FYI: start of winter session class tonight is postponed until next week and the session will end one week later.
Buon anno a tutti! ![]()
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If you're not registered for the Intermediate Fencing class yet, please do so ASAP. First class is Friday, 1/10/25 from 6:30-8pm.![]()
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Congrats to Levi Fontaine for picking up shared gold in single rapier at the AFO tournament over the weekend. The final bout got rained out whilst in progress.
Reminder: beginner and intermediate classes start next week on Thursday and Friday respectively. If you’ve not signed up, please do so ASAP.
Tonight is the last class of summer session. ![]()
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Fall session starts:![]()
Thursday 9/12 from 630-730p for Beginner Class and runs 8 weeks. Registration link is here: web2.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/kswichitawt.wsc/iteminfo.html?Module=AR&FMID=29679135![]()
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All equipment is provided for beginner class, please plan on wearing athletic clothing and shoes - no jeans, no open toed shoes/sandals.![]()
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Friday 9/13 from 630-8p for Intermediate Class and runs 13 weeks. Registration link is here: ![]()
web2.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/kswichitawt.wsc/iteminfo.html?Module=AR&FMID=29679163![]()
For intermediate class, you must have your own basic fencing gear including mask/jacket/glove and have prior fencing experience or have completed our beginners class.
Fencing has rules, but they aren't enforced very well at all. The bottom frame is the final touch of the round of 16 mens individual men's sabre bout between Bazadze (left) and Amer (right) from the ongoing Olympics. The score was 14-all. ![]()
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The call made is to award the touch to Amer, which sparked a temper tantrum that I think probably should have been a black card to Bazadze. Ignoring that, let's analyze the action of this touch. ![]()
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1) both fencers attempt to attack via an action that the rule book calls a step-forward-lunge (that we usually just call an advance-lunge. ![]()
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t.101(4)(a) says "in a simple attack (Cf. t.9.1) when the beginning of the straightening of the arm precedes the step-forward and when the hit arrives at the latest when the front foot hits the piste"![]()
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The farthest away we can start an attack is from advance-lunge distance.![]()
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Looking at the video from where it starts: ![]()
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Bazadze immediately makes an advance while withdrawing and lowering the weapon arm. He doesn't begin straightening the arm before the advance. In fact, he doesn't start straightening the arm until AFTER his front foot and body are coming forward at the start of the lunge, after the conclusion of the advance. The lunge finishes and Bazadze touches, then his front foot strikes the ground. ![]()
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Amer also immediately makes an advance while lowering his hand, and doesn't appear to begin straightening the arm before the advance starts - the arm seems immobile in relation to his body when the advance starts. He then lunges upon the completion of the advance, and like Bazadze, he doesn't start straightening his arm in relation to his body until the lunge is well underway, then, after his foot strikes the ground, he hits Bazadze. ![]()
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Both lights come on. ![]()
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This *cannot* be an 'attack' for Bazadze, because Bazadze hasn't complied with the first part of t.101(4)(a) about starting the straightening the arm prior to the advance. It doesn't matter at all what Amer does - nothing can give Bazadze an attack since he's not satisfied the requirements of the rule. ![]()
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Likewise, this cannot be an attack for Amer, since he also fails to begin to straighten his arm prior to the advance. Nothing that Bazadze did or didn't do can change the fact that Amer failed to comply with t.101(4)(a) and also cannot have an attack. ![]()
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The correct call here is 'nothing done, on guard'. We can't use t.106 to resolve the double because neither fencer was attacking and as a result neither was being attacked - so we can't say it is the attacker or defender's fault. Had one or both of them attacked according to t.101(4)(a) then we could analyze the action from there, but they didn't. Amer would still have the problem of failing to hit the target before the front foot touched the ground in the lunge, which would end his attack, pursuant to the same rule.![]()
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The Tokyo olympics clip at the top is similarly problematic as Bazadze doesn't hit until after his front foot hits the ground, so his attack, if it was an attack, is already over. His opponent attempts a parry, which failed, and doesn't give him a right to riposte. I would toss this action out as well. ![]()
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I can understand why people don't like the rules as written - but the solution is to get them changed, not to simply ignore them and make the call however is currently being done in violation of the rules. In a world of instant replay, there simply isn't any excuse for doing anything other than calling them in absolute strict compliance with the written rules. ![]()
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The way the written rules work is to set out a series of 'best practices' that don't necessarily reflect a 'real fight' but rather are intended to teach fencers not to do dumb and suicidal things. To have an action recognized as an attack, the fencer has to check of a series of conditions precedent, without which the action cannot ever become an attack. Each fencer's action has to pass or fail on its own merits - what the opponent does is irrelevant. Only when both fencers comply with the rules to get 'an attack' can we then move on to finding fault with those attacks when a two-light (simultaneous or double hit) touch results. ![]()
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If fencers want something else out of the rule set, then the rule set needs to be changed to match what is desired. So long as fencing continues to be done at odds with the rules, the outcomes are always going to be suspect.![]()
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www.tiktok.com/@topp.222/video/7396836174486162704?fbclid=IwY2xjawEYy69leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSK6DOLJZ...
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4410 likes, 114 comments. “We all know that Sandro Bazadze is a real champion!!! ❤️🤺🇬🇪 What a shame when there are such stupid judges at the Olympic Games. They took away Sandro's dream...
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It looks like online registration is back up and running for intermediate session, which starts on the 14th of June at 630p at edgemoor parks and rec. ![]()
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www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/remembering-american-war-1st Cavalry Division Horse Cavalry Detachment
Remembering the American War Horse | American Battle Monuments Commission
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When World War I began in 1914 armies still relied primarily on horses for transportation. War required hundreds of thousands of horses and mules to pull and pack artillery, supplies, cavalry, communi...