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Everyone was doing amazingly well this week at practice. All of our new fencers can hold their foils and do nice looking footwork. Next week we'll continue to practice our attacks and also learn to defend ourselves (in other words, parry!). Don't forget to starting paying your membership dues! It is $10 for students, $25 for non-students. Checks should be made out to UW-Stevens Point.
There is enough interest in the Club that we will be offering Club Warm-Up Jackets during the equipment order. They will be $73 a piece. They are black and purple with gold piping. Our Club logo is embroidered on the front. They're the same style as Salle Auriol's and they describe the fabric as "soft, stretchy, dries quickly". I've created a preview that includes a computer generated image of what our jacket would look like, as well as two real examples below (with Salle Auriol's on the bottom right).
An important (but more advanced) topic in fencing is called in-fighting. What happens when you're standing toe-to-toe with your opponent? You have to become pretty creative in finding a way to hit them. Joe Biebel, one of the top Wisconsin foil fencers and a former World Champion (who will be going back to the Veterans' World Championships in France this year), has posted a video of one of his in-fighting work-outs. This is just a short clip of some of the things he practices. Intermediate foilists can look forward to spending some quality time doing this next semester.
The international governing body for fencing (the FIE) has been working over the last year to change the target area in foil. Part of the bib on the mask will soon be considered target. The have final released some specifications for it and manufacturers are working on developing the new masks. This will be going into effect for international competition starting in January. There is no news yet as to when this will affect local USA fencers. I will keep you posted on that. If you're interested in reading the new specs and checking out some pictures of it, check out the link below.
It was a great week at the Fencing Club! We had lots of bright new faces show up to practice. If you haven't checked out one of our practices, I encourage you to join us next week. We fence every Monday 4 - 6pm and Tuesday 4:30 - 6:30pm in HEC 110. We'll be continuing to work on footwork, but adding weapons in your hands next week!
Both of our constitutional amendments passed on Monday. The first position we'll be looking to fill is that of Assistant Sabre Coach. Anyone interested in this position should give their name to Henry or myself before September 29th. Henry, Danielle, and I will be meeting after then to choose the new Assistant Sabre Coach.
After we've found an Assistant Sabre Coach, we will be looking for some armourers. I will announce when we're taking names at a later date. It will probably be early October. If you know you're interested and want to get a jump start, check out this information sheet. It has all the information you'll need to prepare for the interview. Remember, for this position we are allowing multiple Armourers!
We have the official dates for our Club tournaments! They will have registration at 1:30pm and will be in the Laird Room of the DUC. We are also inviting a few other clubs from around the area to join us again. Even if you are just beginning to fence now, you will be more than ready for the tournament in December. Indeed, we have a fencer who had only fenced for a couple months take 2nd place in Foil last spring. He fenced against fencers who had been fencing for years! The dates are of the tournaments are below.
As a reminder, on Tuesday September 23rd, right after practice, we will be showing parts of the 2007 United States Fencing Association's Summer Nationals sabre events. We will discuss at length the merits and faults of each bout we show, and try to get a feel for higher level competition. It will be held at 6:30pm in the IMC on the third floor of the library.
Things are going swimmingly at the Club this week. Everyone is getting back into fencing quickly. We spent part of our time reviewing this week. On Tuesday we also introduced the idea of creating openings with footwork rather than bladework. Intermediate fencers should take this to heart. Try and make your bladework independent of your footwork. Let yourself lead with the one and then the other.
As a reminder, the Club will have a booth yet again at the Fall Involvement Fair. This semester it will be this Thursday, September 11th, from 7 - 9pm in the Laird Room and Encore of the DUC. We encourage any or all of our fencers to show up and walk around in gear and talk to new faces who are interested in fencing!
Also, the first practice for NEW members will be Monday September 15th, following the Involvement Fair on the 11th. This is when you should encourage all your friends who are interested to come and try out the Club!
We have two new amendments to the Club's constitution which we will be voting upon on Monday September 15th. This will create Assistant Coach and Armourer positions.
We will be running a competitive fencing clinic on Saturday September 27th in HEC 110. This will be in two parts. The first part will be from 9am - Noon for USFA competitive fencers only. We will be working mostly one-on-one during this morning session and focusing on individual needs. The second part will be from 2pm - 5pm and is open to all UW-SP fencers. This half will of the clinic will be on bouting. A lot of open bouting, bouting drills and games, and tactics discussion will happen. Whenever possibile, one-on-one lessons will be available to all. Henry's Dad is planning on coming out to help coach. So we will have four coaches for this clinic. I highly recommend that everyone attend.
The equipment order this year will be October 6 - 14th. I will release more information about this, such as prices, within the next couple of weeks. Keep it in mind as you plan out your fencing for the semester.
Welcome new a new school year and a new season of Fencing Club! It was great to see so many familiar faces again yesterday! We had a great time brushing off the rust from the summer and getting many opportunities to bout. All three of us coaches were extremely impressed at how quickly everyone got back into the groove of things.
We have two new amendments to the Club's constitution coming up soon. This will create Assistant Coach and Armourer positions. The actual amendments will be available to look at starting next week. Below are the details of the positions though.
An Assistant Coach is to help the Full Coach teach lessons. They are not normally writing lesson plans, running full practices, etc. They are responsible for teaching if the Full Coach is not present that day. This position also gives you the responsibilities and privileges of being an Officer. A one week open call for candidates will be followed by the Full Coaches choosing a nominee from the pool of candidates. That nominee will then need to be approved by the Officers. We will be looking for an Assistant Sabre Coach starting near the end of September. We will also be looking for an Assistant Foil Coach sometime in November.
The Armourer position will be responsible for inventorying and maintaining all Club equipment. They will also be responsible for running the armoury clinic each semester. We may have more than one Armourer. This position is NOT an Officer position. There will be a one week open call for candidates. This will be followed by 10 - 15 minute interviews conducted by the current Armourers (Henry and Aaron). The current Armourers will then nominate a candidate (or candidates) and the Officers will need to approve them. We will be looking for an Armourer right after we finish with the Assistant Sabre Coach selection (so figure mid-October). Don't be scared off by the interview part. All candidates will receive a packet of information to help them prepare ahead of time. If you are interested in this position and want to get a jump start, then I recommend checking out "Armory Basic Clinic" from the IMC (3rd floor of the library). It is a great DVD that will introduce you to the basics of armouring. Previous experience and owning tools are NOT required for this position. However, we will expect you to have learned a few things before the interview. What those topics will be, shall be included in the information packet given to candidates.
The Club will have a booth yet again at the Fall Involvement Fair. This year it will be on September 11th from 7 - 9pm in the Laird Room of the DUC. We encourage any or all of our fencers to show up and walk around in gear and talk to new faces who are interested in fencing!
The first practice for NEW members will be Monday September 15th, following the Involvement Fair on the 11th. This is when you should encourage all your friends who are interested to come and try out the Club!
On Tuesday September 23rd, right after practice, we will be showing parts of the 2007 United States Fencing Association's Summer Nationals sabre events. We will discuss at length the merits and faults of each bout we show, and try to get a feel for higher level competition. It will be held at 6:30pm in the IMC on the third floor of the library.
The fencers competiting in the USFA will be traveling around the Midwest this year. We will have a few extra seats for spectators who wish to join us for the weekend at almost every tournament. I encourage everyone to join us at at least one tournament this year!
Our competitive fencers will be heading down to Chicago for the biggest tournament of the season! We will be fencing at Northwestern University against fencers from around the country on the weekend of October 24-26th. For more information on this tournament, check out its listing.
It's almost time for vacation, but our competitive fencers are not done. This meet will be held in the Milwaukee area at the Catholic Memorial High School on November 23rd. Competiting gives you a chance to win a real turkey, just in time for dinner! For more information on this tournament, check out its listing.