Klassisches Fechten Soest (KFS) and Volkshochschule Soest (VHS) have invited
traditional fencers from all over Germany to attend the first quarterly KFS
Foil Seminar, Saturday January 14, 10:00-2:00--though we'll fence 'til we
drop!--in the gymnasium of the Patroklischule, 27 Schonekindstrasse, Soest.

We'll be happy no matter how many non-Soester fencers show up, one or 100.
We do know some folks will be coming from as far away as Schleswig-Holstein.
We expect other observers as well. If you're an American or a Brit, don't
worry about the language: Lessons and drills can be in either German or
English. That's right--three hours of teaching, practcing, drills before any
bouting; student observers, as part of the program, when not fencing
themselves,
will be expected to analyze and evaluate; all bouts will be judged by students
with supervision to develop analytical skills; all individual lessons will
be conducted with group observation and comment.

Participation is free. (Thank VHS.) All who attend will, however, be
expected to adhere to KFS standards (described at _www.soestfechten.de_
(http://www.soestfechten.de) ), its rules of engagement, and code of conduct.

For more details, contact us at _soestfechten@..._
(mailto:soestfechten@...) .

We're also happy to report that the first KFS/VHS beginning foil class,
which met in September, drew an initial night's attendance of 30. The
enrollment
was divided into two sections. Of that number 21 are continuing the KFS
two-year foil curriculum after successfully passing the requirements of Rank 3
of that program of study. A majority will own their own equipment. We
anticipate that by the end of the spring term we will have the largest
organized
classical or traditional fencing program in Germany.

By later this January, we hope to have revised our website to offer those
interested a view of our program in action, and we'll be delighted to learn from
your comments, suggestions, and criticism. Oh! Our research and essay
page is always open to submissions. The revised site will have an essay by
Walter Green on where the next generation of fencing teachers will come from,
and
a review of the Kirby-Martinez edition of Angelo by lil' ol' me.

KFS has also begun to expand its community outreach program from the VHS
classes, planning fencing demonstrations in public venues such as local parks,
in other institutions, and businesses. Tentative planning has begun on
accompanying educational tours of Eastern Europe and beyond.

With our curriculum in place now, we also will be focussing on the model
curriculum and business plans to make fencing programs self-sustaining,
maintain
high-quality fencing education, and underwrite outreach not only in Germany
but to other groups on the Continent.

A major concern is to make traditional or classical fencing succeed within
the European regulatory environment, and we anticipate being able to offer
organizational standards for certification for which our curriculum is a pilot
program. I anticipate news from the US soon with respect to a project on
these lines. Currently, our technical and safety standards are I suspect the
highest around (we already examine and certify specified levels of
accomplishment). We have functioned quite well as a "working group" of
affilated-interest
individuals and with institutional support, but if we want to expand, we must
pay very close attention to administration and risk management as well as
enjoying our fencing and learning.

Besides, we also hope our planning models will be useful to others; we won't
be touting them as doctrine, but instead as possible ways to develop. For
instance, our focus on beginning foil is the foundation on which everything
else down the road will be built, and we do expect visitors to meet our
standards with foil before using epee or sabre here. This isn't "doctrine,"
it's
not being fussy, it's good planning for us, "outcome oriented," looking five
years, say, down the road; others may disagree with that approach and even
allow beginners to whack with sabre or poke with epee because it's more
exciting.
Others may offer a cafeteria of weapons and styles. That's okay, but: Not
here. Newcomers no matter how experienced will have to pull out foils and
use'em before displaying epee and sabre.

Others may be uncomfortable with recruiting community support, and they're
right to be, since that requires some non-fencing time and skills acquired by
often bitter experience in business and in what in the US is referred to as
"the non-profit sector." Doing all that without compromises ain't easy. We
intend to make our experiences--good and bad--available to all hoping they'll
be useful. Initial meetings with a view to corporate sponsorships have
already taken place. Despite my taking a very hard line on ethos, technical
issues, training standards, which is to say insisting on absolute autonomy, and
doing so in a non-English-speaking enviroment--all of which means selling
deferred outcomes, hard even in the US and Britain--we're getting positive
signals. Clue: don't be shy and never forget to ask for the money, and have
numbers
on paper. It helps to have designed demonstration programs for recruitment,
too. Every "no" merely saves wasting time. We'll make mistakes, take our
lumps, and still share our difficulties openly.

A couple of years ago I wrote in FQM that continental Europe would be the
place that--after a lot of hard work--traditional or classical fencing could be
established as a flourishing movement. It's too early to claim I was right,
but we're off to a good start.

Fingers crossed,

Bill Leckie
Klassisches Fechten Soest
_flanconade@..._ (mailto:flanconade@...)
_soestfechten@..._ (mailto:soestfechten@...)




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