favorite moves and then use those against him.

"The first attack rarely lands a point," Miller said. "You have to set them up with something else in mind and hope they’re not setting you up."

The other four fencers in Dalhart are Annette Mellius, Allyn Mellius, Jacob Miller, and Jesse Cassidy. The Amarillo College fencing roster includes 58 students, 45 of which compete.

Juleah Nusz, a 12 year old member of the AC team, placed 7th in the Youth 12 Women’s Epee competition at Sacramento.

Both Miller and Weld plan on continuing to pursue their passion when the next fencing season starts this fall. Both want to maintain and increase their present rankings within the USFA. Miller wants to branch out to learn the saber. Both also look forward to the nationals next year.

We asked Miller what his congregation thinks about his fencing hobby. Overall, he has found no objections.

"Besides who’s going to argue with a pastor with a sword," Miller said, jokingly.

[Coach Hite]

Great local fencing coverage. Maybe it''' get a few more in Dalhart looking into our sport!

Thanks for sharing!

[LongBlade]

I just found the link to the Dalhart Texan "Good Fencers Make Good Neighbors" article with pictures!

www.home.earthlink.net/~daltexan/id112.html