Blueridge Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) This Thursday I will be off to Grapevine Texas to compete in the US Fencing Summer National Championships. This will be my 9th time in the last 10 years that I have qualifier and competed in same. I'll be competing on Saturday and watching some of the other competitions on Friday and Sunday. Time to put down the handguns and pick up the blade. Edited July 8, 2009 by Blueridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmounts Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 This Thursday I will be off to Grapevine Texas to compete in the US Fencing Summer National Championships. This will be my 9th time in the last 10 years that I have qualifier and competed in same.Time to put down the handguns and pick up the blade. which blade (former epee fencer here - went to Nationals multiple times in the '80s)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezco Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Just don't bring a blade to a gun fight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlktheduk Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 "A properly balanced sword is the most versatile weapon for close quarters ever devised. Pistols and guns are all offense, no defense: close on him fast and a man with a gun can't shoot, he has to stop you before you reach him. Close on a man carrying a blade and you'll be spitted like a roast pigeon--unless you have a blade and can use it better than he can. A sword never jams, never has to be reloaded, is always ready. Its worst shortcoming is that it takes great skill and patient, loving practice to gain that skill; it can't be taught to raw recruits in weeks, nor even months." Robert A. Heinlein, "Glory Road" That last sentence also applies to handguns and sports like IPSC/IDPA/NRA Action, etc, IMHO. And yes, I've seen "Raiders of the Lost Ark" What do you think would have happened to Indiana Jones if the sword waver in the bazaar, had been at arms length? Blue Ridge, I'm curious too...which blade? A long time ago I tried to learn the foil and epee...never got any good at it. But it was fun. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 i liked to do that in college. but shooting is more fun. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 (edited) I am priamrily a Foilist and fence Epee also. Over the past 10 years I have pretty much fenced both about equally. I was told several times in college that I fenced Foil like an Epeeist, and was told after college that I fence Epee like a Foilist. Therefore it made sense to me to compete in both. On several of the past years I qualified to summer nationals in both Foil and Epee, and competed in Division III along with Division II. I have yet to crack the top quarter of the field, with the competition field averaging about 250. I was only able to compete in the Epee event at Divisionals this year, and that is what I am competing in the US Summer Nationals. I made the Division III qualification and missed the Division II competition one place shy of qualifying. Edited July 8, 2009 by Blueridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmounts Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I am priamrily a Foilist and fence Epee also. Over the past 10 years I have pretty much fenced both about equally. I was told several times in college that I fenced Foil like an Epeeist, and was told after college that I fence Epee like a Foilist. Therefore it made sense to me to compete in both. On several of the past years I qualified to summer nationals in both Foil and Epee, and competed in Division III along with Division II. I have yet to crack the top quarter of the field, with the competition field averaging about 250.I was only able to compete in the Epee event at Divisionals this year, and that is what I am competing in the US Summer Nationals. I made the Division III qualification and missed the Division II competition one place shy of qualifying. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murkish Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Blueridge, Best of luck! I did a little club fencing when I was a college. It is the only thing I have ever done that was more of an adrenaline rush than USPSA which did not involve jumping off or out of something. Regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I am a art of the sword guy myself, no where even close to your level but I love swords all the same. I have a Katana collection and still like to practice with them for kicks. Good Luck and cut first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Santiago Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I fenced MANY years ago for a couple of years until I moved and couldn't find a club. I enjoyed sabre. I'd take it up again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 (edited) ......And here are the results. I finished 4-2 from the 7 person pool leading into the rankings for the direct elimination brackets. That put me 35th out of 133 fencers in the competition. Only 80% of the fencers qualify to the direct eliminations, so only 107 of the 133 moved on from the pools. In the first direct elimination bracket of 128, I won my bout 15-7 over the fencer that was 95th out of pools. In the bracket of 64, I lost 8-15 to the fencer that was 99th out of pools. The final results of the event showed me 42nd out of 133. Not as high as I wanted, but a good showing overall. I had wanted to make it at least to the bracket of 32 in the event. As a side note, the fencer who beat me ended up 8th in the final standings. In the direct eliminations he defeated (in order) the 30th seed, 35th seed, 3rd seed, and 18th seed before losing to the 20th seed in the bracket of 8. Seeing the number of upsets that he managed made me feel a little bit better about my loss to him. Edited July 14, 2009 by Blueridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmounts Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Not bad! Yeah, losing to someone you expect to beat is tough... I seemed to manage to do that in most of the important competitions - I would beat the top seeds, and lose to the lesser seeds. Talk about mental... The good news is, you went to Nationals, you did better than "OK". Good on 'ya!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted July 18, 2009 Author Share Posted July 18, 2009 Another season is over, and a new one is just about to begin. Early on the bright side the US Summer Nationals for 2010 will be held in Atlanta GA. I am setting my sights on qualifying in Foil and Epee for the Division III and II levels in both. For the near future I am getting back to sending lead accurately downrange in a timely fashion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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