The End of This Blog

This post was originally going to be way more business and much less how I feel.

I am incredibly angry to be leaving Missoula. I don't want to leave my students behind, but I have to. My students have every right to be angry with me, and all I can do is apologize. I ask that you understand a dire financial situation conflicting with my own personal pride in not leaning on anybody. Neither Shelley or I are happy here any longer and if we suffer one more setback we will be on the streets. To avoid this, we are moving to Minneapolis to find jobs in a much stronger economy.

With my current situation not likely to improve, I remain without health insurance or any other insurance. It is embarrassing to have to air this, but I can't just leave people in a lurch with no explanation. My contribution to MFA has been substantial at great cost to my personal & financial life, and I would like to see others put in to keep it kicking and growing.

To my students... I am so sorry. I apologize for not being there to help you along. If it is any consolation, if you have been taking lessons from me for the last few years and fencing on a regular basis, you have likely learned the vast majority of what I have to teach you. I can only ask that you share what I have taught you to others so that saber can continue in Missoula.

I have been told that if I leave, MFA will dissolve and fencing will no longer exist in Missoula. I do not believe this will happen because I know who fences here. I will not be here to fight for you anymore, you will have to do it yourself.

Good Luck Missoula, and Goodbye
AJ DeWees

Sledding

We're sledding this weekend in Rainbow Park. Sledding is one of those awesome activities that I have fond memories of from childhood.

My favorite sledding game, which we never bothered to name, involved everyone starting at the top at the same time. The object of the game was to get to the bottom of the hill on someone else's sled. You could accomplish this in a variety of ways.
1. Wait for a wipeout, grab the poor sod's sled, laugh maniacally, & finish the hill on their sled.
2. Knock someone off their sled, and ride the rest of the way...laughing maniacally.
3. If (Heaven forbid) you have been knocked off of your sled, you can intercept another sledder on the way down (usually involving impact), and take their sled the rest of the way...giggling like an idiot.
This game favors the psychotic, creative, and physically superior. So it's best to try not to hurt other people, as it tends to ruin the game. You win the game if you reach the bottom of the hill on your third sled of the run. If their are two winners, then they have to sled off, meaning that only one person can make the bottom of the hill on a sled. If they both make it to the bottom, then neither of them win.

Fun Methods of Sledding:
Toboggan:
Wannabe snowboarder-Sled down the Hill standing up. See how far you can make it.
Head First-For those who lead from the front, laying down on the sled with your face leaning precariously over the edge. The Dentist's favorite.
Sitting down-Feet facing front, sitting upright is the easiest and often most hilarious way to avoid impact from the front. Can't say much for a bumpy hill though as your tailbone takes most of the shock.
The Tiger- Knees bracing the sides of the sled, hands gripping the sides of the sled, torso horizontal facing the ground with head facing forward. This is the position of the sledder who wants to Get Things Done. From here a sledder can actually steer a sled, perform a barrel roll, and other crazy stunts. If they are a sledder of truly exceptional skill, they can even stand up from this position.

Sledding rocks!

Road Trip Etiquette

This is one of those posts that I don't talk about fencing, but rather an aspect of traveling life in the US that most of us can relate to.

Road trips are meant to be a fun bonding experience for all of those involved. Even back when we had to make do with Game boys and Game Gears instead of texting and other detractors, we still talked to each other over the course of the long car ride. The awesome part of the long car ride is that it forces you to socially interact with people in an enclosed space over long periods of time. From this environment you learn more about the people in your car and probably about yourself too.

What kills me is people's insistence on using their dumb electronic gadgets to avoid all conversation with the other people in the car. Or better yet, they ignore your conversation until it gets interesting and then quip in until it gets boring again. Thank you for contributing nothing.

I have nothing against sleeping over distances. I understand that someone is tired after competing and all they want to do is sleep. I'll even let reading slide, but the gadget festival in my backseat has to stop.

TALK TO ME! I don't care if you have anything worthwhile to say! I am driving and it is in everyone's best interest to keep me awake! The conversations about the dumbest things are often the best conversations on a long road trip. Don't shield yourself behind Apple, Verizon, Sony, or Nintendo. I am unable to immerse myself in technological escapism. I am within 2 feet of you. I can reach you.

And to continue my rant, do you ever wonder how annoyed your friends must be at you constantly texting them for the next 5 hours? They must think you have no life, or assuming that you texted all of them that you are on the road, are in a car full of boring people. What you have basically communicated to your text friend is that everyone else in the car is awful. I'm not talking about sharing your tournament results or a brief funny story, I'm talking about the 4 hour conversation by text.

The reason your texting your friends about your boring car ride? You are the one making it boring. Yes, you. Not the two people talking to keep conversation and morale up, no, it's you. So the next time you text someone with "bored LOL," think about your responsibility as a road tripping human.

Tournament in hindsight

The best part of the Nov. 20 youth tournament: My kids realized that they had to move their feet. I have been saying it over and over, so many didn't think it was necessary, so many thought that bladework would work. And those that did, realized very quickly how important movement is. I am looking forward to this week of instruction as I plan to utilize this new found understanding. You can say something to a group of people repeatedly, but some things have to hit you across the back of the head before you'll sit up and start paying attention.

We will also fix the schedule so it doesn't run as late in the day. We're starting it a good 3 hours earlier and moving a few of the events around. The u19 event shrank because of the bad scheduling and that's just not fair to the people who registered and fenced. At the same time I can hardly be upset at students who fenced all day and then decided that the toughest event at the end of a long day wasn't necessary. I'll admit I'm a slave driver, but even slaves need the occasional break.

Vacation

I leave you with this image of silly people who refuse to move their feet.

I am Sick, and timed it well. No class for the remainder of the week. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!

AHAHAHA!

To the Prevailing Attitude...

Despite my efforts at changing the perception of Saber within the Inland Empire, plenty of people still believe that Saber is more complicated than Foil or Epee.

All 3 weapons are equally deep and complicated. Just because Epee lacks priority does not mean that its easier. Foil is not easier because it usually moves slower than Saber. Saber is not easier because you don't need point control. Get over this. Now.

Each blade is complicated in it's own way. There's a reason why people like me can go on doing the same blade for 12 years and not get bored with it. I haven't stopped learning how to fence Saber and don't plan to reach the end for quite some time. The further you go in one weapon, the better you get at it. Period.

Nothing Quite Like Failure

Failure motivates people to do crazy things. It breeds frustration, anger, confusion, and hopefully determination.

I crafted an internal ranking system that is designed to increase the desire to improve within my students. I normally wouldn't say this sort of thing out loud, but I have a reputation for honesty and forthrightness to uphold. I want my students to be able to achieve something outside the often times draconian ranking system of the Letters. The system is also utilitarian as it is designed to allow students to become assistant coaches @ MFA and give their own private lessons.

Since it's introduction a week ago, students have responded exactly as I wanted them to. With resolve and determination to acquire the rank. As of this posting, only two students have passed the test out of about 13 that have tested. It is designed to look deceptively easy, even though I warned everyone that technique had to be executed to perfection to pass the test. When I first started practice testing, the class thought I was kidding when I said "I expect nobody to pass this test the first time you take it."

After the first student failed, the news traveled quickly throughout the class. When the next 3 failed, a ripple of fear spread throughout the room. Kids were suddenly paying much closer attention to the white board and talking to those who had already failed.

Next week I got the desired response. Kids had studied before taking the test and were far more focused on their own technique.

I can't wait to administer the Red bar test. I'm hoping to invoke tears ;)

This Grand Experiment

Here we stand near the end of another year at MFA. This year has been one of unprecedented growth. I'm going to take this opportunity to gloat.

Things we have now that we did not have last year:

-Consistent space and schedule
-Meeting more than once a week
-Students with medals to their names
-observed skill growth in all program participants
-increased exposure within the community
-increased acceptance as a sport among parents
-consistent youth tournaments
-increased parental involvement
-social activities outside of fencing at the club

Boo-yah.

The Advantages of Youth Fencing

When I was younger I used to feel sorry for older fencers because I thought anyone past the age of 30 simply couldn't fence saber. I didn't know anyone who could move 30+ year old knees and feet at a speed that would allow you to beat people. Now I have seen that you can be a sneaky old guy and still fence the only weapon worth fencing. =)

It seems weird dealing with the exact opposite sentiments in students at MFA. They think that kids are completely inept at fencing while old guys are the terror that walks in the night. This needs some addressing from me.

Half the reason old guys seem so scary is that they started off exactly like you. I began as a 13 year old, overweight, goth kid that was socially awkward with no friends:
Except of course the few other goth kids at school and a friend I kept throughout childhood. I was not awesome and I still don't consider myself beyond mediocre at a national level. I did not like to move my feet when I started fencing, just like everyone else. I did not win tournaments when I started fencing, just like everyone else. I was jealous of people who were better fencers than me, just like everyone else.

Other old fencers in the division always talk down to you, especially after they've just beaten you: "Good bout, You really got me on **insert inane technical flaw here**"

I have good news for all youth fencers, especially the youngest ones who get their butt kicked all the time. Are you ready to hear it?

It stops. The lashings you get now will harden you into a machine on the strip. The more hard work you put in now, the faster you will get better. The more you beat your head against that wall fencing someone who plays with you like a kitty the better you get. The frustration you feel at losing while knowing why you lost is what moulds you into a good fencer. Once 2-3 years of competition goes by, you will look at this sport from a completely different angle.

Further, because you fenced through years that your body was still growing, you will have a degree of muscle memory that fencers who began later in life will never have. You will always be more comfortable on the strip than them no matter what happens.

But you have to get there first. Most people lack the patience to learn the fencing skills required to excel at the sport. Hang in there, and keep fighting.

The Upcoming Week

This coming week will see the first youth tournament in the state of Montana. Currently we have two cities participating, Helena & Missoula. I am going to shoot for Spokane to jump on as well, but no guarantees yet.

Chris will be hosting a competition Q&A for parents of fencers today. I will give a group Saber lesson to the kids from Helena who are coming into our tournament without any real saber training. We have at least 5 fencers in Y14 & U19 with the possibility of more registering next week.

Saber Pistol Grips?

First seen on Tim Morehouse's Blog, the pistol grip for the Saber is blowing my mind right now. This is the dumbest/smartest thing I've ever seen. I really want one just to see how it works. I wish the website wasn't in French so that I could read it and order one.

The Most Injury Riddled Games

We play warm up games for the first 15-20 minutes of class to get people moving before footwork. These are the current injuries for each warm up game throughout the course of MFA's existence.

1. Wall Ball
-1 broken collarbone, 1 concussion, 1 seizure
2. Capture the Flag
-1 broken nose, several twisted ankles, 2 bloody noses
3. Ultimate Frisbee
-countless hits, 1 cleating
4. Soccer
-2 bloody noses, 3 rolled ankles, 2 cleatings
5. Glove tag
-1 destroyed pair of shorts

Wall Ball's position at the top is unfair as it was one of the only games we ever played for the first few years. Capture the flag should probably be at the top because someone got hurt every time we used to play it. For some reason, people at this club get violent when they play CTF. Ultimate incites a bit of intensity but is otherwise pretty light. Soccer is what we usually play to warm up with. The students get competitive about it, but they also seem to respect the fact that no one is wearing shin guards, reducing injuries in one of the more intense games we play. Glove tag resulted in the destruction of my favorite pair of shorts when someone went to grab my glove, and basically clawed a hole into my pants.

Yay Progress!

We look and feel more cohesive with each passing day. Our first youth tournament looks better all the time I check it. Y14 and U19 Saber look to have the healthiest number of fencers and it looks like it will by a few more before the end of the week.

I want to say how proud I am of all the hard working fencers at MFA. I am consistently impressed with their motivation to improve.

We may have an intro class as large as 7 this week. That's insane!

I also want to thank all the students at Big Sky High School for letting us come in and run you around today. You guys were fun!

Mental States of Fencing (cont.)

4. Buddha
Buddha is the best mental state to be in while fencing. It is characterized by a blank look, an empty mind, and complete silence. You are completely detached from reality while maintaining razor sharp focus and purpose. People will score touches on you, but you will score epic touches that nobody thinks you can score.

5. Murderous Fury
Murderous Fury is one of the worst conditions to fence in. But not to fret, it can also be one of the most fun to fence in. A true murderous fury, as opposed to being mildly upset while fencing, is characterized by reckless and unusually wild movements, an adrenaline high unlike anything else, and no use of tactics or rationality. It makes a fencer TOO explosive and every action becomes too powerful. This does not mean that you are hitting way harder, although often times it is the case.

6. Confusion
This is the only real state new fencers are in when they come into a competition for the first time. Despite lessons, conditioning, and preparation, new fencers will always start here. Confusion is terrifying for older fencers because they can usually identify it right away, and they know exactly how screwed they are if they are unable to change it.

Confusion is defined as a lack of perception, which means that the fencer in question can't see the actions as they are taking place. This also means that they aren't planning their next move nor can they anticipate one from an opponent. Further, they are not making confident actions or finishing correctly, which means more calls are going against them.

7. Resolute Despair
Congratulations! After pools you just got the #1 seed in Div 1A, good luck!
Resolute Despair comes when you come onto the strip with little hope of progressing, but you are competing and so you shall fence despite the odds stacked against you. This usually results in better fencing as you are more relaxed and prepared for your fate despite resolving to take as many points on that scoreboard as you possibly can. The real problem with resolute despair is that it is just that... Despair. Once you get up on an opponent you start to tell yourself that you can possibly win this one, which excites you and makes your movements a little too large.

The Mental States of Fencing

Fencing is arguably one of the most mentally abusive sports in existence. As I grew up fencing, I think this degree of subtle torment is healthy/incredibly traumatizing for young minds. Your opponent is never a forgiving individual & at the best of times is confused. At the worst of times he is dancing circles around you and throwing out the occasional parry 8 while giggling. Through all that you experience in your time competing, you will learn to be more merciless as your opponent.

I cannot claim to teach people how to be pleasant. I teach them to be respectful, but that is hardly the same thing.

The following are observed mental states that I have experienced over the years. They are not necessarily experienced by themselves and can be experienced together with other, more basic emotions. This list is not comprehensive and I would love to hear about other ones that people have experienced. These are all from a Saber point of view, so keep that in mind

1. Low Energy Deviousness
Low Energy Deviousness is characterized by a physical calm radiating out of a fencer at points that you would expect energy and explosiveness. This permits the low energy fencer to see more and develop more coherent and complex attacks. It is also easily prepped by someone geeked on adrenaline with a good sense of timing.

2. Vengeance fueled focus
Easily one of my favorite mental states to watch, this type of focus comes when you are facing an opponent who is intentionally and loudly humiliating you. Not humiliation of technique, which is your own fault, but something deeper and much more insidious. I can't give you a good example because I haven't had it happen to me in some time, but I can tell you how it goes:

Fencer A is fencing Fencer B. Both Fencers are happy with life and relatively excited to be competing. Fencer B does something hilarious and barely stifles a laugh, or visibly thinks this is hilarious. Fencer B does it again. Fencer A notices what's going on the second time around and immediately goes cold as ice....and becomes murderous. That is Vengeance fueled focus.

3. Peace Through Exhaustion
This is one you always have to earn and is hopefully only seen in practice. Peace Through Exhaustion comes after fencing for about an hour or two straight with various different people who have been doing the same thing. It is during this mental state that your body has given up and you are fencing on pure willpower and what little reserves of adrenaline you have remaining. This is one of the best mental states to train in because you can focus on perfection even while exhausted.

Bound for Utah & Soccer this weekend.

We're heading down to Utah on December 18th, where we're gonna party like it's 1959!

I'm excited to see what the fencing scene is like down there. It seems like there are lots of young fencers, which always indicates a healthy division. I'm driving down with Jesse, probably Sam, probably Kole, & maybe a few others depending on the car situation.

Historically, Utah and Montana used to regularly attend each others tournaments. Since there was once an Alliance of Elves and Men, I will honor that alliance....

MFA is also hosting a soccer game against UMFC. I am definitely going to make this a tradition in the fall from now on as a little bit of friendly rivalry never hurts. We're going to have Chili & Hot Cocoa afterward.

Going to the Lane

I am going here on February 5th. For those in the know, this is White Hart Lane, the place where the best football is played in all of London & possibly the world.

I am also going to fence in London (hopefully) assuming I can get in contact with their club.

In other news I also picked up two new students for private lessons. Hoorah!

Ratings

I've had little to write about recently so I decided to keep my mouth shut for the better part of a week. But this keeps coming up and I can't resist.

Whenever you gather groups of people together who do something, inevitably some well intentioned person decides to organize them. Preferably, this ranking system rewards skill and accomplishment. As is often the case, USFA's first attempt at this did not work.

In the before time, in the long, long ago, we referred to people as senior, junior, & novice fencers. These terms were so ridiculously vague that I will not go into them.

In the dark ages, people who had not fenced in 50 years were given B's & A's, despite a few being deceased. Further, if you got lucky and won your A at a tournament you kept it for life. You had no incentive to improve. You were suddenly king for life. But to make it fair, earning an A, B, or C involved a herculean effort. If memory serves correctly, A's were only awarded to winners of Div1, so the number of A's in the US was hilariously smaller than it is today. B's were only awarded in Div1 if you made it somewhere near the finals. The lowly C was passed out to any shmo who could win a regional tournament.

In the renaissance, USFA saw the advent of the D and E ratings. Upper management noticed that youth fencers were not motivated to continue fencing after two to three years without a rating. All they saw was 3 years of their life fighting tooth and nail against more experienced fencers with no real recognition or rank to show for it. So to appease people who like to see outward recognition for less than godly results, the USFA started handing out D & E ratings. That way, Billy so-and-so can finally see a bright new letter by their name. Furthermore, ratings now decayed at a rate of every 4 years. So your A suddenly felt shrinkage if you slacked off enough that you weren't able to renew it. All in all, this was a smart move by the USFA as it increased the value of ratings by putting a shelf life on them. It also increased the ability to seed accurately as an 'A2002' is worse than an 'A2004.' You're going to have to forgive the dates, I haven't met an A in about that long.

I believe we are currently operating under USFA rating system 2.5. We may be on the verge of going to a numerical system in a year or two, but there are equal signs of going either way.

The Fencing community as a whole is obsessed with ratings. Like any good subculture all of its participants dig on reputation and rank in some form or another. We like to see signs of our progress, which is a good thing in humanity. I am not here to rag on our desire to improve, far from it.

What I am here to rag on, is when people get weird about ratings. They use them as character judgments as opposed to seeding guides. It makes me slightly upset when someone gets all lordly with their rating. I've always seen a high rating in my opponent as a weakness to exploit just like everything else. It pumps my adrenaline like nothing else when I have a chance to lay out an A.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was a 15 year old Hungarian saber fencer fresh of the boat at DivIII. I had him in pools and thought something was a bit off. He ended up knocking me out in the round of 8, which was my first national medal (and to this day, one of my favorites). I was watching him fence for gold when I saw him whip out flying parry-2 followed by parry-8. For those of you that don't know what that means, he was playing with the poor kid. Viciously playing with him. I always wondered what happened to him because I never saw him again in the next 4 years. I hope he comes out of nowhere again, just so I can watch a good show.

Divisional Youth League

We're not doing this either. We talked it over & decided that it would be a bad idea to jump into a giant youth league that doesn't work.

Our two biggest problems as a division are lack of population and finances. Epee & Foil are overrepresented in the division as a whole, with MFA mostly competing in Saber. The rest of the division has older students on the whole while we mostly have middle school & Y12 fencers. I can see us going to a tournament and having NOBODY to fence. Further, the proposed league fees would just kill us on rent & waste money from the parent's perspective.

I think we should work toward a division-wide youth league after we have functional local ones. At that point we can all come to the discussion table with hard data on what works and doesn't work for each Montana city.

Further, I would like to make baby steps toward one that encompasses the whole division. We should probably divide up into two youth leagues, one that encompasses Spokane, Missoula, & Helena, and another with Bozeman, Butte, & Billings. That way nobody has to drive an insane distance to compete regularly.

Concerning a Losing Situation

Sometimes the survival instinct does not kick in for fencers who are losing. I've seen many people simply lean back and accept their fate as opposed to throwing everything they have at their opponent.

This is what you are supposed to do when you are losing:
It is your duty and expectation to go super saiyan whenever you are being beaten by Frieza or any other alien invader. It doesn't matter how badly you are getting beaten because the only way you will be able to beat people who are better is by going super saiyan. They don't care about you and will not let up, so take a hint from them and do the same.

Tournament this Weekend

The proud tradition of Zombie Saber continues this weekend with the second Zombie Invitational in Missoula, MT. 28 Days Later is awarded to first prize.

I also expect a healthy turnout for the saber section in Missoula's first youth tournament!

Demo #2 down

We just demonstrated today @ CS Porter Middle school to their entire class of 7th graders. I liked the audience and I hope the audience liked us. Carola gave me some excellent criticism to work off of and enlightened me to a few points that I was weak on. Rest assured, they will be addressed at the next assembly.

Thank you to Chris for the tip about getting the audience involved in making calls, my goodness did that ever work. Next time I would like enough Dedicated fencers in each weapon to showcase all 3 with our best foot forward. Sam will thank you in the future.

Q&A's worked better at the end this time, don't know how to scientifically gauge that outside of my gut (Stephen Colbert would be proud), but I'll find a way.

Also, I am officially past 50 posts. w00t.

Slight Change of Plans

We spent the better part of an hour yesterday discussing our options in creating a Missoula High School League. I have good news!

It's not gonna happen! No High School League, at least not yet. Instead, MFA is going to create a youth league that starts next month and will have a tournament once a month thereafter. All youth events will be open to all young fencers within the Inland Empire and the events will not be USFA sanctioned. We are not 100% on the schedule just yet, but we will be soon.

The reason we decided to abandon direct school affiliation is cost. We lack the overall resources to invest in a program with direct affiliation with the school system. We also think that our current method is more conducive to immediate growth within the division as opposed to the amount of time it would take for us to garner school approval. But not to worry, someday in the future we will have a high school league up and running, just not within the immediate future. This model can be changed or adopted elsewhere in Montana as well. We will have a meeting with Bozeman & Helena fencers this weekend about youth league set up and the like.

Y12, Y14, Cadet, & Junior events will be held at each tournament. We are also organizing a points list calculator on AskFred to keep track of individual fencers. At the end of the season, we will award one fencer in each age/blade category the cup for that season. We eventually hope to add a team bracket as well, but it may be a while before we can deliver that.

Keep Learning

It takes a long time to be considered a 'complete' fencer. That term is poor because it implies you know everything about how fencing works. Nobody knows everything about how fencing works; there are people that have good ideas in relation to fencing, but no one knows it perfectly. That aspect of the sport is so rewarding because it means you can do it your entire life and still be learning the entire time.

There are fencers that have a mature understanding of the sport, and by my reckoning that puts someone at 10 years + experience.

I don't understand it when fencers get stodgy about the rules or what you can & can't do. I know very few people who can afford to be 'old school,' & I am definitely not one of them. Competitors must constantly analyze and study the sport, listening to others of a higher understanding so that they may expand their perspective on fencing. Interestingly, listening to others of a lesser understanding can still bring great insight.

Why do we go to Tournaments?

People attend tournament 'A' because they believe tournament 'A' will do at least one of the following:
1. Have lots of people to fence and get experience from
2. Pass out fat cash ratings
3. Qualify people for a larger tournament (Div 1A, etc..)
4. Fencers from tournament 'A' will reciprocate the favor and send fencers your way, typically when 1-3 are met

There are certainly other motivations for why people attend tournaments, but these are the major ones. 1-2 are the hardest things for people like me to organize at a grassroots level. 1-2 are relatively easy in a more populated area that isn't riddled with drama. 3 is more within my reach, but not so you'd notice. 3 is a regular occurrence in a more populated area. 4 is by and large what I have to work with on a regular basis, but something I dislike relying on for several reasons.

4 depends on the rest of the region having tournaments and also that they have a fencing community to speak of. While I am not opposed to traveling for tournaments elsewhere, guilt alone seems to be a poor motivator for outside fencers to come to our tournaments. As well it should, I don't want people to feel guilted into fencing with us.

Rather, I want to focus on making sure that Missoula is a place people want to come and fence at. I want us to carry our own weight with enough fencers to field a D1 by itself in all weapons. I don't want help from the rest of the division to make our tournaments healthier. That said I will appreciate it, but not expect it. I also think that this is the one way that Missoula can start meeting the demands of 1-2.

My Goodness, the Distance.

These hills, I have to pass them if I will ever see an event bigger than E1 in my weapon (for the foreseeable future). More planning is needed before I mount a last ditch effort to bound off to Minnesota for the weekend, because it was definitely what I was trying to do all of yesterday. What makes me a little bit sadder is that the event I want to hit is one 'body' away from a B1 tournament. If I did go, more happy letters would be handed out to people, which makes me a happy panda.

Askfred seems to be this ridiculously powerful engine for change when it comes to fencing in the US. If everyone at the event preregistered as early as they possibly could, and attended the event, tournaments would be at least 10% larger in most cases. If I knew that the tournament in St. Paul this weekend would be one body short a month ago, I would have canceled the Seattle trip and bounced out to Minnesota. Not because Seattle is inferior, far from it, but because I am from Minnesota and support fencing there even at the expense of myself and driving 22 hours.

I know that people preregister when they know for sure that they can make it, which is polite and far better than prereging and not showing. But I would like to do everything in my power to get more people preregistered earlier, because then events look more attractive than just at the last two days.

I would love to hear ideas about organizing Askfred events so that people blanket a random venue with their attendance. Perhaps we can organize some sort of gift economy dealing with sending fencers different places.

I know I'm asking for the human race to be more organized, but I am allowed to ask.

Labels, Titles, and Names

People like their titles. People like rank and an unnatural order so that they can lord it over other people despite inferiority.

"I have been fencing for 4 years! [I obviously know more than you!]"

"I won my first novice tournament! [Of course I'm better than you!]"

"I used to be club president, I've put in my time [in comparison to you]."

I always thought that the above statements fit into the excuse category but of a different variety. You see, holding a position or fencing for a certain amount of time doesn't mean that you actually know what you're talking about. Always be leery of someone eager to tell you their credentials and titles outside of a demonstration setting.

I tend to dislike authority. I like it when students or others try & grab some power or authority, especially from me. It shows that someone possesses drive and ambition, which is way more valuable than someone who desires the appearance of being good.

Dislike of authority is a solid motivator for fencers to possess. It certainly isn't fear of a superior that can whip someone up into a frenzy.

I like merit based systems and awarding points to people based on skill, positive mental attitude, and constructive demeanor. Because it is those things that move us forward.

New Students

I encourage beginning students to compete in our tournaments & other tournaments throughout Montana. My goal by the end of the year is to have at least 6 people competing on a regular basis in the Inland Empire in saber. Failing that, I want at least 10 people in EACH weapon category for the Missoula High School League. If I meet that goal, the division is certainly due for an indefinite period of growth.

I am demonstrating this Thursday @ the YMCA for an hour to a younger group, and will be demonstrating to an entire 7th grade class at an assembly (AWESOME). The demos are racking up & Laura is learning a thing or two about how the school system operates.

Coaching Certifications

This post is here because Chris gave me an awesome idea for something to write about.

*Breathes in*

Coaching certifications are a tricksy subject just like rings of ultimate power & hobbitses. I will readily admit that having a body in charge of coaching like the USFCA brings more good to the table than bad.

I do NOT have any certifications from the USFCA to coach any students. I have never attended a coaches camp of any sort. I have no formal training to coach students. This has been held over my head before as you can imagine.

People tend to back down really quick when I get on my hind legs and inform them that I took lessons for 6 years from a former student of Santelli. He fenced saber in New York for I don't know how long before moving out to Minnesota. He is a proven coach that has sent more than a few kids to decent scholarships at schools like: Harvard, Penn State, & Ohio State. In fact, I don't think there has been a time in the last ten years where someone from MSC was not fencing for Penn State.

Ah, but I can hear some of you saying "Gee AJ, you seem to be hiding behind your instructor." Truth be told, I AM hiding behind my instructor. The same way the rest of you hide behind your certs or your own decent instructor. We all have a past we would rather be proud of than angry with.

The bottom line is that I am an unproven coach. But so is every fencing enthusiast that the USFCA spits out. Some of them might be amazing coaches who send kids to colleges and produce several champions. Some of them will never be any good no matter how many times they waggle their coaches card in your face. As the parent of a fencer or whatever; you have to make a judgment call on your coach. It is your responsibility, not ours.

I don't judge other coaches based on what certs they have, I judge them based on what kind of students they produce & what kind of methods they use to teach people how to fence. What makes a good coach isn't the coach behind them, or the certifications they earned through the USFCA, it is based on how well they can teach. Some can, & some can't.

The scariest part of coaching is that you really don't know if you're any good at it. It is so hard to gauge how much credit is due to the individual fencer in comparison to the coach as it relates to the student's skills. Some people will be good at this regardless of how awesome their coach is, and that sucks to admit. Some people are naturally terrible at the sport (More so that usual). It's usually a waste of your time trying to figure out which extreme a given student fits on, your job as the coach is to keep up their skill level and facilitate growth regardless of how naturally athletic or smart they are.

As to the USFCA, their cert process sounds rather weak. The governing body of fencing has been under enough fire for being a corrupt, inefficient, bureaucratic freak show to convince me that I don't need their go ahead to teach. Plus they don't need anymore of my money, which is a sentiment that I'm sure many can agree with. Honestly I would like to attend a coaches camp to get a few more drill ideas and other fine tuning for my instruction techniques, but I would only be doing so that I looked good on paper.

Ah, but I can hear some of you saying "This is easy for you to say, you are one of few fencers in Montana who has tons of experience, training, & the drive to design a program. It's not that easy in dense population areas with many fencers & an existing political environment to contend with."

My response: So? At a certain point I accept that I am essentially a fascist/despot who operates with an iron fist to get my policies accepted as the norm in Missoula. If you want to come out here or move to a rural area near you and shape/start a fencing club then go for it. The advantage of having a unique skill set in a smaller area is that you naturally have more power. I am taking a tip from the robber barons that came before me: You have power, use it or lose it.

I am not motivated by cronyism, I am motivated to teach people to fence. I am not here to take resources and laugh maniacally as I oppress people. So naturally I oppose the USFCA because they are a regulatory body with no authority or power out here. Chances are good that I'm not going to change the status quo as it benefits (really) all fencers in the area.

*breaths out*

These things happen

I am definitely in a writer's block phase. I do apologize and I have not forgotten this blog. But I am sitting here without any idea what to write about.

I promise if you give it a few days I will have things to say again.

Until then, I give you this image:

My New Favorite Drill

So, I started doing this drill set in the last two weeks as part of developing patience within a compound attack. The results have been far and beyond what I was expecting.

The drill goes like this: Attacker/Defender with the attacker limited to pulling distance (on attack)& the defender limited to attack in prep. I do several drills that lead up to this one, such as: Attacker/Defender double advance; pause; defender preps as attacker pretends to move forward; attacker pulls distance then attacks. I've seen technique problems magically disappear & a marked increase in overall comprehension & patience.

Coach or Compete?

Tonight was a lovely wake up call for me. I started giving lessons @ 2 right up until 4. From there I taught club until 6. @ 6 I went to the University & practiced, if that's what you could call it. By the time I was halfway done doing footwork, I was basically done thinking and moving for the night. I fenced a young student of mine who, after this weekend, decided that I was in fact old & slow. Because he made me feel it.

I wondered why I fenced so poorly by the time I was fencing for myself. Perhaps it was because I had already fenced for 4 hours before I got to practice for me. I sit here typing this & I am almost exhausted.

I am in good physical condition. I run approximately 20 miles a week give or take a few. Today just about killed me in terms of workload. So I am considering dropping competition for a while in favor of focusing on coaching. In logical terms it makes sense. Good coaching results in a better club, more money, & better students. It puts no wear and tear on my nice mask, cords, or cuff. I really enjoy coaching & find it to be a rewarding experience when my students excel. Coaching really is the bomb diggity. In short, coaching seems to be best for everybody.

In contrast, competing is incredibly awesome. The weight of a medal around my neck is one of the most satisfying feelings in my entire life. I can touch it whenever I feel insecure, lonely, or cold. I like the feeling of walking around after a tournament with one around my neck, going to restaurants & the like. Someone may stop and say "Hey what's the medal for?"
"Oh, why thank you for inquiring my good sir, this is a fencing medal denoting my accomplishments for the day... I ROCK!"

But their are many downsides to competing from my perspective. I've been doing it for so long that I am becoming apathetic about it and losing a bit of focus at larger events. On the whole I am better than I used to be and far more consistent, but I feel I have lost some of that killer adrenaline edge that you need to win a hard bout. Plus it's expensive. Stuff breaks, tournament fees are never pleasant, & I have to pay to travel. But despite all of that, I love competing in a tournament.

I will likely stop competing on a regular basis to focus on MFA and the skill base of my students. The nice thing about this decision is that it doesn't have to be permanent. Electric gear doesn't have a shelf life, so you can bet that I will return someday.

The Excuse

"That's a BS call"
"He cheated"
"I got beat by the clock"
"My stuff wasn't working, it threw me off"
"He hits so hard"
"The director screwed me"
"The strip was terrible"
"I would have had him if it wasn't for (insert any technical failure here)"

This is what I really hear whenever I hear the above:
"I'm too afraid to admit that I lost because I wasn't good enough and this is my mechanism for coping."

I got 3rd this weekend at the Leon Auriol and was knocked out by a better fencer than me. He beat me in an honest competition of skill with an impartial referee. I am proud of my result but disappointed that I couldn't do better. But you know what? I LOST! And I'm okay with that because I'VE DONE IT BEFORE!!

I've even lost to people with referees who didn't like me. I've also beaten people under referees who didn't like me. I've beaten people despite technical failures and a crappy floor, and I've lost to them too. But the bottom line isn't that I'm all tough, it's that I take responsibility for what happens regardless of variables. This is a sport, and life isn't fair. Sometimes you get screwed, most of the time you end up screwing yourself. The real test of strength is knowing to admit it and fix it for next time.

Whenever you use an excuse you take an amazing opportunity to learn something and throw it out the window. You also cheapen your opponent's victory, which never endears you to them. Take my advice, suck it up and admit that you lost because of YOU.

The Elephant on the Strip: 2-pin or Bayonet?

In the words of Johnny Cash, I've been down every road in this here land. No matter where I go, this is a topic of heated debate.

Their are two systems for plugging in a foil or saber, (epee gets a reprieve from this fight) a 2-pin system & a bayonet system.

2pin

Aside from sounding like a midwestern rapper, 2-pin setups have little going for them. Yes I am laying on the bias RIGHT NOW! 2-pin setups function like soviet era cars such as the Skoda.

I'm going to use this opportunity to use my useless history degree to give you a lesson and comparison in soviet era politics and how they relate to modern fencing clubs.

In old Czechoslovakia, the most common car was the Skoda. This vehicle was imported from Russia (by force) and people drove it (little choice). Fun fact, "Skoda" in Czech means "no go." Another fun fact, the original Skoda was incredibly unreliable and broke down regularly in the use of bitter Czechs and Slovaks. With their amazing sense of humor, many of these eastern bloc people could be seen on the sides of the road, next to a smoking Skoda, throwing their hats on the ground and saying "SKODA!"

At the University of Montana (and MANY MANY other clubs) the only cord you can borrow is the 2-pin. So if you want to start competing you borrow a 2-pin (little choice) and the cord falls out of the weapon every 2 minutes (by gravitational force). Unfortunately this 2-pin dictatorship is universal and self-replicating like an apocalyptic nanite swarm of the future. People stuck in this system mock the bayonet without ever having tried it. People never see the western side of the Berlin wall with all the fancy flash and flair of western capitalism that is the bayonet socket.

Bayonet sockets look like this:


Wait, sorry. That was produced by one of the greatest men of all time.

This is what a bayonet socket looks like:

They are pretty, they are simple, and they never break. Their are plenty of detractors out there who claim that it is impossible or hard to fix one of these cords, but in all my years fencing I've never had one break. The entire electrical connector on the weapon is enclosed, preventing an errant stopcut/flick/whatever from destroying the entire setup. I have watched 2-pins crumple under the kind of pressure that my bayonets can endure.

So, 2-pin cords are like communism. Break down the wall & come on over.

Seattle

I would like to start by saying thanks to Salle Auriol and all Seattle fencers for a fine tournament. I haven't spent enough time around the fencing community in Seattle and that needs to be rectified. Many people walked over and said hello, asked how the drive was, and were incredibly cordial. Rest assured, I will be returning with more fencers in the future.

The Leon Auriol served its purpose admirably from my perspective. It showed my students how long they have to go down the road of competition. I know they took home several lessons & tricks that will serve them well in the coming years.

Why am I Teaching? It was about...

I sometimes ask myself why I would choose this over a reliable career. I know others do it behind my back so I might as well answer it.

I don't teach fencing for fencing's sake. I believe that if I was motivated to just teach fencing, then I would be somewhere else or possibly studying for a year in Hungary or New York. No I teach fencing because I see in every student the potential to have what me and all my old fencing friends had 10 years ago. It wasn't about the medals, the strip, what weapon you fence, or any of the rest of that garbage.

It was about meeting people. It was about laughing so hard you cried in the back of a car. It was about flirting with fencing chicks knowing you weren't going to get anywhere. It was about sneaking out of a hotel room @ midnight trying to find something to do. It was about learning how to throw hotel key cards across the venue, and then playing catch with them. It was about sledding down a hill in your warmups after a bad tournament. It was about gorging yourself at a restaurant after a tournament. It was about mocking the high school teams and their stupid pre-tournament chants. It was about cheering on the last guy from your club who was still in a major tournament (or being the last guy). It was about every stupid memory that you make at a tournament, because 10 years from now, you are unlikely to remember results even if askFred does.

The Inability to Rely on Regional Growth

Clubs have to built from the ground up. If the region sputters & dies or grows and flourishes, MFA has to continue a steady build in membership, skill development, & infrastructure building. I think the overall trick is to attend tournaments in parts of the region undergoing growth & avoid the tournaments in parts of the region that are dying off.

I did an earlier post similar to this that discussed the merits of each part of the Inland Empire. Not enough time has passed to see any part of the region change in a noticeable fashion, & I tend to talk up MFA because I can see it growing slowly. We badly need more dedicated foilists and epeeists at the club, as we are currently a saber club in all but name. We've had one student compete in Epee, and that is an excellent start, but in the long term he may be the only one still doing it.

Growth takes so long to achieve in a fencing club. It is hard to predict just how students will grow, and how long it takes for them to understand key concepts. But during the growth phase of a young fencer, they need friends more than anything else. Friends give them more of a reason to come down, hang out, & continue fencing.

What holds a club together is not a coach, but the students. If you have the opportunity to have a social environment outside of school with people who haven't been going to school with you since you were little, it becomes more appealing. I hated school growing up, and would have been a very different person without fencing in my life. It provided me with a way to forget about having no friends in early high school and just have a bunch of fencing buddies. I saw them more often than I interacted with other jerks in English, so it made sense. I also started to get more friends at school because I was no longer desperate to have them. I was already considered cool by a few people at my club, what did I care if nobody at school liked me? In short, fencing gave me more confidence than any other activity growing up.

This club atmosphere is not impacted by how many fencers are in Hamilton. I am trying to create this atmosphere for Missoula, and everyone else can go fly a kite. The hardest thing I will someday have to endure is saying goodbye to a student going off to college or moving away. I remember watching Rich say goodbye to me and a few other accomplished students, it wasn't pretty. The year after he said goodbye to the last of a group of 10 of us who were known to wreck face across the midwest. It was hard, but he's still kicking and producing murderers.

Pretournament Jitters

I may be a small portion of the populace, but whenever I compete my stomach essentially boils & knots up. I adopt a nervous and angry countenance & avoid eye contact. Oh sure I respond to stimuli, but only in a very clipped fashion. I actually prefer my competitions to be filled with people who don't want to talk to me or interact with me in any way until forced to on the strip. Because I've been this nervous wreck at competitions for so long, I've decided that instead of fighting it, I would just use it. This acceptance has some weird effects on my overall psyche, such as relaxation, acceptance, and usually, better fencing. It also has the potential to make me a poor sport, but I've been down that road and try to avoid it as best I can.

In the words of Malcolm Reynolds: "When I start fighting a war, you'll see something new."

Ebay, and Sifting through the Garbage

Ebay can be the source of many good things. Chris got a Leon Paul Epee for an absurdly reduced price. I watched an entire competitive set of saber gear minus the mask go for under a $100.

Then their are the vendors who put their garbage on Ebay to make it look nice. Physical Chess, Blue Gauntlet, the zombie company that calls itself Uhlmann that used to make good gear but has since moved to China. It stinks that I have to sift through all that but I have found a fairly efficient method.

Instead of typing "fencing equipment" in the search box, I type in "Leon Paul Fencing," or "PBT fencing" or any other company tag I want attached that other people are selling, but not Physical Chess garbage.

An Ideal Summer

This summer was awesome. The club is doing well in it's first month of operation and fencing in Missoula continues to flourish.

An Ideal summer next year would include the following: Go to Summer Nats, take a week out to go teach a camp in Seattle, take another week to head back to Minneapolis and fence at MSC, teach a camp or two here in Missoula, teach a camp up in Helena, take a giant country spanning road trip to catch an MLS game & possible fencing tournament in a different city each weekend, & take a non-fencing related road trip.

I am realistic, I don't think half of those will actually happen, but I would like to make one of them happen.

Burning the Novice Event & Pretty Warmup Pictures with Students.

I have to define a special Inland Empire tradition that is thankfully going the way of the dodo. Novice foil was the primary way to induct new fencers into competition throughout Montana & Eastern Washington. I really dislike novice foil for several reasons and it took a lot of work to get rid of it.

First I would like to give credit where credit was due, and oddly enough I am attributing the death of Novice foil to the USFA. They have a new policy where someone can buy a day membership to fence in a tournament. Novice foil ran outside the bounds of USFA, which means we had no insurance in case of injury, and people didn't have to wear knickers. It was convenient for people who weren't sure whether they liked fencing or not.

Second, I would like to point out the overall opinion of Novice foil in the hearts and minds of the people who supported it. It was mostly the good old boy network that really dug the idea of Novice foil, because they got to call the fencers in the bracket 'novices,' allowing themselves full privilege to lord their rank as full fencers over someone else. It was almost like a pathetic hazing ritual that most fencers had to go through.

Third, the DEs were only to 10 touches like a veterans event. Now, I'm not that old yet and don't know what it is like to fence for 15 touches while I am 40, so I'll give the vets bracket the benefit of the doubt right now. Speaking as a 25 year old runner in reference to Novice, suck it up and fence to 15.

Fourth, Novice foil only represents one blade. The only time we ever ran Novice for any of the other blades was last year. We are also the only ones besides Spokane who ran a novice bracket in anything besides foil. Speaking as a coach who stricly adheres to the philosophy that incoming fencing students should fence the blade(s) that they like the most, I think novice foil is unfair to 2/3 of all the possible competitors.

It came from the idea that foil is the 'base blade,' whatever that means. I still haven't heard a decent reason for why Missoula used to force students to learn foil before 'going on' to any of the other weapons. I know with complete certainty that I would never have fenced if I was forced into that situation. I also know that a few of the newer fencers would have bailed out too if the status quo wasn't changed.

In short, Novice events are no longer being organized in Missoula.

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for... Warm up photos!

I am now out of backposts

So I guess it's time for a blogging day. These days are lots of fun, at least for me, because I get to type like crazy today and let the next few days slide.

The tournament in Missoula was pretty small even by Inland Empire standards. We did manage to hand out 2 E's to the same person and I was very impressed by my students' performance in saber. 2 more medals were handed out to MFA fencers which brings our total tally to 3. Chris finally has a student competing, and he did very well yesterday for his first tournament.

It was a ton of fun to watch my students execute an explosive attack against an opponent, and more than a little terrifying. If they can latch on to that confidence and energy, bouts can be won on physical power alone. Most of the bouts that were lost stemmed from a losing mental battle. ALL of my students were up by at least two points at the break in the bouts they were knocked out, but compensation for the opponent's adaptation never happened. They were also brilliant in pools, with the top two seeds being MFA fencers.

Honestly the results make me very happy. The course of events showed that inexperience is the major disadvantage my students still suffer from. Thankfully that is the easiest disadvantage to fix. I saw such good technique and willingness to fight for each touch.

Photos of warm-ups in tomorrow's post. You are going to love them.

Warm ups, ENTHUSIASM, & the Leon Auriol

So coach warm ups theoretically arrive today. They will likely become available to the whole club next year around this time, and their will be photographs. I wanted the warm ups because we are going around to schools and I want to present as professional a manner as I can to prospective students. I have no idea where my old MSC ones went off to, so I will feel good wrapped in club colors again.

Despite operational costs this month, I'm keeping up my enthusiasm as best I can. I am still leaking money like a sieve but I am at least starting to pull in more than I am spending. We have enough kids to run an intro class next month and hopefully a few of those kids will stick around for longer. I'll definitely ask a few students who were unsure of private lessons to step up as they seem eager to dedicate a bit more of their time to fencing.

I look forward to the Leon Auriol next weekend. I am hoping for a decent result, as I am *ahem* in the best shape of my life right now.

So, Fencing is a Real Sport...

I observe this reaction in people whenever I tell them I am a part time fencing coach. They think I am some weird guy who plays D&D all day in a basement & occasionally comes to the surface to teach other nerds my methods of mastery over nerdom.

This isn't entirely true. When I instruct someone how to fence, I instruct them how to fence. I could care less if they are nerdy, gangsta, corporate, redneck, none of that crap matters. We don't just stand there hitting eachother's weapons pretending to be swashbucklers in a bad movie, we move around much more than most people think.

I don't know where this stereotype of the awful fencing instructor comes from, but I have been trying to abolish it for the last two years. I pride myself on being in good physical condition and not wheezing after I teach/do footwork. I look to my students to be in good enough physical condition not to be wheezing after footwork. Conditioning is terribly important to this sport as it is a physical activity.

It is also important to drill basics even when you've been fencing for many years. It's called basic technique, and if you don't use it you lose it.

When it Comes to Teaching...

Intro classes are always a weird mental situation. You want to pull in as many new people as you can without watering that same sample with people who you know to be worthless long term. What I mean by worthless is someone who isn't really that into it and will never really progress. I want to be able to grab the random athlete who does one or two sports and get him into fencing.

The nerds in an intro group may stick around for years just so they can tell their friends that they fence. I have no problem attracting these kids because they pay the bills. As my Dad says "Every dojo needs its share of Orcs."

This is why I try to focus on the athletic and mental aspects of the sport rather than the "Look, a sword!" side of it. People can respect the benefits of fencing without nerding out about it. The link is to a much larger and interesting lecture where the speaker makes some amazing observations about what it means to "nerd out." If you have a free 2 hours to spend online, the whole thing is totally worth watching.

Regardless of what kind of intro class I am teaching, some kids will want to continue and others will not no matter how hard I try. That's okay because I don't want those 'other' kids to continue anyway. They would drag down the progress of others in their own journey out of fencing. I don't like to admit that because it means that I have to let some things slide in a world that I idealistically envision with more fencers.

Tournament in Missoula this Weekend; October

Missoula kicks off our first tournament @ 8:30 am on September 25th. The Fred Preregs are pretty low, but not significantly below average Inland Empire attendance. I'm glad my students are attending because it is a nice easy warm-up to the Leon Auriol.

I'm looking forward to the Zombie Invitational in October as it will be a much larger tournament if initial "oh yeah we're going!"'s can be believed. If you fence saber in our section, then you have to come out for the zombie saber event. It is one touch, head only Saber with normal right of way, bouts drawn from a hat. Last year's event was amazingly fun, and best of all, it's FREE! I believe we're handing out the DVD Zombieland for first prize this year. So come on down!

Plans are in the works for me to head for the Battle in Seattle in late January and stay and vacation for a few days afterward. I might take a few people with me too depending on the circumstances.

A Conglomeration of Half Posts & Ideas

I am currently not in a learning plateau. I am happy with my speed changes, distance, and timing. Some things can be fixed, while others are fine. For the entire first half of this year I was stuck in a plateau, so I feel entitled to a little satisfaction.

It's also nice to see students getting touches they historically wouldn't when fencing me, which means I am doing my job right. I've also noticed that the less experience that you have, the shorter your plateaus are. That certainly can't be a universal truth, but it seems to apply in most cases. Oh, and I want shorter plateaus.

I'm heading to Seattle with two students of mine in two weeks. I am excited and more than a little nervous. This will be their first tournament outside of the Inland Empire and it will not have the same vibe. They will also be the first students from MFA to attend a tournament of this caliber, and hopefully the first of many to make the leap.

I'm doing a volunteer intro class for some boy scouts this week and we already have 2 of the 6 signed up for an intro class. I decided that since we already grabbed 1/3 of that number to pass the class off to Chris for some Epee, and I will take over his Y10 class tonight. He was thinking of doing Saber anyway, so I figured we might as well switch.

We're gearing up to go to schools this next month and begin doing intros. I completed a powerpoint presentation to help enhance our ability to present uniform ideas. I would post it here for you to review, but I'm not that internet savvy. I got some ideas from Erik, one of the Bozeman fencers for advice about how to do an intro, and he was full of good ideas.

The Grand Tour

This is an idea with less sense and more idealism. One of my long term goals for Missoula is to have enough people fencing to pile into 3-4 cars and take off in a predetermined direction, hitting every tournament/club along the way. One year we'll swing to the east coast via the Midwest, stop in Minneapolis and fence for a day or two. Then head east where tournaments become more and more dense. Next year we would hit the entire west coast. Fencing up and down California in a giant road trip. Then maybe we would go through the deep south, and then start the cycle over agiain the year after that.

This is inspired by my urge to have the fencing community be far more tightly knit, and to increase our overall capacity to network. If we have friends in every major city in the continental U.S., lodging for NACs would be incredibly cheap. It also increases the chance that passing fencers may stop in and fence with us for a night, increasing our exposure to outside talent.

Out here, we are fairly isolated. I enjoy the isolation for the most part, but I would like to make the fencing community psychologically tighter even if we can't physically be closer. Plus I have the feeling that random clubs wouldn't mind having a bunch of fencers from a region they never get to interact with show up one random Tuesday night. We used to have a few Californians show up in Minneapolis once a year and fence us for a while. I always enjoyed the exposure to outside skill sets and different ways of doing things.

This is certainly more of a dream than anything else right now. But someday, I will be spending my supposed vacation in a car full of fencers heading to a club near you.

Missoula High School League ideas

I am currently trying to piece together a decent league format for high school fencing tournaments in the Missoula area. Here are the main selling points in their rough draft:

-League participation is free. Any high school student can jump on for $10 per event, but there is no all encompassing fee for the league. I think this is a good idea because I want parents spending money on attending club practice and buying gear.
-Non-USFA sanctioned. This is mostly what I mean by league participation being free. We are going to follow USFA tournament format to the letter, and after a year I will start to encourage competitive kids to pick up their USFA and go compete in Inland Empire tournaments
-Each High School hosts two tournaments a semester. One tournament is a team tournament, and the other will be an individual tournament. Team tournaments may take all weekend with individuals taking only Saturday.
-Rotating high school cup. One cup will be for team events and the other for individual. This trophy will be awarded to whatever team does the best over a season, probably using AskFred's pointslist for something other than ego inflation.

To facilitate growth in this region of Missoula fencing, I will try to volunteer 2 hours out of a weekday per school to come down and run some practice. Unless one of the other coaches finds time to do the same, these schools will likely be comprised of saber teams with a few super dedicated foilists and epeeists. Not because I am biased, but I am not going to fool myself into thinking I can teach the other two weapons.

Practice Etiquette

Two posts ago I discussed tournament etiquette in the most passing of terms. I did this because it isn't as important as how you practice.

I used to think that all fencers conducted themselves the same in practice. Show up a little early, do footwork for about half an hour, do some drills for another half hour, then fence for the next 2 hours straight. In one way or another I thought that most fencers would consider this a decent practice regimen. There are some days that are just open fencing while other days may be more focused on bladework or conditioning, & I by no means think that my way is a perfect method.

What I don't understand is fencers who think that a good 5 minutes of footwork, 10 minutes of parry drills and 20 minutes of actual fencing in a 2 hour period is more than sufficient to keep up fencing skills and improve. To improve, fencing someone for the next 50 touches is a great way to grind out frustration and learn to fence when you are exhausted. It is also an excellent way to try new tricks over the long term. Realistically, fencing for less than an hour offers little in the way of growth unless you are fencing at the New York Athletic Club or any other big name Salle. You learn to fence by being able to fence until you can barely stand, not this weak "I'm kind of tired, I need to stop" drek.

That being said, I am as guilty as the next fencer of stopping and having a conversation with 3 or 4 other fencers, forming what I call a Conversation Circle of Worthlessness. This circle can expand to encompass an entire practice floor of fencers if none of them are vigilant. Join me in my crusade to abolish Conversation Circles. They are bad for fencing, and they are bad for you!

Tournament Etiquette

How you compose yourself at a tournament is incredibly important. Local affairs are fairly nonserious and you may behave however you like. NACs, large tournaments in a city, and summer nats are a completely different affair. At those tournaments you can only express yourself when shopping for new equipment. Otherwise, you are limited to incredibly clipped and awkward conversations with people who would otherwise be your friend. The tension turns your bowels to water and the pressure is immense. Here is what I do at a tournament to relieve tension.

I hook up before my opponent every time I am on strip. I look at the order on the director's bout sheet and listen intently for my name or number and I am on strip as the final halt is called for the last bout, taking the cord from the last fencer. I then hook up at max, MAX, 20 seconds. I am then standing there, holding my mask and saber, waiting for the other guy to get hooked up. If he starts to fumble, I smile on the inside. If he starts to have trouble hooking up and the director looks subtly annoyed, I know I've got this guy.

I wear my knickers from the moment I wake up that morning to moment I stop fencing. This initially fails to relieve tension and in fact piles it on when I wake up. As the day wears on I adapt to the stress and relax a bit.

I eat almost nothing until I am done fencing. I know this is bad practice, but I feel it works somehow, and that is what's most important.

The fencing road trip

The fencing road trip is an important part of competition. It is often more fun and interesting than the tournament itself (depending on the tournament). I probably wouldn't have continued fencing were it not for the ability to be crammed in a car with 4-5 other people who are just as normal as I am.

The awesome thing about the road trip & fencing is that it is a universal experience among fencers. Anyone who lives in an area where fencing is big is required to get into the car at some point and travel to a venue 4 hours away with everyone else. Carpooling is not only a great way to bond with fellow members of your club, but it is resource efficient.

As a teenager, the road trip is even more fun because you are twice as stupid (no offense, it is a fact of life. Enjoy being that dumb while you are, it's a good time). You might wander around at night near the hotel looking for things to do. You might make friends at the venue and invent new games of chicken that involve throwing hotel room key cards at eachother at max strength. You might stop at a gas station and purchase several $1 plastic Uzis that fire small bits of plastic, resulting in a car that looked like it played toilet to several multicolored rats. You might play Tekken Tag for 6 hours on the way back from Menemonie, WI.

Body odor contests are truly a thing of wonder. How you play:
Everyone in the car takes off their shirt after fencing all day. It must be winter, and the windows preferably down (to stir the mixture). The first person to put their shirt back on loses the contest.

Other Fun Road Trip Games

Wet Jacket fight
You have a wet jacket after fencing all day, do you leave it to sit and ferment in your bag until it someday smells like AJ's? Heck no! Whip that thing out of the bag, or sneak it out in another stealthy container, and chuck it at the next person to say something that offends you on the way home. They will be covered in your sweat and tears of that day. The fight results when someone returns fire.

Glove in the face
Sneaking your glove into the car is usually pretty easy. However, just because it is small does not mean it doesn't smell terrible.

Backseat Alchemy
Stop at the next gas station, purchase the soda with the highest caffeine content and a bag of skittles. Drink a bit of the soda, then mix skittles into the bottle. Wait until all the coloration has worn off the skittles (which it will if you bought the right soda), they will look like white pills. Then drink the mixture as fast as you can. Watch as parents pull the tranq gun from under the seat to neutralize the psychotic protohuman in their backseat who is now eating the backseat.

The Surprise Game
People are farting in an enclosed space. We all know this to be a fact of life. But somehow, it gains the same sort of conversational immunity that politics, religion, & wars enjoys. The reason we can't discuss road trip farts is because they are embarrassing for everyone in the car. Sometimes you get a car full of people who refuse to admit that they fart. Sometimes you get the person who really didn't fart, but has to say something. This inevitably leads to the entire car accusing the accuser of farting. Other times you get the person who farts and blames someone else. Either way, our culture has obviously failed to deal with the car fart properly.

So a few friends of mine invented the surprise game. Whenever you fart, you say 'surprise.' If you fart, and fail to say 'surprise,' and someone else says 'expected,' they may hit you in the shoulder no less than 4 times. You might be thinking, "How does the person who says 'expected' know who farted?" The simple answer is that he doesn't. He now has the power to punch anyone in the shoulder. This inevitably leads to discussion over who dealt it and an uneasy detente between all members of the car.

Ratings Inflation and U, an Inland Empire Story. Or the One Post that will cause AJ to lose friends.

Ratings inflation in fencing is one of the more touchy topics of conversation. There are a few of us out there who did not earn their rating at a legitimately difficult tournament, or earned a high one early on in a joke of a tournament. Those fencers usually dislike discussing ratings inflation because they are a result of it.

You might be saying "Why are you stepping in this now? Nothing good is going to come of it." I have a reason for discussing this as it is important to the future of fencing in the Inland Empire. It has come up recently at UMFC and MFA club discourse that Spokane has several 'suspiciously' high ranked epeeists. I, for the record, disagree for a few reasons.

The first reason has to be explained a bit. Ratings do not mean the same in all parts of the country. An "A" ranked Epeeist in Seattle is not always similar in skill level to an "A" ranked Epeeist from New York. The same is true for Saber & Foil, I am just using Epee as an example because it is easily the most inflated for the division and indeed the entire section. This being said, there are plenty of legitimate terrifying Epee fencers in Seattle who wreck people on a national scale.

First reason: Epee is already grossly overinflated in our section
Second reason: The fencers in Spokane are NOT worse than their respective ratings given the overall abundance of their rating in the division. If we're going to point to Spokane and accuse them of diminishing the respect of a rating, then we are going to have to accuse Seattle fencers of coming over to Spokane and intentionally losing so that more ratings could be handed out to fencers in the Inland Empire. Which of course leads to more of our own homebrew tournaments passing out ratings to people who might not deserve them

I dare someone to make that accusation, because I do not have good enough evidence to make that claim. Nor do I believe in the veracity of such a statement.

Further, I would like to make an argument in support of ratings inflation. For a division as small as ours, having higher rated individuals prereg for an event may result in fencers traveling here from further away in the hopes of winning a rating. In other words, ratings inflation can grow the entire division merely by making it look good. If this weekend yields 3 extra C Epeeists in Missoula, it will signify the first time 3 Cs ever lived in Missoula at the same time. It will also mean that our Epee tournaments hold more steam and appeal for outsiders to swing on in and try their luck at a rating.

But I can hear some idealists saying "People are not interested in attending a tournament they know to be inflated. Just because you don't care that you're rating is way higher than it should be doesn't mean nobody does."

First, I could care less how idealistic you think other people are. People from Utah cal and ask if we actually plan to hand out ratings at our next tournament. They don't care where their skills are at, they want that A or B behind their name.

Some of us understand that ratings mean absolutely nothing. But many people subscribe to the belief that since so-and-so is rated, or highly rated, they know a lot about fencing. I want to provide those people with an outlet to express their beliefs in a way that benefits my direct goals of growing the division.

In Spokane this weekend.

I've decided after much internal debate to go to Spokane this Saturday. Possibly dragging Jesse and my younger students with me. It is a small turnout for Saber, but a fresh one filled with a few people who I haven't fenced before, and I would like to encourage them to pop over to Missoula occasionally for our tournaments. It looks as thought Epee will turn out to be a B1 event, which always makes me happy to see in this division. Foil is looking like a C1, which is another strong showing at an Inland Empire tournament, but it seems that Saber just fails to break the E1 mark. This is temporary of course, as D1 Saber tournaments in Missoula are not far off by my observations. I hope the first one we have in September magically breaks that barrier and we can start passing out some ratings.

It is always pleasant to go to a Spokane tournament because we can drive there and back in one day. The awesome part is that we drive through a time zone going west, so technically we arrive two hours after we leave Missoula.

The weird part is the return journey. You feel as though you get caught in some time warp traveling through the 3 mountain passes in the dark. Instead of the two hour drive you convinced yourself was a reality that morning, you are stuck with the prospect of arriving 4 hours after you left. Around 3 hours into the drive, you start to get twitchy and weird. You wonder where the evil overlords of geography have placed Missoula while you have been away. Surely you passed a sign that read Missoula 34, you recall it distinctly. Then I get thirsty. I get stupid thirsty on my return trip from Spokane for some reason. No other tournament makes me crave the sweet taste of two Hydrogen molecules and one Oxygen molecule in plethora quantities. Most people who have carpooled with me to Spokane are familiar with my strange drinking habits on the way home. I will drink all of the remaining water in the car, and then beg to stop at the next station so that I can buy a gallon jug of water. I will then down half to 3/4 of that. What's weirder is that I always adequately hydrate at a tournament regardless of where I am, but Spokane just saps the water out.

Screaming

In fencing there is this... ritual that some of us participate in after a touch. It is called the scream, and everybody does it differently. There are a few categories that screams fit into. Let's study them now:

Blood Curdling
Everyone hates fencers who do this scream. Fencers who routinely do this scream can be heard commenting on a fellow blood curdling screamer, that they hate that person. It also the most common scream among female fencers and the most annoying. I will show you what I mean:
Here
That made me want to vomit

The Stutter
This is done by fencers who are usually looking to piss off the other fencer while trying to sound cool. It of usually fails, the other fencer could care less what goofy Lemur mating calls you manage to generate with your mouth. It is as annoying as the Blood Curdling, but not as hard on your hearing:
Here

The Exaggerated Grunt
Short, clipped and the most tolerable of fencing screams due largely to brevity. He gets the touch, lets you know how awesome he is with a high volume grunt that brings stained knickers to mind.
Here

But some people manage to separate themselves from the riff raff of screamers. These people are true artists in the practice of being a jerk. This next guy is my favorite out of any scream I have ever heard. Listen to how the entire venue wants to bear down on him and silence this horrendous noise once and for all. Listen for the subtle changes in each scream, showing that this moron actually practiced screaming in his club, meaning his teammates must hate him too. He even has a finishing scream where he rips off his mask, drops it to the floor, turns to the referee and belches out another highly creative and offensive sound. This all while raising his hands to the heavens as though begging for salvation.

But really, despite all the hate I'm dishing out, I am just as guilty as the rest. I try hard to hold it in, but sometimes I am just as weak. Especially in the sample I posted, my technique looks awful, and that's usually when I turn to the battle of volume. If the opposing person screams, I am almost obliged to show that I can outroar someone. Bit by bit, I am training myself out of this, but it takes time. For the record, my form is far less jerky these days. I had just started fencing again that summer after a long hiatus.