Farewell and thanks for reading!

Dear all,

I am freezing this blog so I can focus on writing for the Washington Times Communities. It is basically just a blog like this, but it’s attached to an actual publication, so I though that would serve the sport better. Please feel free to use any of the registration forms or info collected on here, and I will see you at The Washington Times: To The Point.

Yours, Ilya V. Lobanenkov

Obama, Tim Morehouse and Daria Schneider fencing at the White House!

It’s gone viral! I love it, very good exposure for our sport. The first photo is a classic. I would not mind if Obama referees my bouts. Looking good, Mr. President!

One of my students works for the BBC, so quite possibly she had a hand in making this story popular. Or in making this video. She also grabbed audio snippets of Obamas having fun with fencing and an interview with Tim Morehouse.

Obamas and fencing:

Tim Morehouse interview:

Fencers have strong legs!

Eric Hansen, US Team member and one of the best in the game. Dead Lifting at Muscle Beach, Venice CA. Yes, fencers can lift. Usually with the legs only. No, this is not for everyone. Eric is a great fencer, been around forever and fights in a very Germanic manner. Lots of strong blade actions. Lots of power in the footwork. Likes to work out a lot. However…

Valeri Nikolajchuk: Ahead of His Time

Found an interesting article: Valeri Nikolajchuk: first coach of Pavel Kolobkov, Andrej Shuvalov and Kolobkov’s teammate/most recent coach Vladimir Ivanov. Olympic medalists. Original article here. I’m going to do my best to translate it, please do not put your faith in Babelfish in this case. Russian looses a lot of everything, including any sense with machine translation. Translation complete!

USFA Halts “Stay and Play”

Well, what do ya know? The crowdsourced pushback worked? The USFA Executive Director saw the light? In any case, this was a horrible idea to begin with. How about simply negotiating with Priceline to get consistent low prices? No one is an idiot when it comes to getting the best deal, I have faith that the market will take care of people’s choices.

One more nice bout

USA’s Seth “Force of Nature” Kelsey vs. 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Matteo Tagliariol.

Yes, yes, Seth Kelsey is not aesthetically pleasing, but Matteo Tagliariol definitely is. This was the final of a very strong World Cup. The bout was pretty close at early on, but MT clearly had control of it. I love his super presice half-step work. Watch that beautiful contrast between high-pace distance prep and the longer, smoother half-step press with a spark of a blade action at the crescent. Oh yeah… that’s good fencing.

Stay’n Play saga continues.

A rebuttal from the Pacific Coast Section chair, front page of Fencing.net:

Gary Zeiss, Chair of the Pacific Coast Section, send in this opinion letter regarding the USFA’s “Stay and Play” program. In this letter, Mr. Zeiss puts forward his positions against the new USFA tournament housing program.

July 25, 2009

Los Angeles, California

Craig:

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak to the fencing community. As many of you know, I am vehemently opposed to the USFA’s proposed “Stay and Play” plan. I would like to detail the major reasons for my opposition and would request, on behalf of many in the membership, that this program be halted at this time.

Stay’n Play: a current reality?

It seems it’s official: US Fencing has announced it on the website. ( Text of the actual policy here.) The verbage is obscure, no surprises there, so I tried to figure out what a soft roll out is, but mostly the result made me hungry. Possibly a “soft launch” was what they meant, but per this definition, “Stay’n Play” is not a soft launch already.

Politics or bust.

I love it, the USFA keeps surprising me. Here’s a little insight as to why I was the “Information Minister” for the opposition during the USFA elections. The opposition lost and the entrenched self-referring slate won.

Now, it’s over a year after and there is still no on-line registration, Nationals still looked like crap and there’s no mid-level circuit in sight. New policies, transparency and communication? Well, here’s an example:

First, we have “Stay and Play”… Not implemented policy yet, but basically potential racket. If you don’t use our vendor, you can’t fence. Obviously ridiculous and if they ever did implement it, I’d find a way around it for me and my students if need be. The only way I’d use it is if it were cheaper and better than Priceline for example. All my experience with THS indicates otherwise.

Then, a bit of humor sends the USFA Vice President into convulsions. USFA “Last Call” Policy for Referees. Brilliant! Read on a couple of posts down, VP Mark Stasinos is actually taking this Onion-like fake news article seriously and is offended! Goodness me, can you see why we say every joke has a bit of truth to it? What, hang the jester next?

I’ve been Pollan’ated

Well, this was an interesting read one of my students gave me: “In Defence of Food” by Michael Pollan. Food and I are good friends. This book really helped to reduce neurosis on the plate. Basic point is:

Ben Bratton vs. Luigi Mazzone, Portland NAC 2009

Truly great example of bout management from the Portland North American Cup.

Lecture: Game Theory

Interesting stuff from one of the most successful independent programs in the country. If you click on “More From: nusz” in YouTube, you will see all the segments.
Great for watching during a breather at a camp or while waiting for your bouts.

Oh, and it’s funny too, ..well, in a few places I thought it was funny…

Our Mass-Media dreams coming true?

I dont know about other fencer’s friends and colleagues, but when I showed videos of the Olympics and world championships around my office, everyone was amazed by it. So even if a sleepy NIH office loved web casts of fencing, imagine what network TV can do. With slow motion replay and simple, intelligent commentary hopefully…

So there is that hope: Tim Morehouse strikes again, brings us good news of fencing finally making it to TV. The Olympic coverage done by NBC was well received over the web, so I guess they are expanding! So far fencing has been following a similar pattern to US skating and tennis. US gets medals in sport, US sport gets more TV!

Fencing as a corporate team building event.

So, you’re thinking of a company event that would be out of the ordinary? Why not invite your colleagues for an afternoon of modern swordplay! 

Fencing teaches you how to cope under pressure, it develops anticipation, timing and concentration – qualities crucial for any company or business. And yet, it’s great fun, good exercise and the most memorable experience.

We offer you a program which will include:

• Brief history of fencing.
• Team based warm-up, coordination and stretching exercises.
• Basic technique
• Dynamic footwork, guaranteed to break a sweat.
• Drills with an epee 
• Rules and courtesy of a fencing bout
• Sparring and directing the bout with the electric scoring machine 
• Warm-down workout with partners (abs, core strength, breath control)

All equipment provided. Up to 12 participants per session.

Best Team Epee I’ve ever seen.

This (fast-forward to 1:29) is simply the best team match I’ve ever seen. China Vs Poland, Beijing 2008.

NEWS: Lesson prices and “drop-in” class.

Dear all,

My Private Lesson fees are synching up with the DCFC price list. They are now as follows:

• Beginner’s Four-Pack: $160 ($130 tuition + $30 DCFC floor fee/equipment rental)
• 1 Lesson per week: $130/Month.
• 2 Lessons per week: $242/Month.
• 3 Lessons per week: $366/Month
• Single lesson: $36. I will  not schedule single lessons unless you are a rated fencer that would like to evaluate my coaching methods.

Now the more fun part: I am starting an ongoing “drop-in” beginners class that will run on Saturdays 11am via Meetup.com.

Spread the word!

Cross-training for Fencing!

Hi all! I found a great set of cross-training vids from Tim Moorehouse, the Olympic Silver Medalist in Team Sabre. Check them out, they are very fencing specific. I’d like to thank Tim and his crew for posting all this stuff on-line. It’s useful for a coaching repertoire and is definitely promoting fencing as a fun, real sport. 

Also, a lot of the exercises one can do in the comfort of the fencing club, we have all the weights and stuff. No need for a gym membership!

Fencing is great for kids!

Check out these little ones using nice technique during a demo bout.
We start working with children as early as eight years of age. If you are looking for a sport to introduce your child to, fencing is a wonderful journey that will develop coordination, critical thinking, stamina, creativity, psychological strength and friendships for life.

There are also a decent amount of college scholarships available for fencing. Our sport does not move millions of dollars, but fencers have received full scholarships to Ivy League schools.

2008 National Championships Corwin Duncan & Kevin Mo

Hahaa! Check out this butt-kicking! Congrats to DCFC Corwin Duncan, Gold Medalist 2008 in Junior Men’s Epee!!!

The junior team took gold as well.

A little promo thing: Epee Fencing at Harp and Fiddle

A friend of mine runs a poker league, so we thought: why not do a little fencing at the intermission? A little beer, a little betting (people placed their league chips on the fencers, all legal, don’t worry) and everyone seemed to love it! The “venue” was Bethesda’s Harp and Fiddle, a great local bar.

Women of Fencing: Margherita Granbassi

If a woman like this is in our sport, we have a future!

Great interview! “Fencing is a sexy sport.”

Hi All, please check this interview out if you are thinking about this sport, these two guys are really down to earth and great fencers!

Tim Morehouse interviews Jason Rogers (www.timmorehouse.com)

USFA Elections

Dear all,

I’ve been busy with the day job so my free internets time is dedicated to the USFA elections, if you are interested, take a moment and read through this email I sent to the DCFC mailing list:

NCAA Scholarships: Fencing gives good chances.

Very interesting discussion and links to an NYTimes article about scholarships. At a quick glance, it seems that fencing gives a very good chance on average among other sports.

It takes about three years of good practice and competitive experience to start getting results that would get one noticed by an NCAA coach.

The main point of the article in the link and the discussion is this:

Relative to other sports, if you fence, your chance of landing a partial scholarship is about 16%. The highest by far of all the sports on the list. For example, Football is 2.75% and Basketball is 1.4%.

A couple of additions to “Recommended Literature”

I added two more links, scroll down to the lower right and check them out. They are an important part of my teaching philosophy, and it is required that you stretch your imagination a little bit,

What Next?

Hi all, so for those of you whom I have not spoken to directly, here are your choices about what to do if you like this sport and want to continue.

The Last Day of Beginner’s Class: a mini tournament.

Hello all! So you last day of class, we will have a small competition. In general, USFA competitions work like this:

Drills with a partner and choosing the right action.

Hi all, so when you do drills, it is very different from fencing. Your actions will be beautiful and fluid when they become automatic. You do not have time to think and correct your form while an opponent is attacking! Therefore, we drill. Drill with a partner, without one, with a wall target and sometimes absent-mindedly with the wrist alone while waiting in line for a coffee. It’s very useful, like playing scales and Bartok, is useful for a good musician.

Equipment: the “Coach Ilya Special”

Some are asking about buying your own gear. I’m really happy to hear that, it means you like this sport! So I will explain what any fencer needs if they want to free fence and compete. I swear by Uhlmann/All-Star gear as it really is the best, but you’re free to shop around or just get the immediately available stuff at DCFC. There are two major types of gear: “FIE” and “Non-FIE”.

A concrete action and its technique

Last class you were introduced to a beat. The “circle six” beat. This is one of infinite ways to move the opponents blade out of the way and hit. It is called “circle six” because you start in six, cut a full circle around the opponents blade with your tip and place the opponents blade on the outside of yours.  Extend and hit, adding a step or a lunge or a fleche if necessary. The taking of your opponents blade, hitting and any footwork involved are referred to as an “action”. Less official term is a “move”. Like in chess or martial arts. 

The Bout, electric

When you want to fence with the electric scoring machine, you have to pull a body cord through your weapon arm sleeve. Your glove will have an opening in the Velcro, string the cord trough it and close the Velcro over your jacket sleeve.

Lines of engagement/parry numbers.

Just take note this concept for now:

Footwork and the attacks

What you know so far: