Duke Basketball Meets Duke Fencing

Is fencing for everyone? Well, I think that is for each individual to decide for themselves. But I know that everyone can learn how to fence, even basketball players, and everyone can gain something from learning the sport.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not taking a shot at basketball players. (No pun intended.) You have to be a good athlete to play basketball, and an exceptional one to play it well. In fact if you watch a basketball game carefully, you can see a lot of the strategies and tactics that fencers use on the strip.

A couple of Duke University’s basketball players got a fencing lesson from Duke’s fencing team. How do you think it turned out?

 

Watch the Finals of the Sabre World Cup Live

Photo credit: USA Fencing

USA Fencing will be streaming the final rounds of the Absolute Fencing Gear Korfanty World Cup live from the University of Illinois at Chicago on Saturday and Sunday at www.usfencing.org.

The broadcast on Saturday will begin at 6:30 p.m. Central Time and will include semifinal and final rounds of the men’s and women’s individual saber competition.

If you missed the finals on Saturday, no worries. Competition on Sunday will feature the gold medal finals for the men’s and women’s team events with at 5:30 p.m. Central (time subject to change).

Sabre events are fast-moving and exciting to watch. Hopefully we’ll have the added benefit of expert commentary, which can help you get a better handle on fencing rules such as right-of-way. Enjoy!

2013 Fencing Recap

Had to share this video I ran across during my meanderings online. Most of the bouts in the video are sabre bouts, but no matter what your preference in weapons may be, you can still appreciate the finesse and skill in each of the touches:

Fencers Rock! Or Do Rockers Fence?!

I stumbled upon an article at Loudwire.com (or was it UltimateClassicRock.com?) about Iron Maiden frontman, Bruce Dickinson. I can’t say that I am a big Iron Maiden fan, but I am a child of the 80’s, so I am familiar with his work. He is definitely an energetic performer. And now I understand how his footwork training has helped him onstage!

Check out the article on Loudwire – http://loudwire.com/iron-maiden-bruce-dickinson-duels-olympic-fencer-bartosz-piasecki/?trackback=fbshare_top

World Championships in Budapest

We’re just one day away from the World Championships that will be in Budapest! To make the comparison, this is like the Superbowl of the sport of fencing, the opportunity to earn a world title, no easy feat. I don’t know how much, if any, of the event will be shown on U.S. television, but we can always hope. It’s one of a few aspects about our sport that I would change–fencing is not very spectator-friendly.

But, then along comes someone brilliant (I don’t know who, yet) who creates a great teaser for the World Championship event. If you ask many fencers, I’m sure that they will tell you that they were inspired to try fencing by one of the characters or a similar character found in this video. Watch, and tell me what you think:

MOL World Fencing Championships Budapest 2013 – Just Like in the Movies / a fan’s video montage

This is such a great video! See if you can recognize the films used in the montage footage. (I’ve added this video to our “About Fencing” page of this site.)

University of Notre Dame – This is FENCING

Just a little fencing humor to get your week started:

Ask an Olympic Fencer: How do I beat Darth Vader in a sword fight?

The photo says it all…

Tim Morehouse

Answer: Easy! Attack in his preparation when he raises his light saber over his head!

Darth Vader might have had better technique if he had FENCING IN THE SCHOOLS!!!

Let’s make sure future Darth Vader’s don’t have this issue by donating to help start fencing programs in SCHOOLS!
http://www.crowdrise.com/fencingintheschools2013

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Spotlight: Stephen Kaufer

The New York Times recently published a spotlight piece online about Stephen Kaufer, the chief executive of TripAdvisor. He talks briefly about fencing and how it helped his career: