Hello Fencers!
- The sabre workshop scheduled for the morning of Saturday, 24th of February, is now open to all. I made the mistake last week of describing it as a women's course but while it is to be run by Gianna Colligiani and Anna Grodent and women are certainly encouraged to join, others will be most welcome. It's a great opportunity for those who've joined fairly recently to really ground themselves in the basics of sabre and improve their confidence. Full details are available here.
- On Saturday last some of our junior fencers took part in the South West regional qualifying tournament for the National Championships. Ruben and Xavier Hillier flew the flag for White Eagles in the Under 14 Boys category, achieving fine results against tough opposition. Also in that category were three fencers from our Cabot Learning Federation affiliate: Jamie Honeywill, Seth Hedgcock and Hubert Zagorzycki. In the Under 14 Girls, Khanh Pham, also of the CLF, came equal third and qualified for the National Junior Championships in Sheffield. All these CLF fencers reflect great credit on their dedicated coach, Nigel Cooley. Well done to all! Full results are here.
- On the Sunday the epeeists took to the piste in their equivalent competition. In the Boys Under 18, Jack White went out in the last 8, taking the eventual runner-up and 4th in the UK rankings to 14:14: another brilliant performance from Jack. Epee coach, Jon Mason was there and had the pleasure of seeing his son, Luke Mason finish first in the same class. Another Churchill FC volante from our Saturday sessions, Michael Papantoniou fought well in the U16, for one so early in his competitive career.
- Congratulations to our semi-own Jon Dawkins for his excellent performance in taking Bronze at the Devon Foil Championships on Sunday. The full results are here. We are seeing more foil at the club of late. Matches at the bendy blade are to be had for the asking at all our sessions and we have the kit to lend, so ask if that's your fancy.
- Tim Wye has suggested another avenue for diversification, to spread our mediocrity more evenly across the martial arts. The footwork is nifty but the preclusion of the use of the butt robs bayonet fencing of the coup de grace. Here's the link Tim shared to our sadly under-subscribed Facebook page.
- Looking to buy kit? Here are links to the main manufacturers. Ordered through the club, a ten percent discount is available from the first three:
https://www.leonpaul.com/
https://www.allstar-fencing.co.uk/home.asp
http://pbt-uk.com/
http://swordpricefighters.com/
http://thefencingshop.co.uk/
See you soon,
John