The Cincinnati Fencing Club's Fencing News

Next weekend NKY Fencing Academy will be hosting their first tournament of the new year!

The annual Bloody Winter Wonderland tournament will be next Saturday, the 20th of January (2018).

Follow this link to view NKYFA's scheduled tournaments and feel free to register while you are there!

Monday, March 20th, Olympian and Cincinnati Fencing instructor for decades, passed away

Many of you have known Ed for years, many of you may have taken lessons from Ed, some of you (like me) are only involved in fencing today because of Ed Wright. Ed was an Olympian, competing in Foil in the 1976. He was a big man with a big personality and in his time he couldn't help but to touch the lives of people all around him, pulling those nearby into the wake of his direction. The USFA released this obituary about Ed this week, here is a link to Ed's obituary on the USFA website.

First, let me apologize for this coming late and with little time to prepare, but this has just been confirmed with all the details now.

Ed's son, Oronde, has organized a memorial service Saturday, 3/25 at 11 AM at College Hill Presbyterian Church, 5742 Hamilton Ave.

Here is a link to a Go Fund Me site that Oronde set up to help with his end of life costs and also gives the end of Ed's

life some details in his own words.

Please pass this along to anyone that I may be forgetting. Ed was a big influence on fencing in Cincinnati and a big personality that touched students far and wide in his time in the sport and this city.

Thank you,

Nate Westcott

REPOST OF INFORMATION FOR FENCERS BEGINNING COMPETITION FOR THE FIRST TIME:

For anyone interested in competing this year, here are some things that we'll have to go over.

First, all sanctioned tournaments require you to have a current USFA Competitive Membership. You can get your membership up to the day of the tournament, but it is required for all participants at USFA clubs and events.

If you are not now, and have never been a member of the USFA, you can find your membership here: $70.00 for an annual membership (Expires June 31, 2017) can be found here.

If, at any time, you have had a USFA membership, then you will go through the login process and renew your existing membership number. The USFA keeps your fencing history linked to your number, even if you haven't used it in a long time. The link for returning members is here: $70.00 for an annual membership (Expires June 31, 2017) can be found here.

NOW THAT YOU ARE A CARD CARRYING FENCER:

Second, AskFred.net is your home for all things tournament related. You can search in various areas for upcoming tournaments, see who is competing in those events you are interested in, register and get important information about venues and events. It's great.

Even better, every time you compete, your scores and results will be uploaded onto the website allowing you to go back through the tournaments that you attend and have information that you can use to hone your skills and further your training. Additionally, you can use it to scout other fencers who you might encounter while on the strip.

THE CLOTHES MAKE THE FENCER:

Third, If you are having a hard time finding equipment on your own (#justgoogleit), you can visit our links page to find links to some of the equipment suppliers that are on the market, all of which we have used and been pleased with.

Important to remember: you will need at least 2 working weapons, 2 working body cords, a plastron (chest protector, cloth or plastic), knickers (pants), a jacket, a glove, knee high socks (so no skin shows between pant cuff and socks), and a mask that can pass a punch test for saftey. For foil and sabre you will also need a conductive mask/bib, a mask connector, and a working lame (metal conductive jacket).

LOCAL TOURNAMENT JANUARY 21, 2017

Bloody Winter Wonderland at NKY Fencing Academy (NKFA): Ludlow, KY!

On ASKFRED.NET.

Warm up with some serious stabbing! Download and fill out the waiver! USFA competitive membership required. Cost: $25, $35 for 2, and $45 for 3 events.

All proceeds will go to Barth Syndrome Foundation (BSF)!

Events Scheduled:

Y14 Mixed Epee

E and Under Mixed Epee

Mixed Epee

USFA competitive membership required.

Cost $25 per event, $35 for 2, and $45 for 3 events.

NKFA students only rate - $20/$25/$35

NKFA's salle is located above Second Sight Distillery and Wynner's Cup Cafe - these folks know what's good! Tasty rum, food, coffee and desserts!

NKFA's salle is on corner of Elm and Davies St. Entrance is on Davies St. We are on 2nd floor, directly above the coffee shop and the distillery.

Come for fencing, stay for rum and food.

Monday the 31st of October is Halloween! There will be no fencing Monday the 31st!

Sorry for the late notice, it wasn't brought to the attention of the coaches and officers that next Monday is Halloween until last night at practice. After asking around among all the students at the center last night, the consensus was that everyone would rather take the evening off and enjoy the spookiest of all holidays and come back to fencing in November fresh and ready!

We will have fencing Thursday November 3rd as normal.

Some interesting reading for students looking at fencing, college, and the future

Ross Woods

Founder & Principal

National Fencing Club Rankings, LLC

As the school year begins, many high school fencers and their parents are thinking about their next educational steps. With so many postsecondary options and so few NCAA fencing schools to consider, it’s important that all prospective college level fencers have the information they need to make the best decision possible. That’s why we have used the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard - to ensure that student-fencers and their families have the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and reliable information available on NCAA fencing schools.

Our post, http://nationalfencingclubrankings.com/colleges-ranked-earnings-alumni/ allows visitors to sort and filter their search results to easily compare such factors as typical costs, admission rates, test scores, graduation rates and earnings of alumni. We invite your participation to help ensure that the information in our post gets into the hands of more students and families so they can make informed college choices.

Last weekend's tournament at NKYFA's Pirate Day Open!

For the first time in years, the Cincinnati Fencing Club fielded a team of fencers in a local tournament. Bringing three participants to the E & Under Epee and two for the Senior Mixed Epee, Cincinnati is back on the piste!

Terris Lo, AJ Brown, and Evan McNicholas all participated in the E & Under Epee, which was an E1 event (meaning that the first place finisher in this tournament earned their E rating for 2016). All three CFC fencers were, here, participating in their very first USFA tournament. Terris finished at 16th, AJ at 9th, and Evan at an impressive 3rd!

Congratulations to Elijah and Ean Frederiksen who finished first and second and Alexander Wittrock who tied for third in the E & Under!

Evan McNicholas opted for the Ironman of first time tourney goers by sticking around for the Senior Mixed Epee after finishing third in the E & Under along with club president Nate Westcott. In this Open event, Evan finished 14 of 17 and Nate finished 7th. Sounds like the club coach needs to spend a little more time practicing!

Congrats to Avery Price from Hudson Centers for the Martial Arts (HCMA) who finished 1st in the Open as well as Ean Frederiksen for finishing second, also HCMA. Ned Kalapasev (coach and president of NKYFA) finished tied third with his student Will Henry Richards.

A huge thank you to Ned, his club, students, and support staff for putting on another fun, well run tournament that I'll be happy to be beaten at again, next year!

EVENTS TO NOTE:

Lastly, Here are a couple things coming up:

NKYFA Pirate Day Open!, an all epee tournament, Sept 18th.

Also, Salle Du Lion is having a fun open house event, Sept 22nd, which they describe as:

"Just wanted to let you and the fencers at Cincinnanti Fencing Club know that on Thursday 9/22

we'll be doing our first GloFence night from 630-830. This will be 2 hours of open electric fencing with many other fencers while our space is lit up with black lights and DJ lights.

It is $15 per person/ $10 per person for groups 3 or more. We hope to see many of you there! Let me know if you have any questions regarding it."

NKYFA is at it again. This time, they are taking down St. Patrick's Day with another epee tournament.

As per usual, they will be starting with a Y14 epee tournament, then moving on to an Unrated Epee, finishing with a Senior Mixed Epee to wrap things up. It will be fun, th

ere will be fencing, there will be sandwiches and coffee, and there is an site adjacent craft rum distillery. The only real question is where will you be?

What's this!? A murderous winter competition? What's this!?

NKFA is hosting it's second epee tourney on Dec. 5th - Santa's Slay!

Y14 at 9 am, Unrated at 10 am and Open at noon!

All epee, all the time!

Open is a C1 and growing daily. If you are free, come on up for some jolly good Holiday stabbing.

https://askfred.net/Events/whoIsComing.php?tournament_id=30665

Celebrate talk like a pirate day (September 19th, 2015) with your favorite hometown fencers at NKY Fencing Academy's first tournament in their new, dedicated

all epee tournament featuring three events.location. They are hosting an

The morning will be starting at 9:00am with a Youth Under 14 Mixed Open Epee, allowing the younger fencers to compete

with each other before the old guys show up. This should also give the kids a chance to tire themselves out before the old guys show up.

Next, starting at 11:00am is the Unrated Senior Mixed Epee open to anyone, of any age, that does not yet have a USFA rating in epee. Anyone starting in fencing that has just gotten their first USFA membership will start with an Unrated (or "U") rating. This is a way to limit the number of experienced fencers in the event, especially ones

who are actively competing in tournaments. If at least 6 Unrated fencers come out, then the first place will come with an "E"! For more information about USFA Ratings progression, follow this link, or the one to the left!

Finally, at 1:00pm, is the Senior Mixed Epee. This is, of course, an unbridled free for all! All ages, skill levels, ratings and genders welcome! We may talk like pirates while fencing, we may swash buckle a little, we will definitely have fun! Ned (of NKY Fencing Academy) has mentioned that there may be some pirate-appropriate rum, from neighboring distillery Second Sight Spirits, available as first prize (must be received by someone over 21 years old) and that there will be some food and drink to enjoy once the fencing has come to it's violent and inevitable end!

The renovations being done on the Clifton Community Center are finally concluding after a long 18 months. We are thrilled to have been made so welcome by the staff of the McKie Community Center in Northside and the community of that area alike, but it's good to know that we are finally getting ready to go back to the center that has been home to the Cincinnati Fencing Club for so long!

I have had the opportunity to take a tour through the completely refurbished facility and it is spectacular! They have done an enormous amount of work on the building and expanded their usable space significantly.

The Cincinnati Fencing Club will return to the Clifton Center on the 5th of January, which will be a Monday class night. As per usual, we will begin at 7:30pm and will begin clean up at 8:45pm. Advanced fencers will still have a second meeting day of Thursdays with fencing starting at 7:00pm and going until 8:45pm.

Directions to the Clifton Community Center

A new space, some new gear, but that same, classic Cincinnati Fencing Club look!

Now that we've settled back into the ancestral stomping grounds of the CFC, the Clifton Community Center, we're trying to make the most of our new storage area! While that might not be exciting to everyone, for our instructors, having a rolling cart for jackets so that they are organized and have chance to air out a little, is a pretty big deal.

Also, we've invested in our first Virtual Scoring Machine, which allows us to do simulated direct elimination Epee bouts with the VSM's integrated software, which is an awful lot of fun!

So, heading into the summer months, come join us for some safe and friendly combat!

Fencing.net - NO LONGER RECOMMENDED FOR PURCHASING GEAR

We have recently ordered equipment for the club from fencing.net. The order was not fully filled and all attempts to reach the company by phone, by email, and by use of their customer service help desk have gone unanswered.

Additionally, their listed phone number returns a no longer in service message.

The portion of the order that was fulfilled, took an exceedingly long time to arrive, and was drop shipped directly from Absolute Fencing Gear. Their order was missing some of the equipment that was listed on the invoice from fencing.net. This leads me to believe that fencing.net was slow in filling, then finally passed the order through a 3rd party, missing part of the order due.

We have given fencing.net as much benefit of the doubt as possible on this, but it is apparent that fencing.net is no longer a trusted vendor and recommend that you try one of the other companies listed.

Renovations on the Clifton Community Center are Wrapping Up! — Dec 8, 2014 11:09:24 PM

Swinging Into the Summer — Jul 3, 2014 7:17:42 PM

The CFC will be relocating temporarily to Northside Starting August 19th — Jul 28, 2013 12:51:02 PM

Upcoming Tournaments — Nov 8, 2012 1:15:32 PM

Interesting information about scholarships — Aug 27, 2012 10:02:06 PM

Charles Flatt Discusses Fencing on WCPO — Mar 22, 2012 7:27:46 PM

The 2012 Botterell/Pritz Memorial Open — Mar 15, 2012 2:59:21 AM

Local Fencing Spotlit by WCPO Cincinnati! — Mar 15, 2012 2:13:08 AM

March 16-19th NAC Tournament Volunteering — Mar 8, 2012 10:15:39 PM

NPR Runs a Story About Fencing — Feb 8, 2012 11:10:09 PM

March 2012 - The North American Cup — Jan 26, 2012 9:56:50 PM

2012 Dues — Jan 19, 2012 10:29:25 PM

Congratulations to Leonard! — Dec 13, 2011 11:11:59 PM

Winter Weather — Nov 28, 2011 11:36:21 PM

2012 Officer Elections — Nov 28, 2011 11:31:25 PM

Halloween! — Oct 27, 2011 9:51:32 PM

Stepping Boldly Into the 21st Century! — Aug 26, 2011 3:12:07 AM

CityBeat's Article On Our Club — Aug 23, 2011 4:50:48 AM

New Programming — Jun 9, 2011 9:25:45 PM

The 2011 Botterell/Pritz Tournament is Coming! — Mar 17, 2011 3:50:48 AM

2011 CFC Officer Elections — Jan 11, 2011 4:51:47 AM

The North American Cup Comes to Cincinnati — Oct 14, 2010 9:31:04 PM

2010 Botterell Wrap Up — May 9, 2010 2:50:23 AM

2010 Botterell Open Tournament at the Clifton Recreation Center — Apr 23, 2010 8:51:36 PM

Cincinnati Fencing Club at the 2010 Wright Challenge — Mar 15, 2010 10:27:25 PM

Upcoming Event: Wright Challenge - Southwest Sectional Event — Mar 9, 2010 3:39:07 AM

Arnold Fencing Classic 2010 in Columbus, OH. — Mar 9, 2010 3:31:00 AM

2010 Practice Updates — Mar 5, 2010 5:38:48 AM

Site Moved! — Aug 12, 2009 12:21:03 AM

Everyone Wants to Play With a Sword — Aug 3, 2009 10:39:46 PM

CFC/Starbuck's Cleanup Day — Aug 3, 2009 10:38:01 PM