The "Fencer Diaries" 2006

Kent Senior Mixed Team Epee 2006.
10th December.
The thoughts of a Newbie...
The two teams arrived at Gravesham around 8.30 on Sunday morning… Not a good time of the day but we were in good spirit and mostly awake. The second team was entirely formed of competition virgins and were pleased to have the ‘old lags’ there for support and guidance.
The whole day was well organised and, as usual, everyone was friendly and eager to help out each other. The morning poules went well and unsurprisingly BFC ‘A’ ended up in the top half and BFC ‘B’ ended up in the bottom half.
Lunch was 30 minutes of which 26 minutes were spent waiting for food to arrive, the remaining time was spent eating and discussing the rules regarding fencing with an epee in one hand and a sandwich in the other and deciding what foods would pass through a mask.
The afternoon was the DE and everyone was in their stride now (at least we knew where we were going and what we had to do when we were there.)
Many of the matches were very close, just a point or two in it after forty-five hits. In the end it was Gravesham A, the home team, that won through and came top… BFC ‘A’ took third place and BFC ‘B’ were further down the rankings…
For me, my first encounter with the competition format went well. Everyone in every team worked hard and played fair, the organisers made sure that we all knew where we were supposed to be and made the entire day an event that I would like to experience again.

The Miller Hallett 2006.
25th – 26th November.
Thoughts of a Team Captain...
“The Miller Hallett is a rather interesting competition, attracting rather a large crowd of fencers. For those who might consider going to a competition, this is not one for anybody to have their first experience,
For a newbie, the phrase "tossed to the wolves" comes to mind.

Anyway, Saturday was the men's individual event. I was tempted to hire a former champion but decided I might as well just fence my best. Doing it with a bruised (or possibly broken) toe was an experience not to be repeated).

Suffice it to say, I didn't win, but I did manage to come 84 from 225 - a respectable result even if I say so myself.

Sunday was a totally different kettle of fish.
There were 26 men’s teams so it was a heavy day of fencing. BFC had a team called Lansdown Juniors to open the day. Didn't start too well - Captain got beaten 5-0, but I think we eventually lost 45-30. It got a bit better from there and so we decided that beating Greenwich (aka Royal Greenwich Fencing Club) would be a good idea. With that in mind, we fought valiantly for 19th position. RGFC came 21st.
Having said that, it was a great experience and I'm sure we'll be putting in for a few more team events in due course.”

The Bedford Open Epee 2006.
22nd October.
The further adventures of a competition fencer...
"The joy of Bedford is that it's only a few miles down the road. So it was almost a case of the Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan driving up the M1 to the Bedford Open.
The joy of not having to get there until 09:45 added to rather jovial mood. Not to mention coming across a number of chaps who seem to be competition stalkers.

A minor setback at registration saw me being unseeded for the poule, but I guess that got sorted out somewhere along the line. Having decided to register in such a way as to avoid all the Greenwich fencers, it was quite amusing to have a fellow Bexley warrior in my poule, even if he was new to the competition circuit.

For me it went something like this - 6 fights; win 4 and then fall asleep for the other 2. Not very clever! The joy of the poule was in winning against a rather pleasant chap who happens to be a leftie - always a pleasure. And we mustn't forget that the newbie won 2 of his fights, so a real good day on his part.

Moving on to the Direct Elimination, it was quite interesting. Since I didn't have to fight in the first round of DE, I got to judge a few fights. Our (not so new) newbie put up a really grand effort, even though he lost. Methinks he won't be such a pushover next time. There were a few other interesting fights to watch, including one Biker Andy who seemed to be working towards a part in a Jet Li movie or a remake of Highlander. But the funniest thing of the day was when a mate from Greenwich lost his DE - the score being 2-3 at the end of 9 minutes of fencing time.

OK - we're back to the DE now, and I'm fighting in the last 64. So I've got this Vet fencer (no, nothing to do with animals) and he's really quite nifty. Having been informed about him, I really think I'll be lucky to get a point. With the first period at 7-3 (to him), it's looking like a very dire day at the office. Oh well, a thrust here, parry there, riposte somewhere else and the score comes to 13-14 in the last period - don't forget the fact we're also in the last minute (he's still leading as well). And here we go: step step, lunge, parry, riposte, retreat, advance, bash blades, lunge. Halt. Double. 15-14 fight ends. Blast - I almost had him as well.

Absolutely brilliant, and I think the new addition to competition fencing will fully agree with me..."

The Leicester Open 2006.
15th October.
Here is one person's story... A day in the life of a competition fencer...
"One of those days when you just can't see what's ahead of you... The 2 hour drive was very uneventful, except to stop off at the Little Chef for a bacon and egg roll and a coffee. I guess I should have been wary from the moment my poule was put up - having to fence the likes of Steve Bateman and Alex Upcraft. Not to mention the French leftie - Nicolas Gerard.
Seeding in the 50's at the end of the poule, I ended up fighting a guy I beat earlier in the poule - and by now we're having reasonable conversations and laughing about how the day has gone.
Anyway, the DE fight didn't go well. I couldn't forge ahead, so he was in constant touch with me on points. Then I hit him dead centre of chest, only to get a yellow card for turning my back. Actually, the tip had fallen off my epee so the hit didn't register... At 13-13, we ran out of time. And guess what? I lost...
It just means I have to do much better at Bedford..."

The Sussex Epee 2006.
30th September.
Karl was at the Sussex Epee and was happy with his final placing of 52nd.
Kola decided to go to his cousin's wedding instead - proving that there is life outside fencing!!! Everyone had a good time and we wish them happiness for the future.

The Bristol Open 2006.
16th - 17th September.
Held at The City Academy in Bristol, more than seven hundred people turned up to compete in all of the disciplines. Kola ended the weekend in 60th and he was very pleased with his performance, it is expected that his overall ranking will improve again.

The Essex Open 2006.
3rd September.
Paul F was unable to attend due to the vagaries of Fencing Licences and a helping hand from the postal services. For Clive, he was tired before he arrived but has said that he was pleased with his performance (hope you are feeling better Heather.)
On to the DE (Direct Elimination.) Karl was knocked out by some quite handy dude named Jon Ainsley (he finished 15th and also won at Aldershot earlier this year). Kola was felled by Alex Leithes, someone that he knows well.
Overall it was very well attended with more than 120 in the men?s Epee alone and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The Isle of Wight Open 2006.
13th - 14th May.
Kola and Paul were amongst the many that travelled from the four corners to the Isle of Wight for this years Open. More than two hundred competed in the event and, although they missed out on the very top honours, they gave a good account of themselves, both finishing in the top forty.

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