Mary Washington Fencing Club

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since the last update. This semester seems to be keeping everyone on their toes, between school work, illness, and general events. Speaking of the last item, the club has been up to some fun stuff since the last post.

We had another movie night the Friday following the MD Ren Fest trip, watching A Knight’s Tale. Everyone had a blast singing along with various classic rock, and out-bursting at the blatant anachronisms, and saying the movie lines in perfect time (seems to happen often with the movies we watch…).

The weekend following Halloween was the Ren Club’s Masquerade, with the theme of Fairy Court: Seelie and Unseelie. Much fun was had, and the following day found five of our new fencers competing in the New Fencer Tournament. Everyone did very well, and there was quite a crowd of supporters throughout the day. We even finished within our allotted gym time! (Perhaps a feat more exciting for the officers than the participants.)

This previous weekend we hosted the third and final Historical Fencing seminar for this semester, completing our series on dagger fighting and close combat. If I am not mistaken, next semester will move on to long sword once more. The seminars seem to have garnered a great deal of success this semester, so do keep an eye out for more in the Spring!

This week we will return to our normal practices. However, fencers are encouraged to keep an eye on the time this Thursday, November 19, which is the school’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner. The fencers and company will be occupying sizable tables in the Fac/Staff room per usual (the far end of Seaco, past the Bistro/pizza room). Dinner starts at 4:00 PM, so be sure to show up early to get a seat, though there are usually people around throughout the evening.

I also have exciting news about our next club tournament. More information to follow very soon, so keep your eyes on the blog, and keep your ears open at practice!

NOTE: For those who would like to fence still, but have missed many practices this semester, these are the things we have covered.

1. Footwork (advance, retreat, lunge, redouble, cross-overs, back peddling, brief overview of distance stealing maneuvers)
2. Parries 1-8
3. Point control
4. Disengages (compound attacks)
5. Beats (attacks, defense, mind games)
6. Binds
7. More point control
8. Tournament/bout etiquette
9. Tournament/bout format

If you would like to pick up a sword, you are still more than welcome to. If you have attended practices before, it is usually a good idea to review what you have already learned in preparation to move on to the next item of study. If you have not attended practice before, be sure to review the previous posts to note which forms you need to fill out, and contact the club in some way for further information on paperwork.

Hello all!

This weekend is the first movie night of the year, our annual showing of The Princess Bride! We will be watching the movie after practice on Sunday, September 13, in Virginia Hall after eating dinner at the Nest. We will be traversing from the Nest to Virginia Hall at about 7:45, and beginning the movie at about 8. Feel free to bring friends and snacks.

Next Saturday, September 19 there will be this year’s first Historical Fencing Seminar, brought to you by Christopher Wheeler, coach of the Fredericksburg Ancient Combat Society, Fencing Club, and Renaissance Club. The seminar will run from 12:30-5:30 PM, and will cover the basic use of dagger and unarmed combat in 15th century Europe. If you would like to attend, be sure to RSVP by Thursday, September 17 at 4 PM. There will be a seminar fee of $20 that will also cover use of equipment for the day. Be sure to wear athletic pants or shorts, as well as socks.

For those of you who have not yet attended a club meeting, but are interested in fencing, it is never too late! All you need to do is make sure that you have the correct paperwork filled out (a liability form and student code of conduct form) and turned into Mark Mermelstein by email or in person.

Also, please remember to pay club dues!

Last but not least, feel free to register for UMW Blogs and request access to the club blog. Club members are more than welcome to contribute to the blog with fencing information, stories, fun sites, vendors, etc. If you have any questions, email us at  fencing at mail.umw.edu.

Friday, October 3, 2008:

These long weeks found me at last with sword in hand, preparing for my first bout with a veteran fencer. Everything blurred in my mind as I advanced. A parry happened without my realizing it, and I stood dumbfounded for a moment before riposting. What number parry was that again? No time to think about it – I retreated and lunged. My opponent parried, and his riposte arrived. How did everything I just learned these last weeks leave my head?

(Warm up music: mixed? Cannot remember… for those who would like the Techno Fencer play list from the first few days of music at the start of practice, email Michelle at [her blog name]@umw.edu.)

Sunday, October 5, 2008:

More footwork, more point control, and more bouting. It was still strange applying everything we had learned so far. I was told something of a disengage, which has to do with circling around an opponent’s parry.

(Warm up music: Podcast – PODRUNNER 169 BPM – Rumrunner from 9/19 posting)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008:

Finally, someone tells me what this disengage thing is in more detail. There was a group lesson and drill on it.

(Warm up music: Podcast – PODRUNNER 159 BPM – The Road of Excess from 9/12 posting)

*A fictional fencer’s log. If anyone has been keeping a log/journal entries, or if anyone just has general responses to the way the club has been run thus far, please comment here or email the club account, which is fencing at UMW dot edu. Feedback is most welcome, and, in fact, encouraged!

Other News:

The current attendance list for the Maryland Renaissance Festival has 30 fencers on it! We are going to storm the Fest in quite the grand style. Everyone, do remember to beg your family and friends for money over Fall Break to spend at the Fest! As a reminder, it is $13 to get into the gates. Also, many of you will be driven by a most generous fencer in their own personal vehicle. This means they are using their precious gas to transport you. Because of this, there will be an additional amount asked of all non-driving Fest attendees of $7. If you don’t like this, you are more than welcome to find alternative means of transportation. Lastly, if you want bagels, email the club account with the number of bagels and the kind of bagels you desire. These will cost $2 each and come from Einstein Bagel Bros. in the Giant shopping center at the Goolrick/Jepson end of campus.

There will be a massive email sent out multiple times to Ren Fest attendees currently on my list containing all of this information. The deadline to let Fencing Club know you are going to Ren Fest with them is this Monday, October 13.

Today, you get abbreviated recounts of practice on Tuesday, September 30, which consist of four new parries, and news!

Fencers learned/relearned Parries 1, 2, 7, and 8; flanconade.

The club’s first Movie Night is this Friday at 7:45 PM, where we will have our annual showing of The Princess Bride! There will be much recitation of movie lines, and/or throwing things at the reciters of said movie lines, depending on how many have not yet seen the movie.

MD Ren Fest Trip is coming up on Saturday, October 18. Those interested in going with either Fencing or Renaissance Club need to let one and only one of those clubs know so that you may be added to a list. We want to avoid having people sign up on both lists, making us think we have more people who need rides than there actually are. Also, if you have a vehicle available to you, please email the club you are signing up with telling them your name, email, phone number, and make, model, and color of your car, as well as how many people you are able to take. Admission to the Festival with a group as large as ours is $13, which means you save $5 off the normal admission price, which is just like getting paid to hang out with the coolest people ever.

Information has also arrived on our first intercollegiate club tournament: Chaos. Chaos tournament takes place near UMD on Sunday, October 26. Fencers of all three weapons may attend, but must choose only one weapon with which to compete. Participation is $10. USFA rules will be enforced, which means proper protective gear must be worn (yes, this includes knickers and long socks if your knickers are only knee length). You may find the USFA rules here. Be prepared for a PDF document.

Lastly, this is the final call for those interested in the Coaching Workshop at Salle Green on October 11 (the Saturday of Fall Break). There is one more spot available if someone would like to attend. Note that this is for fencers with one or more years of fencing experience, not necessarily with the club. More information is available here. Please be sure to register on FRED and add yourself to the Preregistration list once you have notified the club.