Australian National Champions 2013 “The Dozen”


Following on the tradition of the National Champion questionsairre, the 6 2013 Champions kindly contributed some answer following their Championship win.

“The Sword Fighter Dozen”

Australian 2013 National Champion: Kristian Radford – Mens  Epee Champion.

1: How long have you been Fencing? What made you start? How long did it take for you to feel competent?

A: I started fencing almost 13 years ago at my high school in Adelaide. I’ve felt competent at a few points over that time, but I’ve always realised at a later point that I was mistaken. I just hope that I will continue to improve. 

2: How long have you been Competing at National / International level?

A: I entered my first Under 15 and Under 17 Nationals in 2004. Open Nationals was in Adelaide that year so I fenced that too. My first international competition was Challenge Australia in 2006, and I first fenced overseas in 2009 at some Junior competitions. 

3: What made you choose your weapon?, have you fenced the other 2?

A: I started off in foil, and I have fenced all three weapons at times. I had some minor success when I first tried epee, but the main reason I decided to focus on it when I was 16 was simply that I enjoyed it more than the other weapons. 

4: Where is your favourite place to fence or to train?

A: I like competing anywhere my family and friends can come and watch. For training, I enjoy the State Fencing Centre in Melbourne because of the built-in fencing pistes. It’s a luxury!

5: How important have a coach and training partners been to you?

A: Both groups of people have always been vital to my fencing. I’ve worked with a number of coaches and spent time living and training in different places, and I feel that my fencing is a product of all of these influences.

6: What are your future ambitions for 2014 and beyond? work / training / competition?

A: I tend to take things one step at a time. Next year I’m hoping to compete at the Asian and World Championships for the first time 

7: Who if anyone have you modeled your fencing on? Or do you have a favourite Fencer (Internationally)?

A: I’ve always loved watching great fencers, both Australian and international athletes. But success only came for me after I stopped trying to fence like other people and became comfortable with my own way of doing things.

8: What if any other sports do you play/train?

A: I’m not playing any other sports at the moment.

9: What difference if any did this national event have to others?

A: There were quite a few differences. The biggest thing was that the Men’s Epee event was fenced over two days, which I haven’t had to do at a national competition before. Also, I really liked that the Men’s Epee finals were broadcast online.

10: What is your weekly training Regime?

A: The exact composition changes frequently. I’m currently living in Melbourne, and at the moment a typical week involves fencing with the State Squad twice a week and training at VRI Fencing Club twice a week. 

11:  What advice would you give future Australian champions?

A: Don’t be afraid to lose bouts at training. Training is for learning, not for winning.

12: What is the best / worst thing about Fencing in Australia?

A: The worst thing is our distance from the rest of the fencing world. The best thing is the passion for the sport shared by so many people in the Australian fencing community.

Thanks so much Kristian..



State Veterans Squad – Melbourne Fencing Centre


Training Time: Thursday Nights 6:30-8:30

Any athlete wishing to participate, please contact  chris@swordfightersaustralia.com 

Chris Jones 0409 013 171

 

 

 

 

Session 19th December, come along and join the squad:        Skill: Happy Christmas!

Next Session:   January 23rd 2014! 

 

Wishing All Vets and Fencers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you on the piste.

 

Proudly supporting VicVets…

 

Vic Vets



Australian National Champions 2013 “The Dozen”


Following on the tradition of the National Champions questionairre, the 6 2013 Champions kindly contributed some answer following their Championship win.

“The Sword Fighter Dozen”

Australian 2013 National Champion: Diana Sher  – Womens Epee Champion.

1: How long have you been Fencing? What made you start? How long did it take for you to feel competent?

A: I have been fencing for seven years. My father, Vlad Sher encouraged me to start. I was not overly enthusiastic to begin with. I think the first time I felt really competent was when I won my very first medal at the U15 State Champs. At that point I realized my passion for the sport.

2: How long have you been Competing at National / International level?

A: Nationally I have been competing for around five years and around three years on the International Junior circuit. 

3: What made you choose your weapon?, have you fenced the other 2?

A:  As my father is the National Epee Coach he taught me Epee from day one. I never had the chance to try the others.

4: Where is your favourite place to fence or to train?

A: My favorite place to train and to fence is Paris. The training there is really intense and everyone takes it very seriously. The atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming. Being over there encourages me to train. Spending time in Paris isn’t too bad either.

5: How important have a coach and training partners been to you?

A:  I think I have a very unique situation. My coach is also my father. Maintaining a healthy and solid relationship between father and daughter, as well as strong relationship between coach and student can often be hard. Dad and I have to work especially hard at it.

6: What are your future ambitions for 2014 and beyond? work / training / competition?

A:  2014 will mark my official start as a senior fencer. I have had some good results in juniors, and I am hoping I can use the skills learnt to tackle the senior division. I plan to take it competition by competition, and see where the road leads.

7: Who if anyone have you modeled your fencing on? Or do you have a favourite Fencer (Internationally)?

A: I do not have a favorite international fencer. I admire athletes who are dedicated, committed and passionate about what they do. Also I admire different characteristics from a variety of fencers on the international circuit.

8: What if any other sports do you play/train?

A:  At present there are no sports that I participate in other than fencing. As a child I played Tennis.

9: What difference if any did this national event have to others?

A: This is the very first time I have won this particular competition. It is a nice feeling to have such a breakthrough.

10: What is your weekly training regime? 

A: I fence four days per week. On the other days I like to mix it up a bit, sometimes I go for runs. On other days I go to the gym. Keeping training interesting is important.

11:  What advice would you give future Australian champions?

A:   Train hard.

12: What is the best / worst thing about Fencing in Australia?

A: One of the worst things about fencing in Australia is the travel and the cost of competing at an international level. This requires constant dedication and a lot of self-motivation.


 Thanks so much Diana…..

 



Australian National Champions 2013 “The Dozen”


Following on the tradition of the National Champions questionairre, the 6 2013 Champions kindly contributed some answer following their Championship win.

“The Sword Fighter Dozen”

Australian 2013 National Champion: Ping Yuan  – Womens Foil Champion.

1: How long have you been Fencing? What made you start? How long did it take for you to feel competent?

A: I have been fencing for 18 years. I was invited by the fencing coach and then started to do the fencing. It took me 2 years to feel competent.

2: How long have you been Competing at National / International level?

A:  Since I was 17 years old, have represented my country to compete in the National and International level.

3: What made you choose your weapon?, have you fenced the other 2?

A:  I think foil is the most graceful and hardest one in three weapon, and also it has high technical content. I’ve fenced the epee, but only for fun.

4: Where is your favourite place to fence or to train?

A: The Chinese National fencing training centre, I spent 6 years training there. Not only have “feeling”, but also get lots of excellent results for fencing.

5: How important have a coach and training partners been to you?

A:  It’s important to every ‘sportsman’ with a good coach and good training environment. Unfortunately since I left the Chinese National team in 2008 and moved to NZ, I haven’t got a single coach and haven’t got good training environment and good enough training partner.

6: What are your future ambitions for 2014 and beyond? work / training / competition?

A:   Try to compete in the 2014 Commonwealth Game and defeat Gold medalist.

7: Who if anyone have you modeled your fencing on? Or do you have a favourite Fencer (Internationally)?

A:  I’ve a favorite fencer who is Valentina Vezzali (Womens Foil – Italy)

8: What if any other sports do you play/train?

A:  Golf.

9: What difference if any did this national event have to others?

A: Australia National Championships is the best event which is held in Oceania Region.

10: What is your weekly training regime? 

A: Since move to NZ in 2008 haven’t done any training at all.

11:  What advice would you give future Australian champions?

A:   My advice will be, that I wish next time the referee can be more professional and fair bit more, specially the semi-final and final. Because I had really experience this time, it was very obviously and clear point but the referee gave the point to wrong side.

12: What is the best / worst thing about Fencing in Australia?

A: The venue of competition is very professional and good, but suggest if the competition be placed in a more convenient location (such like in Sydney) which be more convenient and cheaper for the international fencers to come and compete.

 Thanks so much Ping…..

 



Junior Fencing Program


Sword Fighters Junior Program returns in late January 2014.

Thanks all for attending in 2013, have a great break over the holidays and ready fresh for a great 2014.

Photo of a few of the guys on last session of 2013.

Sword Fighters Junior Squad

For more information.., chris@swordfightersaustralia.com / 0409 013 171 .



SDSSA -Community Link Sports Day


Sword Fighters Australia was proud to be involved in the Syndal District School Sports Association – Wesley College.

Over 400 Grade 6 students from Local Schools Participated in a day long Sporting Activity Session.

SDSSA Sports Day.1     SDSSA Sports Day.2



State Veterans Squad – Melbourne Fencing Centre


Training Time: Thursday Nights 6:30-8:30

Any athlete wishing to participate, please contact  chris@swordfightersaustralia.com 

Chris Jones 0409 013 171

 

 

 

 

Session 12th December, come along and join the squad:        Skill: c6->c7 Riposte.

Next Session:   December 19th  

@  6:30  Level 1, 204-206 Arden St North Melbourne.     

Public transport:* by train (closest station is North Melbourne -10 minute walk down Laurens Street)*

by Tram Closest stop is No 15 on Abbotsford Street on route 57 -8 minute walk down Arden Street.


Proudly supporting VicVets…

 

Vic Vets



Sword Fighters Australia Products


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Sword Fighters Australia Calendar                Sword Fighters Australia Cap

Sword Fighters Australia Mug Back  Sword Fighters Australia Mug Front

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Popular and selling upon demand!

Womens Fencing T-Shirt      Womens T-Shirt Photo

Sword Fighters Mens T-Shirt        Sword Fighters Kids T-Shirt

Even a last minute Christmas present! 

For Prices and ordering please email : info@swordfightersaustralia.com

Download the SFA Products Order Form



Australian National Champions 2013 “The Dozen”


Following on the tradition of the National Champions questionairre, the 6 2013 Champions kindly contributed some answer following their Championship win.

“The Sword Fighter Dozen”

Australian 2013 National Champion: Martino Minuto – Mens Foil Champion.

1: How long have you been Fencing? What made you start? How long did it take for you to feel competent?

A:  I started fencing when I was 5 years old, so 20 years ago now…I started because I loved cartoons like zorro and d’artagnan, and my parents couldnt handle any longer to have me around destroying their house with swords and foils 🙂 so I tried fencing, and I kept doing it…

how long to feel competent ?  I still dont feel competent nowadays 😉

2: How long have you been Competing at National / International level?

A:  I started competing at national levels at around 8-9 years old…when I was 10-11 i made my first intarnational events for youth categories, and at 13 I started with my official FIE carreer, first in junior and around 17 in seniors

3: What made you choose your weapon?, have you fenced the other 2?

A:  In Italy everyone “so” young starts with foil…we call it the Queen Weapon…it was good  for me so I kept it, happy about my choice….I tried for fun the other weapons….but actually I won a youth national in epee, and last year I took silver in senior team national championships in sabre, almost beating the Olympic silver medallist in my bout…

If you are a good foilist, you can dare to fence the other weapons, for fun…the oppoisite is much harder…thats why everybody starts with foil…

4: Where is your favourite place to fence or to train?

A: Now, after I tried it, my favourite place to train is definately in Australia, in Melbourne, at VRI 🙂

5: How important have a coach and training partners been to you?

A: Extremely important…my coach is the same since when i was 5…in fencing the coach is a “maestro”, a feature that is hard to find as important in other sports I guess…and of course, good training partners are necessary to test the preparation level, and put theory into practice.

6: What are your future ambitions for 2014 and beyond? work / training / competition?

A:  For 2014 my major focus is World Championships in august, and I will prepare my best for those…outside of Fencing I just graduated “my masters”…I will start a 3rd degree and study the German language….but my main goal is getting the only medal that between the different categories I am still missing, the Olympic gold one….that’s my main ambition for the future..

7: Who if anyone have you modeled your fencing on? Or do you have a favourite Fencer (Internationally)?

A:  I didnt model my Fencing on anyone…I worked very hard to develop my own Fencing “style”…but at the same time I learned and got inspiration from most of the fencers, basically from everyone…learn from everyone, but keep being yourself….

I have 4 great fencers I look up to…in order of age : Alexander Romankov, Mauro Numa, Alessandro Puccini, Sergei Golubitsky…

8: What if any other sports do you play/train?

A:  I competed many years in Alpine Skiing..and nowadays i have a diploma as a Skiing Coach…and my summer passion has always been windsurfing.

Apart from that, I love almost every sport, since I am an athlete… 😉

9: What difference if any did this national event have to others?

A: Not many differences actually….the venue in canberra was amazing, wonderful..never seen something like this at nationals, and sometimes even at worlds….the level is different in any country,  but as long as all the competitiors go for the title, it is never easy 🙂

Oh  the organization with my friend Mrs Denise was very strict and extremely well done, I appreciated it a lot…we don’t have this overseas..

10: What is your weekly training Regime?

 A: Unfortunately i don’t have a weekly training regime, but a daily training regime 😉   I most likely train for 5-6 hours every day…having 1 or 2 sessions, depending on the days…

11:  What advice would you give future Australian champions?

A:   I cant give too much advice to future Australian champions, as long as I still want to compete internationally for some years 😉  joking….

Well, as I said many times, I see great potentials in Australian Fencing…true….my advice is to keep working hard, keep playing fair, keep having passion’s, and the results will for sure come…

12: What is the best / worst thing about Fencing in Australia?

A: long question 🙂 ….

I like many many things with Australian Fencing, thats why I came 2 times to support it in Melbourne…

I like the way everybody works hard…the passion every athlete and coach put in the game….I like the fair play you have in this country, this is one of the thing I like the most…it is beautiful….I can see no other countries where competitions would be refereed from fencers themselves, it would come out a big mess, and many fightings….I like the sport spirit and mood that Australia has everwhere, and of course put in fencing too….

I am a big fan of Australian fencing…I’m now very proud and honored to be part of its champions list 🙂

Just couple of bad things with this sport in Australia…

Not enough support from the government and Olympic committe makes it extremely hard for the fencers and thier family  to travel, go to competitions and make the experience necessary to challenge at world levels…

In my personal opinion, without judging the work of anyone, I find it really hard that fencers who join tha national team have to pay for it, and a big fee!…National team in sport is up to merits,  not to money….it is already expensive enough for them to keep training and travelling…no need to make them pay also to be in the national team….

and last thing, I heard that lately there were some unclear issues about the ranking for Australian foilists, which messed up the real situation, in a not proper merit way…..

My personal opinion, since I love Australia and its fair play, is that they would keep this fair play….if Australia decides for a ranking system, and not a coach’s decisions one, then the ranking should show the real results, merits and strength of the athletes….it is very easy to do it….jut need to put people work together, and play fair…everybody is basically a  volunteer in our sport….let’s keep the fair play.

Good luck Australian Fencing 🙂

Marti

 Martino Medal

Thanks so much Marti……”You are a credit to your Country and a pleasure to have as a guest in ours, Best of luck in all your future ambitions ”  Ed.

 



Australian National Champions


Attached is an updated file of the Australian National Champions since records were kept in Australia.

Australian ChampionsAustralian National Champions

Keep an eye out for the National Champions questionnaires coming soon……. 

(Updated 10/12/13)



AFF #4 Nationals Canberra 2013


Canberra, ACT Australian Instiute of Sport December 2013

Men’s Foil: 1st M.Minuto Ita/Vic2nd C.Weiting NSW=3rd S.Glaister Vic, =3rd M.Foster Vic.

Women’s Sabre1st S.Auty Vic2nd Cheryl Chan NSW, =3rd M.Black NSW, =3rd N.Molen Grigull.

Women’s Sabre teams1st NSW A2nd Vic=3rd Qld, =3rd NSW B.

Women’s Epee: 
1st D.Sher Vic , 2nd S.Osvath, =3rd A.Toth Vic, =3rd A.Horvath SA.

Men’s Foil teams
: 1st NSW ‘A’, 2nd Vic ‘A’, =3rd Vic ‘B’, =3rd NSW ‘A’.

Veteran Men’s Sabre
1st D.Kneale WA2nd M.Howard NSW=3rd C.Gwynn NSW, =3rd R.Vintila NSW. 

Veteran Women’s Sabre1st H.Jordan NSW2nd M.Du NSW=3rd J.Menary SA, =3rd C.Murphy ACT. 

Men’s Epée1st K.Radford Qld2nd D.Osvath Vic=3rd R.Lewith Vic, =3rd E.Fernon NSW. 

Women’s Epée Teams1st Vic ‘A’2nd Vic ‘B’=3rd NSW ‘A’, =3rd Qld.

Veterans Men’s Foil1st A.Tyshchenko NSW2nd N.Nutt ACT=3rd P.Aitchenson NSW, =3rd I.Metzke Vic. 

Veteran Women’s Foil1st J.Bonney-Millet Qld2nd F.Budniak NSW=3rd H.Jordan NSW, =3rd A.Slowiaczek NSW. 

Women’s Foil1st P.Yuan NZL2nd M.Sokolovskaja NSW=3rd E.Marotta Vic, =3rd C.Daniel Qld. 

Men’s Sabre1st J.Rowley NSW2nd S.Leitch Qld=3rd S.Young NSW, =3rd A.Wilcock NSW. 

Men’s Epee Team1st NSW ‘A’2nd SA=3rd ACT ‘A’, =3rd WA.

Women’s Foil Teams1st NSW ‘A’2nd Qld=3rd NSW ‘B’, =3rd ACT.

Men’s Sabre Teams1st NSW ‘A’2nd NSW ‘B’=3rd WA ‘A’, =3rd Qld ‘A’.

Veterans Men’s Epee1st N.Nutt ACT2nd G.Mittermair SA=3rd L.Cartillier Qld, =3rd K.Macdonald NZ. 

Veteran Women’s Epee1st S.Osvath NSW2nd J.Seggie NSW=3rd A.Slowiaczek NSW, =3rd A.Dobson-Block Vic. 



State Veterans Squad – Melbourne Fencing Centre


Training Time: Thursday Nights 6:30-8:30

Any athlete wishing to participate, please contact  chris@swordfightersaustralia.com 

Chris Jones 0409 013 171

 

 

 

 

Session 5th December, come along and join the squad:        Skill: National review, Simple and Speed.

Next Session:   December 12th  

@  6:30  Level 1, 204-206 Arden St North Melbourne.     

Public transport:* by train (closest station is North Melbourne -10 minute walk down Laurens Street)*

by Tram Closest stop is No 15 on Abbotsford Street on route 57 -8 minute walk down Arden Street.


Proudly supporting VicVets…

 

Vic Vets


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