National Rankings


Australian National Rankings

Updated, As of April 30, 2008

Go to www.ausfencingevents.org

you can also find archived results.



Fencing Tip of the Week


April 2008 [4]

The Beat

By definition; is an offensive action moving the opponent’s blade from one line to another by a bouncing action performed with the top third of the blade.

Intent:  Direction is important, knocking the opponent’s weapon sideways or down away from a defensive position.  Ideally a reaction is sought to evade the opponents defence, or to startle and attack swiftly to score a point on an opponent.

Practice:  With purpose, the fingers should start first, then with forearm strength knock the blade away, the hand and point should then move swiftly towards the target and touch.  Relax entire body before action begins; therefore not ‘telegraphing’ your intent.

Tip:  Place a blade in front of a practice target (or a practice partner).  Bounce the weapon off the opponent’s, to gain feel and touch.  Then increase speed of the beat and of the forward moving arm, eventually a situation will be reached where the opponents’ reaction is not fast enough to stop the touch occurring…



Asian Championships Fencing Results


Results of the Asian Championships in Bangkok 24 – 29 April:

for full results visit FIE.

Australian Results:

Womens Foil : Jo Halls 13th, Jenny Bonny-Millet 23rd, Jade Sarah 24th

Mens Sabre : James Walsh 20th 

Mens Foil :  Frank Bartolillo 11th, Joe Slowiaczek 42nd

Womens Epee : Amber Parkinson 3rd

Mens Epee : Seamus Robinson 13th, Alistair Sutherland 39th, Matt Champlin 64th

Womens Sabre : Jess Brooks 25th



Olympic Test Event


The Olympic Test Event in Beijing “Good Luck Beijing” was held between 18-20 April.

For full results go to Beijing or FIE



Olympic Qualification


Australian womens Foilist  Jo Halls qualifies for the Olympics with a deserving win in Thailand.

Congratulations Jo…Next stop August – Beijing 2008



Fencing Tip of the Week


April 2008 [3]

The Feint Attack

By definition; is an attack into One line with the intention of switching to another line before the attack finishes.

Intent: Direction is important, the desired result of a feint is a reaction from the opponent, either by hand, foot, body movement or perception.  Confusion is a great way to score a point on an opponent.

Practice: With purpose, the arm should start first, fore-mostly determining distance of the target, secondly creating the line and direction to the false target.

Tip: When beginning, plan the intended target to hit and practice false attacks, start slow and finish fast.  The closer the 2 targets the easier it is to hit… 



Junior World Championships Results


For a full listing of Medals and Classement go to FIE

The Medal Table results

   

1

USA

4

1

1

2

ITA

3 8 2
3

HUN

3 1 5
4

RUS

2

3

6

5

UKR

2 1
6

KOR

1

4

7 POL 1 1
7

JPN

1

1

7

EGY

1

1

10 CHN 2 1


Fencing Tip of the Week


April 2008 [2]

The Lunge 

Defined as “An explosive foward movement of the front hand and leg”.  The lunge is a fencers best weapon.  It should be aimed straight at the opponent for best effect. 

The lunge starts with the finger and thumb moving the point and the arm extending stright from the elbow, the front leg kicks forward from the toe and extends straight towards the target, the back leg pushes down and extends straight giving forward momentum.   The body’s ‘centre of gravity’ moves forward until gravity takes over, the weapon arm is thrust forward with the momentum of the lunging leg.  The weapon point hits the target and the attack finishes with the downward movement of the front leg due to gravity or individual stretch or reach.

Relaxed: Relaxed equals speed.  It is also more deceptive if your oppponent doesnt see tension before an action.  Thus the hand fires forward before any other visible movement.

Practice: The general conception is 200-300 repetitions of an action trains the muscle memory, including error training – where the body adapts to changes and the mind reintroduces the learnt processes.  So training correctly is very important

Tip: Begin with back foot against a wall and lunge keeping the foot in place.  Build different lengths of lunges; small, medium, large & Slow to Fast.  Keep head facing forward with Torso upright and the back leg locked straight, return to guard with balance, the front leg lands last.



Australian Junior Team in Italy – Updated


Australian Junior Team Results in Acireale (Catania), Italy

Full results can be found on the www.fie.ch website, and the http://www.escrime-acireale.com/eng/default.aspx website

Junior Mens Epee: Jo Slowiaczek 52nd.

Junior Mens Foil: Jo Slowiaczek 44th.

Junior Mens Sabre: Sutherlan Scudds 80th, James Walsh 86th.

Junior Womens Foil: Katie Boyles 66th.

Junior Womens Sabre: Chloe Rosettie 70th, Katie Boyles 79th.

Cadet Mens Sabre: Chris Nagle 49th.

Cadets Mens Epee: Nick Davison 59th.

Cadets Womens Sabre: Isabelle Roberson 39th.

Teams:

Womens Sabre: 20th (20)

Mens Sabre: 25th (25)



Fencing Tip of the Week


April 2008 [1] 

En Garde

Defined as the Fencing Stance, the fencers stance is imperitive to everything in the sport.  Like a tree without roots, there is no fencing without a base, and the front and back legs provide that ‘trunk’.  Front and back legs are determined by the weapon hand.  A 90 degree position ‘L shape’ is created by the feet with the front foot (and knee) facing forwad.  By standing at least shoulder width apart, a fencer can bend the knees and get more power with a deeper bend.

Relaxed, essential to speed is a relaxed stance – not slouching but upright.

Practice, the more comfortable a fencer is in the en garde position the more natural fencing becomes.

Tip: Practice jumping into the en garde position, when walking forward & back, then again when steping forward & back.



Fencing Videos


Check out some interesting fencing videos on Youtube. A few Legends

clip 1: Epee Grand Prix Womens Final St. Petersburg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ubq6Mj_grs&feature=related  

clips 2 & 3: Italian Team Coach Stefano Cerioni fencing a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAcd2d3-AFM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=musXKggvuAY&feature=related

The legendary Vladimir Smirnov in a lesson.

part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL0r9cJmgw&feature=related

part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Z0ZbczDh4 

Enjoy.



Italian Fencing – Mangiarotti Style


A bit of History and a nice visual on the recent history of Italian fencing courtesy

of a video on Youtube.

1st video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1F0IWoKxEg

2nd video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6gmM20ft7E&feature=related 

3rd video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gg1hI4nZeU&feature=related

4th video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqAqo-RECDU&feature=related

Check it out.


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