Club Bulletin # 130218: What To Do On Our Night Off? Sabre Course Club Shop

Hello Fencers!

• We shalln't have the hall at Oasis on Wednesday 28th of this month. Should we hire another hall or go on a club social? Let me know your views.  
• Just a reminder that two of our new coaches, Anna Grodent and Gianna Colligiani, will be running a sabre workshop for beginners and novices at the weapon or those eager for a refresher on the essential basics.  Details and sign up here.
• To be at the height of fashion, saunter over to our club shops, here and here. We have an extensive and expanding range of branded products.

See you soon,
                      John

Club Bulletin # 060218: Sabre Workshop For All SW Sabre Age Group Qualifiers - Results SW Epee Age Group Qualifiers - Results Devon Foil Result Bayonets & Blarney Where To Buy Kit

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

Bulletin # 300118: McNeill Cup For January Epee Champs Results Women To Arms! Sign Your Name With A Z! 28th February: What To Do? Pistes In Our Time!

Hello fencers!

• This week we are contesting the McNeill Cup team sabre championship for January.
• The podium results for our January Club Epee Champion were: Jon Mason, Gold; Nick Scott-Samuel, Silver; Patrick Durant, Bronze. The epee group continues to gain strength on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• There are not enough women fencing. We'll be running workshops, starting with sabre.  Leaflets are available at all club sessions.  Get the good news out to the women in your workplace, family or social networks.
• So far a dozen have reserved tickets to the club social at, Zorro - the Musical https://redgravetheatre.com/event/2018/03/zorro/240/, in which three of our swashbucklers will be fencing on stage.  We'll be attending en masse on the evening of Saturday, 10th of March.  If you'd like to come, let me know asap  to get the reduced group price.  
• We don't have the hall on Wednesday, 28th February.  What is the collective will as to what we should do with that evening? An alternative venue? A night on the tiles? Let me know your thoughts.
• I have invested in another four Favero spools, four ground leads and another SmartBox scoring box.My aim is to get all of our juniors fencing electric on Saturday but also provide sufficient pistes for our growing number of adult fencers.

See you soon,
                         John

Bulletin # 230118: Beginners' Sabre Workshop Zorro: The Musical - Social January Epee Champs More Pistes For More Fencers Stratford LPJS Sabre Report: International Cadet Epee, Copenhagen

Hello Fencers!

• A three hour beginners' sabre workshop is provisionally sceduled for the morning of Saturday, 24th February.  It's open to  all and the perfect chance to introduce this sport to friends, family, workmates and acquaintances.  Flyers will be available at club sessions.
• Our thespian comrades, Jon Dawkins, Patrick Durant and Tim Wye will be appearing in Zorro: The Musical, from Wednesday 7th to Saturday 10th of March at the Redgrave Theatre in Clifton.  It has to be a club social.  We can get a concessionary rate for a group of ten or more.  So, which evening shall it be?  Let me know your preference ASAP.
• As part of our longterm plan for the club, we have acquired four more spools and another scoring box.  Increasing numbers mean we need more pistes: a happy predicament.
• This Saturday will be the last of the month, so steel yourself, spadassins, for the club epee championship for January!
• On Sunday last Ruben and Xavier Hillier did themselves and the club credit against very tough opposition in the U15 category at the Stratford LPJS Sabre competition.  Well done Ruben and Xavier!
• The latest report from our jet-setting epee coach, Jon Mason, comes from Copenhagen.  There, on Sunday, Jon's son, Luke was representing Great Britain.  Here's Jon's account of the fracas:

 Luke Mason 16 competed in another international cadet fencing tournament this weekend in Copenhagen. He started ok in the pools winning 4 out of 6 bouts. His first D.E was against a fellow brit, winning 15 - 8. Then he was up against a number 2 seed Egyptian, this was an exciting match with his opponent gaining a quick 3 point lead in the first round.
The second round was more cautious but because of this a passivity rule was enforced as no hits were scored in a minute, so it went straight into the final round. Now Luke had to put pressure on and get some points back, lots of doubles were scored but
Luke slowly started catching up, unfortunately he missed a couple and got countered then ran out of time losing 14 - 11. He ended up 26th.
See you Saturday
                            Jon

Bulletin # 160118: Pentathlon: GB National Youth Ranking Devon County Championships Gloucestershire Amateur Fencing Union Championships Results Excalibur: Expressions of Interest

Hello Fencers!

White Eagle epeeist, Jack White pulled off a brilliant performance to come second in the epee round of Pentathlon GB's National Youth Ranking Championships in Bath. 
Our epeeists might like to consider entering the Devon County Epee Championships in Exeter on Saturday (20th January).  It's open to any fencer based in the South West region and Coach, Jon Mason recommends it.  You'll have to be prompt as entries close on Thursday (18th Jan.). Contact me for details.
White Eagle fencers made their mark in the  Fencing Union, Championships on Sunday:
 Anna Grodent took Bronze in the Women's Sabre, winning four out of eight matches in her mixed poule before going out 10:15 in the Direct Elimination to the fencer whom she had beaten to five in the previous round. Well done to Anna for doing so well in her first individual, external competition!
  Jon Mason, our Saturday morning epee coach, took second place in the Men's Epee. It was a good day for Jon as a coach too: Michael Papantoniou, whom he coaches at White Eagles and at Churchill, came third in the Boys' Under 16 Epee.
 Nigel Cooley, coach of our Cabot Federation Fencing Club affiliate, has sent in this report on their experience of the Championships:

"Early Sunday morning in January with cold, grey conditions was the setting for a journey to Wycliiffe College in Stroud for the CLF Students to enter the fray of a County Fencing Championship.
All the six students did the CLF, JCA & BMA proud with three students gaining medals. Maciej Oledzki (BMA) won U16 Gloucestershire Gold, U14 Gloucestershire Bronze being shared by Jamie Honeywill (BMA) and Hunbert Zagorzycki from JCA.
All the students were a great credit to themselves, BMA , JCA & the CLF while Holly Walton, Khanh Pham and Seth Richards were disappointed, they enjoyed the experience.
Many thanks to John Rohde, Head Coach of White Eagle Fencing Club for the loan of essential kit for the competition. White Eagle Fencing Club is officially the parent club of the CLF Fencing Academy. Also, many thanks to Glen Hills, partner & BMA Volunteer, who made this weekend fixture possible."

Gloucestershire is looking for expressions of interest to compete for the county in the Excalibur inter-county championships in Bath on the 21st and 22nd of April. There are teams in all six weapons.  Contact me if you'd like me to pass your name on to be considered.

See you soon,
                      John

Bulletin # 090118: Subs Made Simple, Website Renaissance, Gloucestershire County Sabre & Epee, Millfield Elite Epee Report

Hello fencers!

In an effort to be more efficient and orderly, I've posted a schedule of club subscription charges to our website, here.  They are pretty much as they've been for the last several years, with a slight increase of the junior fee for Wednesdays.  There are family rates and the usual discount for monthly payment by direct debit. If there are any inconveniences caused, please don't hesitate to contact me. The club's ethos is, as it always has been to be a place of excellence and frienship, open and accessible by all. 

On the subject of our website, Anna Grodent and Robert Hillier have wrought wondrous changes to our bwefencing.co.uk site.  Old favourites are back: the provocative thoughts of Gianna Colligiani on the subject of fencing, her likes and her discontents.  There is a gallery of photos from times past, to which we'll consistently be adding both new and old content.  Courses will be advertised there and there will be guides to kit and technique as we write them.  Contributions are welcome from any and all.

Saturday, 14th of January sees the Gloucestershire County Epee & Sabre Championships roll around again.  There are adult and junior competitions.  None are as yet massively subscribed and the standard shouldn't be frightening.  Details are here.

With competition in mind, I've received this report from Nick Scott-Samuel, from last weekend's Millfield Elite Epee. Well done to Nik for doing well to overcome a low seeding and making a fine return to competitive fencing:

=========
A modest field of 14 assembled at Millfield School for the Men’s Elite Epee Veterans competition. Seeded 11 out of 14 going into the first (and only) round of poules, I recognised only a few of my opponents. After the poules had been fought, my seeding had mysteriously dropped to 12. The less said about that the better.

Into the DE, and I drew Jonathan Stanbury (seeded 5). I managed to beat him 10-7, guaranteeing me a top 8 finish, but then came up against an Irish chap, Duncan Salter, who knocked me out 10-6. I ended up 7th overall - an improvement on my original seeding, at least.

The competition itself was very well organised, with live streaming of results (apparently). The full results are here:

http://epee.me/…/2018%20Millfield%20(Event%201)/FTEvent3.htm

There was excitement in one of the semi-finals, as a competitor was excluded from the venue with a black card. It’s not entirely clear what he was chucked out for. There are three possibilities: throwing his mask on the ground, swearing, or being French. Maybe all three.
=========

Cheers,

Nick

Captain's Log Supplemental # 241217: Churchill Friendly (Starts at 7pm) McNeill Cup Result

Our friendly at Churchill FC will now start at 7pm on Wednesday, 27th December (rather than 8pm, as posted in last week's bulletin).  The address is:
Churchill Village Hall, Ladymead Lane, Churchill BS25 5NH.
It should be great fun. 
December's McNeill Cup winning sabre team was Sharon Hillier, Peter Scott-Samuel and Jon Dawkins.

A Merry Yuletide to you! See you soon,
                                                              John

Bulletin # 191217: December Epee Championship Result Club Social McNeill Cup Team Sabre Churchill Friendly: Details Elite Epee at Millfield Gloucestershire Sabre & Epee Championships Starting Back

This month's epee champion is Nick Scott-Samuel, with Jon Mason and Ross Grodent second and third.
Our Xmas social at the White Bear went swimmingly, with brilliant conversation and games of skill. Thanks to Anna Grodent for organising such an enjoyable event.
This week is McNeill Cup team sabre week, with a mystery prize for the winners, on top of the glory, of course.
Remember, we have been invited for a friendly at Churchill FC on Wednesday 27th December.  Kick off is at 8pm and the address is: Ladymead Lane, Churchill BS25 5NH.  It's a chance to beard our Saturday epee coach in his native lair and to blow away some of those Yuletide cobwebs.
For the New Year, Elite Epee Events are running Junior, Men's, Women's and Veterans competitions at Millfield School over the weekend of 6th & 7th January. Full details and entry forms can be found here. These are professionally run events and our foiners ought to be looking to test their steel there.
The Gloucestershire County Championships are coming up soon.  The Junior Mixed U14  (born '04 or later) and Mixed U16 (born '02/'03) , along with the Senior Sabre competitions are on the 14th January, at Wycliffe College Sports Centre GL10 2JQ. All slashers start at 9am.  In an inversion of the natural order of things, the Senior and Junior epeeists (same age bands as sabre) start at 1pm on the same day.  A polymath could make a day of it.  Entry is £12.  Contact me at johnrohdeuk@yahoo.com if you'd like an entry form.
The podium matches the men's event of this week's Cancun Sabre Grand Prix can be seen here .In the women's competition, Arianna Errigo, who has dominated women's foil, is trying to cross over to the cutting event.  You can see the semis and finals [http://]here. As ever with FIE YouTube coverage, be prepared to skip the longueurs between matches.
This Wednesday session (20th Dec.) is the last home fixture of the year.  We'll have the Churchill friendly on the 27th and then a break until we start back on January 3rd.  I'll probably put out a review of the year at some point over the holiday.  Until then, you can keep up via our Facebook page [http://]here.

See you soon,
                      John

Bulletin # 131217: Xmas Social December Epee champs Xmas Break Churchill Friendly Report: Challenge Mondiale U17

Just a reminder that on Friday (15th Dec.), we have our Xmas Social at The White Bear, Kingsdown: http://www.whitebear-bristol.co.uk/ . There will be pool darts as well as sparkling conversation and music.  I'm hoping that it's more this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rha-6qG4OQ than this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD7sqGJ3NBg&t=133s .

As this Saturday will be our last weekend session of the month, we'll be holding our epee championship for November.  I look forward to seeing the usual standard of high octane prodding.
 

We will be missing our sessions of 23rd, 27th and 30th December but meeting as usual today (13th Dec.), Saturday  (16th Dec.) and Wednesday 20th December.  We'll resume on Wednesday 3rd January, 2018.

Don't forget our friendly at Churchill FC on the 27th December.  I'll be posting details and directions in the next bulletin.

Our roving reporter, Jon Mason, has sent his latest report from the Challenge Mondiale U17 in Grenoble http://challenge.escrime-parmentier.fr/resultats/ (there are video links on that page):
"Not such a successful weekend for GBR all the mens team epee were out in the first round and one woman made it to the L32 in the individuals.
"And same thing on the Sunday all the women's teams were knocked out in the first round but none of the men made it past the L64.
"It was very tough the Italian's dominated. Luke won 4 out of 6 pool matches in the first round and survived the cut. The second round of pools was alot harder winning 2 losing 3 but only by one point so again he survived the cut.
"This placed him 64th and his first D.E was against a 65th spanish seed. A very hard match with the Spaniard attacking fast while taking the blade, Luke managed some disengage counters scoring doubles but needed single hits so changed tactics and started attacking with some loverly well timed direct actions though he was punished if he chose the wrong moment by very quick parry/ripostes, but he stuck with it winning 15 11.
"Unfortunately the next opponent was the current world champ and no1 seed an Italian left hander, he was lightening fast and precise it was all over before the end of the 1st round.
"Luke fought his best and didn't give up and scored 5 hits a very honourable experience and amazing to watch.
The Italian won and his colleagues came 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th!!"

J

See you soon,
                      John

Bulletin # 111217: Laser Tag Social - Club Social Evening

Our fencing club laser tag social is at 1.30pm on the afternoon of Saturday, 16th December.  Parents, siblings and general hangers on are, as always, welcome.  We have booked twenty places and there are two rounds, so that is a maximum of forty goes.  The cost is £4.50 per head.  Concessions are available in case of need.  The details can be found here. We shall, of course, be fencing as usual in the morning.
Parents, friends and family are invited to come to our club social evening on Friday 15th December, at the White Bear in Kingsdown.  We'll be there from 7.30 drinks and food are available and there will be darts and a pool table.  Details are here.

See you soon,
                     John