And Mark Wheeler! He was at the Senior C and Higher tournament as well, and he
came in first in that tournament, and first in the youth tournament, and first
in the women's epee tournament, and I'll be changing all the results to reflect
these new findings, which I just made up to assuage the massive guilt I feel for
having left him out of the listing.

Hi everyone!

It's Bay Cup news once again, and let me tell you, there's lots to be excited about this season already! And since, according to Hollywood, the world's going to end in 2012, I guess I'd better write about it before 2014, my previous deadline.

At the Bay Cup held at our own beloved gym on October 4^th, we hosted three tournaments (yes, we did) – the Junior Men's epee (which I couldn't figure out what to call – Junior Men? U20? That sounds like a submarine), the Senior Women's epee, and the Senior C and Higher epee. In the submarine tournament, Matthias Philippine took 3^rd (b-a-r-e-l-y missing out on 2^nd or 1^st by only one touch – the dreaded 14-15 bout!) out of 24 to earn his D09, Elani "Ferrari" Ferri came in 8^th to earn his E09, and  Thibault Philippine (who already has his D09, thank you very much) came in 11^th.

Senior Women's epee saw Juliette Flores take 2^nd out of 16, even though she was sicker than I was (I saw this tournament through a haze – it may be the case that some things I'm reporting didn't actually happen) and Sharon Parker, our beloved and intrepid Veteran Woman, came in 14^th.

Then there's Senior C and Higher, which was a huge tournament, with 34 people. I mean, that's a lot of people. And here, Keith "Baron Von" Lichtenstein (anybody seen A Knight's Tale?) took first, Mehmet "Say It If You Can" Tepedelenlioglu took second (in a daring fight to the death with Keith, but minus barnyard sounds), Mike Slater took 13^th, with another heartbreaking 14-15 bout (ooohhhh, the agony!) John McGrew took 21^st – you know, have you ever fenced John, and he's so nice, and such a gentleman, and then you get on the strip, and that glint comes into his eye, and he's got this counter 6 that feels like you've been hit by a train, and then you're looking back on a bout you've just lost. Anyway, Kyle Yamasaki came in 24^th, and here's another really nice guy who will kick your butt and make you feel good about it. Phil Gerring came in 28^th (did I tell you I beat him in a bout once? I don't think he let me win. Really. Ha ha.), Juliette "Lewis" Flores came in 30^th (did I mention she was sick and had already fenced one whole tournament?) and Andrew Davis came in 32^nd (and who the heck doesn't love Andy? Honest to Pete. Not to mention his car.).  

And now it's time it's the 15 and under set – at the Y14 tournament on October 25^th (not so long ago . . .) Thibault Philippine came in 1^st and Matthias Philippine came in 3^rd, Julien Sat-Vollhardt came in 10^th, and Mason Holmes, who has been fencing all of three months, came in 16^th! And in the Y12, Julian Sat-Vollhardt came in 2^nd out of 9! Woo hoo, Julian! And Gabriel Sable was 6^th! Awsome, you guys! The 15 and under set get a lot of exclamation points.

And that's the way it is, this Saturday morning, November 21, 2009, at approximately 9:51:47. And as I'm cutting and pasting this from Word, let's all count up the alien punctuation marks together. A good day to you all.

i stole someone's Blue Gauntlet glove last night.  (sorry!)  i'll bring it to
class tomorrow.

: )

Alright, it's that time again, that time when we all get together sans weapons and see what we look like when we're not soaked through with sweat.

That's right

Party at East Bay Fencers Gym

On October 30^th

From 6:30 until the last of us is dragged out

Come on down, bring a dish

and/or something to drink

and let's have a blast.

And let's see if my font choice and spacing make it through. Miracles do happen.

Hi all!

Just got an email about the Dick Berry Invitational . . . I'd tell you the
starting times, but they are in neither the flier nor the email, so I'm assuming
that when you sign up on AskFRED, the times are listed there.

Happy fencing!

Dick Berry Invitational
November 15
Senior Mixed Epee
Senior Mixed Foil

Upper Hickey Gym on the UCD Campus
Register through askFRED.net

Medals Awarded to Top 4 Finishers
$20 per event
$30 per event @ the door

Used Fencing Gear Sale
Bring your old working gear. We can sell it for you at our booth @ %25 of the
sold price. All sales are "as is" and very final.

I know, I know, some of you thought you'd never hear from me again, or believed the rumors that I'd skipped the continent to live in Bora Bora, but indeed, I'm still alive. At least last time I checked. :)

But honestly, how could I stay in the witness protection program when there's such good news about the Bay Cup season last season and the Summer Nationals?

We had finishers in the top three in almost every age group in the Bay Cup! Here are the final standings:

In Senior C and Higher, Keith Lichten took top honors and Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu was hot on his heels in second. Juiette Flores took first in Senior All Women's Epee and Sharon took third in Veterans Women's Epee. In Veterans All Mixed Epee, Mark Wheeler took first, Mike Albrecht took third, and Jonathan Jefferies took eighth. And stay away from Patrick Wang, unless you want to spontaneously combust! He took second in the Senior C and Lower Mixed Epee.

And in an update on WORLD DOMINATION, can we just talk about Thibault and Matthias Philippine? I couldn't even sneak into their headquarters to get an interview there were so many fans pressed up against the gates. Not only did Matthias take first in Youth 14 All Boy's Epee and Thibault take second, they even shared, and Thibault took first in Youth 12 All Boy's Epee and Matthias took second. Such well-mannered young men, they deserve all the adulation they've been receiving.

And on to Summer Nationals (really! Remember them?) and we're back to Thibault and Matthias again, who were in both Y12 and Y14, proving that you can never, ever fence too much during one tournament. I think their record is three tournaments in one day, after which they were carried to their car. But at Summer Nationals, out of 116 competitors in Y12, Thibault was second and Matthias was nineteenth. In Y14, out of 162, Thibault was 73^rd and Matthias was 119^th. That's fantastic, guys! I think they were still carried out to their car, though.

And then there's Keith and Mehmet again! In Div I Men's Epee, Keith took 17^th out of 56 competitors and Mehmet took 33^rd. I think they're the ones who carried Matthias and Thibault out.

In Div II Men's Epee (do I have to keep saying that or do we all know that we're epeeists and not foilists or saberists?), our own Mike Slater (not the one with the radio show, but the one with a Ph.D. in Chemistry) (What?) (No, I can't remember which type of Chemistry. This is what I know about Chemistry – if you pour liquid nitrogen on your notes, you can hit them with a hammer and break them. This is a cool thing to do.) Anyway, Mike came in 22^nd out of 70 entrants and Cameron Parker, who is now fencing up a storm at CSU Chico, came in 38^th in Div II and 9^th out of 70 in Div III! Whoo hoo, guys!

But wait! We're not done.

In Vet 50, Mark Wheeler took 5^th and Michael Albrecht took 10^th out of 47 entrants and Sharon Parker took 17^th out of 28 women! And in Vet 60, John McGrew came in 14^th out of 33 and Barry "Rocky Balboa" Leonardini came in 33^rd. And I give great credit to these folks for traveling so far to take part in these tournaments, and especially for traveling to Texas in July. That alone should get them a medal.

So overall, a great, great showing in Bay Cup and Nationals, and I'm hoping to write up this year's tournaments sometime in 2014.

Hi everybody!

Here is the new Fall schedule . . . check it out and come on down! And let's
cross our fingers that the formatting holds! :)



FALL CLASS SCHEDULE

Monday

10:00am-2:00pm  private lessons by request
6:15pm-7:30pm  beginning epee class

Tuesday

10:00am-2:00pm  private lessons by request
6:30pm-7:30pm  private lessons by request
7:30pm-8:00pm  advance physical conditioning
8:00pm-10:00pm  advanced epee

Wednesday

9:00am-2:00pm  private lessons by request
6:00pm-7:00pm  youth foil class (bouting)
7:00pm-8:00pm  adult foil class

Thursday

10:00am-2:00pm  private lessons by request
6:30pm-7:30pm  private lessons by request
7:30pm-8:00pm  advance physical conditioning
8:00pm-10:00pm  advanced epee

Friday

9:00am-2:00pm  private lessons by request
6:00pm-7:00pm  youth foil class
7:00pm-8:00pm  foil open floor bouting
7:00pm-8:00pm  private lessons by request

Saturday

10:00am-11:00am        advanced foil youth class
11:15am-12:15pm        beginning foil youth class
12:15pm-1:15pm  beginning foil class
1:15pm-4:00pm  conditioning epee open floor bouting and lessons

This schedule start September 1, 2009

Hi everyone!

For the first time, Abdul (drum roll please) is going to take a much-earned
vacation!

Therefore, the gym will be closed from Monday, July 13th, to Friday, July 17th.

We will reopen for youth classes on Saturday, July 18th, but adult foil and epee
classes will not resume until Monday, July 20th.

Have a great vacation, Abdul, and we'll all be here, ready to stab each other,
when you get back!

Hi everyone!

We'll be closed this Saturday, July 4th.

For any youths who are signed up for only Saturday classes, please come to class
next Friday, July 10, instead.

If this really doesn't work, please see Abdul to schedule another day.

Thanks and happy Pyromaniac I mean Independence Day!

Hello all,
The division needs 4 more representatives for the
USFA Congress July 5 at the Summer Nationals. Work
consists of attending a meeting that morning. Have
to be a member of the USFA and 18 or older. If you
will be there please let myself or
"chloesoroquere@..." <chloesoroquere@...>
know this evening.

Thanks
Jonathan Jefferies

And welcome back to Fencing Today, fencing fans! It was a lovely 75 degrees here in downtown Oakland, and we were at the East Bay Fencers Gym for today's Open Women's Epee and Senior C and Higher Mixed Epee tournaments.

As you know, these are Bay Cup events, and the last in the series for this season, at that. The turnout was great and we were well-represented. Joining the lineup today were Juliette Flores and Sharon Parker in the Women's tournament, and Keith Lichten, Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu, Mike Slater, Jonathan Jeffries, and John McGrew in the Senior C and Higher.

Joining them on the line were our refs, Jim Liebich, Kyle (Mmnmmn), Susan Powell, Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu, Beau Mitchum, and, once more in a pinch, Mike Slater! Thanks, y'all. You are a pleasure to work with and make this announcer's job so much easier.

Well, we started the day with the youth women's epee (notice this is the first time I've mentioned this one!), and what an exciting tournament it was! Yes, we were literally standing at the door in excitement (except for Mehmet, who was lying on a bench), wondering if more than one youth woman was going to show up! But we moved quickly, and by 10:15, we declared her the winner and gave her the gold medal she fought so long and hard for. We can't be sure here in the announcer's booth, but we think she had tears in her eyes. It was a touching moment.

But moving right along, as we do here at Fencing Today, we quickly started the Open Women's tournament, and wiped our forehead, as there were 13 women present. Whew! This was a very quiet tournament, with not much sound, which is generally what "quiet" means. We are women here in the announcer's booth, and we're not sure, but we think it was quieter because this tournament was . . . all women. Not that women are generally more quiet than men. Except that we are.

Anyway, while quiet, it was also very exciting, and when the dust settled (I said we were quiet, not that we couldn't kick some serious a . . . oh! There's the FCC! . . . kick some serious tail), Juliette Flores came in second and Sharon Parker came in twelfth!

While the women were busy fighting to the death, the men arrived, and then it was very noisy. Not that men are noisier than women! Except that they are. And then we here in the announcer's booth decided to start the C and Higher tournament because, well, heck, everyone was there.

We in the announcer's booth saw some things today in the C and Higher we have never seen before in a fencing tournament. We saw fencers charging down the strip at top speed at one another (very exciting!). We saw fencers actually doing that weird around-the-back-of-the-head touch that we thought was on the wall just as a very strange fencing joke (very educational!). We saw fencers making barnyard animal sounds at one another (very hilarious!).

And we saw some excellent fencing, but we didn't see anyone make six touches in six seconds, and, frankly, we were disappointed, because we had watched a youtube video before the tournaments began (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqB8mN_05aI) and Kolobkov did just that in the last six seconds of Challenge Bernadott 2008 Semi-Finals.
 
But we were highly impressed at the final bout between, go ahead and guess, you'll never guess, not in a million years, oh, alright, I'll tell you, between Mehmet and Keith. Yes, these two fencers displayed an amazing ability to bob up and down. We cannot truly convey to you in the listening audience how they continued to bob up as well as down. At the end of the first period, the score was one to one, and that was a double touch.

And this is where the barnyard animal sounds came in.

But then, in a very exciting second period, Mehmet stepped off the strip!

We here at Fencing Today helpfully reminded him that Kolobkov had made six touches in six seconds at the Challenge Bernadott 2008 Semi-Finals.

In the end, though, Keith emerged victorious, with a final score of 15 to (mmnmm). We think this may have been a direct result of the barnyard sounds from earlier in the bout.

However, Mike Slater stepped in to called that bout! And the sweat was just dripping down his face, listeners! Oh, the tension, the stress in his voice as he called "Halt. Off-strip." when Mehmet stepped off! It was truly a moment to remember. Or several, now that we think of it. "Ground is here." It is indeed, listeners. It is indeed.

At the end of the day, Keith was first, Mehmet second, Mike Slater was sixth and earned his C09 (yay!), Jonathan Jefferies came in seventeenth, and John McGrew came in twenty-fourth.

And this has been your last installment of Fencing Today, until such time as another tournament happens, which will be Summer Nationals. We in the announcer's booth wish to extend our thanks to all and sundry who have made running these tournaments so very, very wonderful.

And now we are going to eat dinner.

Hi everyone!

Well, it seems as if practically everyone in the gym is headed to Texas for the
Summer Nationals to take part in the epee events . . .

And I Give You:

Y12: Matthias and Thibault Philippine

Y14: Matthias and Thibault Philippine

Div I: Keith Lichten, Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu

Div II: Cameron Parker, Michael Slater, Patrick Wang

Div III: Cameron Parker, Patrick Wang

Veteran's 40: Michael Albrecht

Veteran's 50: Michael Albrecht (not sure how he's pulling off being in both
categories, but more power to him), Sharon Parker, Mark Wheeler

Veteran's 60: Barry Leonardini, John McGrew

Junior Men's Epee Team: Andrew Brewer, Elani Ferri, Cameron Parker

Senior Men's Epee Team: Michael Albrecht, Keith Lichten, Cameron Parker, Mehmet
Tepedelenlioglu

We'll send you off with our best thoughts and cheer you on to the finish!

We had quite a fair showing at the NAC in Portland, Oregon. Six of our fencers made the trip: Phil Hedges, Keith Lichten, John McGrew, Matthias and Thibault Philippine, and Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu.

Out of 164 fencers in the Div I tournament, Keith placed 7^th, Mehmet 18^th, Phil 24^th, and John 163^rd. To quote Mehmet: "Oh, and by the way, congrats to Keith for making the top 8. I couldn't watch him until he fenced Pryor, and he was almost toying with him. It was impressive." Congratulations to all you guys!

Matthias and Thibault fenced first in the Y12 at the NAC. Out of 43 fencers, Matthias placed 11^th and Thibault 19^th. Then, in the Y14 category, which is a tough category, Thibault finished 7^th and Matthias finished 65^th out of 85 fencers! They also swept up  in the Division SNQ, with Thibault finishing 3^rd in the U16 and Matthias finishing 2^nd in the Y14, which means they both now qualify for Summer Nationals. In the Bay Cup Y12 this past Sunday, Thibault was first and Matthias was second (meaning, once again, like Keith and Mehmet, they met each other in the finals. Oh, the humanity). Nice fencing, guys!

In other fencing news, we hosted a Bay Cup tournament at the gym last Sunday and EBFGers were out in force and taking no prisoners. In the Senior D and Lower Mixed Epee, Patrick Wang sailed through the pools and DEs, hardly breaking a sweat to finish 3^rd out of 24 fencers, earning his E09. Elani Ferri came in at 12^th, Robert Zerby finished 15^th, and Steven Fialkowski finished 24^th. It was great having so many of our fencers in this tournament!

In the Senior C and Higher tournament, we had a true battle to the finish. Mehmet and Keith met in the semi-finals, and it was tooth and nail to the bitter end, with Mehmet victorious, 15-14. There were beautiful touches on both sides and great hilarity to be had. For instance, Interesting Mehmet Fact: He is not swearing in Turkish when he yells (much to my disappointment). He's just yelling gibberish. But, Interesting Keith Fact: He is swearing in Turkish during bouts, but only in his head.

Mehmet went on to win the whole darn thing, defeating Kyle Yamasaki 15-13 in the final bout, with much gibberish occurring, and earning his A09. Keith tied for 3^rd out of 28 fencers, Michael Albrecht came in 9^th, Michael Slater came in 12^th, Jonathan Jeffries came in 16^th, Mark Wheeler came in 17^th (after meeting Jonathan in the first round of DEs – which pairing made me laugh out loud), Cameron Parker came in 23^rd, Andrew Davis came in 25^th (I told you there were a lot of us there!), Juliette Flores came in 26^th, and John McGrew came in 28^th.

A huge thank-you to our refs: Jim Liebich (If you wears the suit, you calls the final bouts), Susan Powell, Sharon Parker, Suzanne Bloomer (a very good and hilarious ref, and God help you if you don't come right up when she calls your name), Mike Slater (yes, even after he fenced in the SCHXE, and thank you very much for that, Mike), Beau Mitchum, Juliette Flores, and I just know I'm forgetting someone, darn it, but thank you, too.

Sol,

Thanks for e-mail. Glad to hear that you are on track to fencing and the
rehab is going well.

I had my first physical therapy this morning so I guess that I am track to
recovery as well.

Was it surgery on your knee?

Maybe I will forget my bad habits too. Haha. I don't know about that one.

Hope you can get out and fence soon.

-Todd

>  Todd,
> Glad to hear your surgery went well.  I had mine a couple of months ago
> and it went well too (cartilage only, not ligament).  I have left over
> pain pills if you need 'em. ;-)   I'm in physical therapy stage now and
> hoping to be back fencing in a month.  I look forward to fencing you
> (and everybody else!) again.
> It's been 7 months for me and I've taken to drooling over pictures in
> Fencing magazine.
> The good news is that I've forgotten all my old bad habits, so I'm ready
> to go for my A rating ....!
>
> See everyone soon
> Sol
>
> --- In eastbayfencers@yahoogroups.com, todd_russell@... wrote:
>>
>> Hey Gym,
>>
>> I wanted to let everyone know that I had surgery today and I am back
> safe
>> at home. I believe the surgery went well. Turns out that my ligament
>> (MPFL) was in good enough shape that I didn't need a donor (they
> proposed
>> using a donor hamstring to replace it).
>>
>> Anyways, I will try to swing by in a few weeks when I off the pain
>> medicine and on the road to recovery.
>>
>> Unfortunately they were talking about 4-6 months before I can fence
> again.
>>
>> I hope that everyone is doing well and everyone does well at summer
>> nationals.
>>
>> Also, whoever sees Abdul first please let him know. I will give a call
>> tomorrow.
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Todd
>>
>
>
>

Thanks Jim,

So far so good.

-Todd

> Best of luck to you in your recovery, Todd. I hope it is swift.
>
> Jim
>
> On May 28, 2009, at 10:59 PM, todd_russell@... wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Hey Gym,
>>
>> I wanted to let everyone know that I had surgery today and I am
>> back safe
>> at home. I believe the surgery went well. Turns out that my ligament
>> (MPFL) was in good enough shape that I didn't need a donor (they
>> proposed
>> using a donor hamstring to replace it).
>>
>> Anyways, I will try to swing by in a few weeks when I off the pain
>> medicine and on the road to recovery.
>>
>> Unfortunately they were talking about 4-6 months before I can fence
>> again.
>>
>> I hope that everyone is doing well and everyone does well at summer
>> nationals.
>>
>> Also, whoever sees Abdul first please let him know. I will give a call
>> tomorrow.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Todd
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Todd,
Glad to hear your surgery went well.  I had mine a couple of months ago
and it went well too (cartilage only, not ligament).  I have left over
pain pills if you need 'em. ;-)   I'm in physical therapy stage now and
hoping to be back fencing in a month.  I look forward to fencing you
(and everybody else!) again.
It's been 7 months for me and I've taken to drooling over pictures in
Fencing magazine.
The good news is that I've forgotten all my old bad habits, so I'm ready
to go for my A rating ....!

See everyone soon
Sol

--- In eastbayfencers@yahoogroups.com, todd_russell@... wrote:
>
> Hey Gym,
>
> I wanted to let everyone know that I had surgery today and I am back
safe
> at home. I believe the surgery went well. Turns out that my ligament
> (MPFL) was in good enough shape that I didn't need a donor (they
proposed
> using a donor hamstring to replace it).
>
> Anyways, I will try to swing by in a few weeks when I off the pain
> medicine and on the road to recovery.
>
> Unfortunately they were talking about 4-6 months before I can fence
again.
>
> I hope that everyone is doing well and everyone does well at summer
> nationals.
>
> Also, whoever sees Abdul first please let him know. I will give a call
> tomorrow.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Todd
>

Hey Gym,

I wanted to let everyone know that I had surgery today and I am back safe
at home. I believe the surgery went well. Turns out that my ligament
(MPFL) was in good enough shape that I didn't need a donor (they proposed
using a donor hamstring to replace it).

Anyways, I will try to swing by in a few weeks when I off the pain
medicine and on the road to recovery.

Unfortunately they were talking about 4-6 months before I can fence again.

I hope that everyone is doing well and everyone does well at summer
nationals.

Also, whoever sees Abdul first please let him know. I will give a call
tomorrow.


Thanks,

Todd

----- Original Message -----

From: mike slater

To: eastbayfencers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 1:17 PM

Subject: Re: [eastbayfencers] My jacket

yea, it's there, but we were too afraid to touch it to hang it up ;)

Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu wrote:
>
>
> Last night, I think I forgot my jacket and a t-shirt at the club. Can
> someone confirm that it is there and hang it somewhere to dry? The
> t-shirt is not important.
>
>

yea, it's there, but we were too afraid to touch it to hang it up ;)

Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu wrote:
>
>
> Last night, I think I forgot my jacket and a t-shirt at the club. Can
> someone confirm that it is there and hang it somewhere to dry? The
> t-shirt is not important.
>
>

Today, Friday May 22nd is the last day to register for the Summer Nationals at
the regular entry fee!

Michael Albrecht HAUS architecture + interiors 740 Norvell Street El Cerrito, CA
94530 tel:     510.526.9191 fax:    510.291.2293 cell:    510.685.1860 email:  
michael@... web:     www.hausdesign.us

Hi all!

Here's some info about a tournament in Davis in June . . .

DFA June Open
June 6 – 7

Register through askFRED. $20 per event with pre-registration, $25 without.

Tournament format will be a round of pools with 100% promotion to the round of
direct elimination.  Medals awarded to top 4 finishers.

Events
June 6:
Y14 Mixed Epee – 12:00pm

June 7:
Open Mixed Foil – 10:00am
Open Mixed Epee – 2:30pm

Location
Davis Fencing Academy
2121 2nd St Davis CA

If you are interested in being a director for our event please email
patrick@...