Hi everybody!

This is the new fencing store in town. As we all know, there aren't very many of them, and it's great that we now have one on this side of the bay! They're having an open house (see flier below) and have invited everyone from EBFG to come on down and check them out. Bring faulty weapons and equipment!

Please RSVP to the email address below if you think you can make it, so they know how much pizza to get!

Cheers - 

Open House for East Bay Fencers Gym!

Saturday, May 16th

4 p.m. To 6 p.m.

Please come and visit us at our brand spankin' new retail store!

We'll have discounts on selected items, a free blade-wiring clinic, and free equipment checks, so bring your badly behaving swords, cords, and masks.

We'll have fencing videos playing on the big screen and some pizza for gnoshing.  Your hosts Cole Harkness and Will Brown have over 25 years of combined professional armory experience. They know what works and what doesn't. Come on by!

Victory Fencing Gear

205 Broadway

Millbrae, CA 94030

650-552-9994

RSVP orders@...

www.victoryfencinggear.com

4^th Annual *The Jackalope Triple Crown 3 Weapon Tournament*

* *

*June 6^th , 2009*

* *

Location: Reno Silverblades Fencing Club, Reno, NV





*Saber @ 8:00am           Foil @ 10:30am           Epee @ 1:00pm*

* *

¡P       *Pre-registration for _The Jackalope Triple Crown_ will be on
www.askfred.net <http://www.askfred.net/> and will close May 17^th ,
2009.  Registration at the door will be an _additional $20_ for each
event. *

*Sign up NOW!*

¡P       *Cost for each event is $20 and if you register for all three
you will receive a complimentary Jackalope Tournament T-shirt.*

¡P       The Jackalope is an individual (one weapon) tournament as well
as a 3 weapon tournament.  Any fencer may sign up to fence up to three
weapons.   We encourage you to fence all three, it’s more fun and more
fencingJ

¡P       Individual medals will be awarded for each event and a handmade
special and unique trophy will be awarded to the victor with the best
results across all three weapons.

Jackalope Tournament T-shirts may be purchased at the Venue for $12 the
day of the Tournament or pre-ordered on askfred.net <http://askfred.net>
when you register.



__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
signature database 4029 (20090422) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com <http://www.eset.com>

Hi everybody!

Well, my "Technicolor" message didn't work out so well. I had written each paragraph in a different color which completely failed to transfer once I sent the message out. Rrr.

But now I have good news! It has come to our attention that several parents would like to work out carpooling arrangements. So I'm inviting anyone who would like to form carpools to email me at mrstrogers@... (put "carpooling" in the subject line) and I'll compile a list of all interested parents. 

I don't feel comfortable sharing everyone's email over this public forum, so once I have the list, I'll send out a regular email that lists all the parents interested and their emails, and then you can get in touch with each other directly. (It would be great to have responses by Wednesday, May 6, so I could send the list out before the Saturday classes.)

Also, for our youth who are beginning to compete and for those who are close to it, now is the time to begin scheduling individual lessons with Abdul. Individual lessons focus on each fencer's strengths and weaknesses in a way that cannot occur during a group lesson, and are important for progress in becoming a truly competitive fencer (that would be someone who is going to tournaments).

Lessons also offer a new level of physical fitness for a fencer – one fifteen- to twenty-minute lesson can be as much of a workout as two or more classes. This, also, is important for tournaments, where it is often not necessarily the best fencer who wins a bout, but the least-fatigued - especially during the Direct Elimination, 15-touch bouts.

There are several different times and days Maestro Abdul has available, so please see him directly to see if he would recommend lessons and to make a schedule.

Happy fencing!

And now we bring you the Boardwalk Open, in Glorious Technicolor!

We had twelve (!) fencers participate at the Boardwalk this year. This is one of those tournaments that pull people from far and wide, with the result that there were 51 fencers in the Mixed Epee event. That's a whole lot of fencing going on.

Keith Lichten came in first; Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu came in second; Michael Albrecht came in 13^th; Cameron, who now is a C09 after the last PCC event, came in 23^rd; Andy Davis came in 33^rd; Matthias Philippine came in 36^th; Juliette Flores came in 37^th; John McGrew came in 43^rd; Thibault Philippine came in 44^th; Barry Leonardini came in 46^th, and Sharon Parker came in 51^st. *takes huge breath*

Kevin Lo came in 38^th out of 40 in Mixed Foil.

Juliette came in 3^rd and Sharon came in 19^th out of 19 in Women's Epee.

Jonathan Jeffries came in 11^th, Michael came in 12^th, Barry came in 18^th, and Sharon (in her third tournament!) came in 19^th out of 24 in the Veteran's Mixed Epee.

 Congratulations, East Bay Fencers!

Summer Camps and Epee Camp

Hello everyone!

It's time to think about Fencing Summer Camps! We are offering summer camps for all youth fencers ages 8 to 14. There will be three camps:

June Fencing Camp

16^th through 18^th

9:30 to 11:30

July Fencing Camp

14^th through 16^th

9:30 to 11:30

August Fencing Camp

11^th through 13^th

9:30 to 11:30

Pick up forms at the gym or email Theresa at mrstrogers@... and I'll send them directly to you.

We will also host an Epee Camp for adult fencers:

Open Adult Epee Camp

June 26^th through 28^th

26^th: 7:30 to 10pm

27^th: 3 to 6pm

28^th: 11 to 2pm

Happy Fencing!

Can you guys send me your flight info?

. . . and Sharon Parker and Cameron Parker will be joining the aforementioned group at the PCCs this weekend . . .

Good luck to you all!

And now the party -

If you are not going to the PCCs (and, heck, even if you are going to the PCCs, but will be in town), then come on down to the gym on Saturday after epee (so around 3:30)! We'll be having pizzas and, if I had to imagine, something to drink, and hanging out and celebrating three birthdays -

Abdul, who will be 12,

Frank, who will be 137 (doesn't he look nice?)

and Andy, who will be born sometime that day just for the event.

See you there!

. . . and Matthias and Thibault were also in Y12, where they came in 8th and 9th
out of 27. And here I thought they were just in Y14, but I should know by now
that they're always doing more than one tournament at a time. I'm waiting for
them to do three or four at a time and just fence coninuously for five or six
hours. Would that make them tired? Probably not.

And in PCC news, Michael Albrecht, Keith Lichten, John McGrew, and Mehmet
Tepedelenlioglu (yes, I spelled that from memory, Mehmet) are headed out this
weekend to kick some butt and take some names! Wait - that's not a very good
attitude. They're going out to fence really well and have a great time! Have a
great time, guys.

A big congratulations to all our youth fencers who took place in the Paul Pesthy Memorial SYC tournament this past weekend!

We had Matias Arizmendi, Tiernan O'Neill, and Darius Roffe in the Y10 Foil category, and Thibault and Matthias Philippine in the Y14 Epee category.

First of all, when Maestro Abdul called me to tell me about the tournament, he was so excited and so proud of all the fencers. He said it was a great tournament and that the kids really had a good time. He was really happy to see the families of our fencers there to cheer them on! It sounds like it was a really great time.

In the Y10 Foil category, there were 34 fencers (this is a lot - usually, there are about 10-15). From this group, Darius came in 22nd, Matias came in 28th, and Tiernan came in 29th. Each one of them won at least one bout in their pools, also. Congratulations, you guys, on your first tournament!

If you'd like to look at the results and the pools, go here: http://www.goldengatefencingfoundation.org/events/WesternSYC2009/Results/Y10MF.htm

And now to the Philippines, who, I swear, it wouldn't be a tournament if they didn't have to fence each other at some point, which they did, again. Good grief.

There were 57 (57!) competitors in this tournament and Y14 is a tough crowd. There are Bs and Cs in this bracket. Some of these kids fence Senior tournaments. I know – I've run tournaments with them. They're good.

So after Matthias and Thibault had the obligatory bout together, Thibault came in 8^th and earned his Eo9! Finally! Congratulations! (According to many of us, this should have happened a long time ago. Same with Matthias.) Matthias came in a respectable 32^nd. Good job, guys! Now get back to work. :D

If anyone would like to see the results and the pools, look here: http://www.goldengatefencingfoundation.org/events/WesternSYC2009/Results/Y14ME.htm

Cheers!

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to notify all interested parties that I will run a Refereeing
Seminar on Sunday, April 26, 2009 in Coastside Academy of Fencing at
3201 Balboa St., San Francisco, CA. It will start at 10 AM and conclude
around 6 PM. All participants should familiarize themselves with the
current USFA Rulebook (posted on USFA website). After the seminar
willing participants could write a written test that is necessary to
pass in order to qualify for practical exam. That test could also be
written at another time within 12 months from the seminar.
The cost of the seminar is $80 per person (cost of the written test is
included). I would appreciate posting this info on the Bay Cup site and
also on the Divisional websites.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me directly.
Regards,

Tomek Amborski
USFA Referee Course instructor.

Oh, thank goodness, Mehmet saves the day! I swear, I was all over that site,
trying to find that handbook. I think "far from intuitive" is generous. :)

No need to reformat! Rejoicing commences!

Hello all!

Here is the latest update on the SYC happening in San Jose . . . thanks,
Jonathan, for forwarding it to me!

Dear All,

We want to remind you that Mar 5 the last day to register for Paul
Pesthy Memorial SYC in San Jose at regular fees (USFA policy requires
triple fees after that date). You can register online or via regular
mail – for details please visit the tournament web site at:

http://GoldenGateFencingFoundation.org/SYC

Sincerely,
                      Paul Pesthy Memorial SYC team


Also - I have figured out why the formatting was so wonky in the last post . . .
I can fix it and resend it soon, but not tonight, as it's already 11:21. :)

Stand by for formatting fixes for the birth years. *sigh*

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

From: Theresa Rogers

To: eastbayfencers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 10:40 PM

Subject: [eastbayfencers] Answers!

Hello parents!

First of all, yes, Max, Tiernan, Darius, and Mathias should be fencing foil.

Second, after all the inquiries, I researched the age requirements for the different categories at tournaments. This turned out to be much more difficult than I expected, as the USFA website is undergoing some sort of mutation and I couldn't get to the Athlete's Handbook, which has all these answers. Therefore, these are cribbed from other sources, but are accurate. And yes, Mehmet, you are correct. :)

Here is a description of SYC and RYC events:

The USFA has initiated a series of youth tournaments for the Y14, Y12, and Y10 age categories to provide more competitive opportunities for younger fencers.

Super Youth Circuit

Super Youth Circuit (SYC) events allow athletes a chance to earn national points. Fencers may participate in more than one SYC tournament, however, only the competition where the fencer earns the most points will be included in the point standings. These events are part of the qualification paths for both Summer Nationals and Youth 10 and 12 events at North American Cups.

Regional Youth Circuit

Regional Youth Circuit (RYC) tournaments are held throughout the season, similar to SYC events. There are no national points awarded, but participation in these competitions is required to qualify for both the Y10/Y12 competitions at Summer National Championships and Y10/Y12 events at North American Cups.

Next, an explanation of how old you need to be for the various age categories:

An important detail is what year the fencer is born, not how hold she is right now. It is a fencer's age on December 31st that the USFA counts, and everyone born in that year is the same age that day.

Because the Junior and Cadet season ends with Junior World Championships in the Spring, the age requirements after April reflect the upcoming season in those events. Thus the "Under 16" and "Under 19" events at Summer Nationals, which reflect the birth years of fencers who will be Cadet and Junior (respectively) in the upcoming season. These are the "first events" of the upcoming season for the purposes of our national points lists.

Here is the eligibility table from the Athlete's Handbook, for events this season (2008-9), before Summer Nationals:

Category	Junior	Cadet	Youth-14	Youth-12	Youth-10
Birth Years	1989-1995	1992-1995	1994-1997	1996-1999	1998-2001

Here is the eligibility table from the Athlete's Handbook, for events at this Summer Nationals, including qualifying events.:

Category	Under-19	Under-16	Youth-14	Youth-12	Youth-10
Birth Years	1990-1996	1993-1996	1994-1997	1996-1999	1998-2001

Here is my eligibility table for fencers 20 and under:

From August 1st through Junior Worlds Born in: Eligible for: 2002+ Nothing yet! 2001 Youth 10 2000 Youth 10 1999 Youth 10 Youth 12 1998 Youth 10 Youth 12 1997 Youth 12 Youth 14 1996 Youth 12 Youth 14 1995 Youth 14 Cadet Junior Senior 1994 Youth 14 Cadet Junior Senior 1993 Cadet Junior Senior 1992 Cadet Junior Senior 1991 Junior Senior 1990 Junior Senior 1989 Junior Senior 1988 and earlier Senior

After Junior Worlds through July 31st (e.g. at Summer Nationals): Born in: Eligible for: 2002+ Nothing yet! 2001 Youth 10 2000 Youth 10 1999 Youth 10 Youth 12 1998 Youth 10 Youth 12 1997 Youth 12 Youth 14 1996 Youth 12 Youth 14 Under 16 Under 19 1995 Youth 14 Under 16 Under 19 Senior 1994 Youth 14 Under 16 Under 19 Senior 1993 Under 16 Under 19 Senior 1992 Under 19 Senior 1991 Under 19 Senior 1990 Under 19 Senior 1989 and earlier Senior

This table is correct from August 1, 2008, to July 31, 2009. Add one to each year listed after that date, for the 2009-10 season.

In order to be eligible to compete in a Youth NAC, a fencer must first compete in a Regional Youth Circuit or a Super Regional Youth Circuit.

Once you have competed in a RYC or SRYC you can also compete in Youth events at Summer Nationals.

If you are fortunate enough to earn points at either a SRYC or the NAC, you can also fence up one age group, locally, regionally, and nationally. E.g, points in Youth 10 allow you to compete in Youth 12 even if you are not old enough. Points in Youth 12 allow you to compete in Youth 14 (even if you are only 7 or 8 years old).

Hope this helps!

Hello parents!

First of all, yes, Max, Tiernan, Darius, and Mathias should be fencing foil.

Second, after all the inquiries, I researched the age requirements for the different categories at tournaments. This turned out to be much more difficult than I expected, as the USFA website is undergoing some sort of mutation and I couldn't get to the Athlete's Handbook, which has all these answers. Therefore, these are cribbed from other sources, but are accurate. And yes, Mehmet, you are correct. :)

Here is a description of SYC and RYC events:

The USFA has initiated a series of youth tournaments for the Y14, Y12, and Y10 age categories to provide more competitive opportunities for younger fencers.

Super Youth Circuit

Super Youth Circuit (SYC) events allow athletes a chance to earn national points. Fencers may participate in more than one SYC tournament, however, only the competition where the fencer earns the most points will be included in the point standings. These events are part of the qualification paths for both Summer Nationals and Youth 10 and 12 events at North American Cups.

Regional Youth Circuit

Regional Youth Circuit (RYC) tournaments are held throughout the season, similar to SYC events. There are no national points awarded, but participation in these competitions is required to qualify for both the Y10/Y12 competitions at Summer National Championships and Y10/Y12 events at North American Cups.

Next, an explanation of how old you need to be for the various age categories:

An important detail is what year the fencer is born, not how hold she is right now. It is a fencer's age on December 31st that the USFA counts, and everyone born in that year is the same age that day.

Because the Junior and Cadet season ends with Junior World Championships in the Spring, the age requirements after April reflect the upcoming season in those events. Thus the "Under 16" and "Under 19" events at Summer Nationals, which reflect the birth years of fencers who will be Cadet and Junior (respectively) in the upcoming season. These are the "first events" of the upcoming season for the purposes of our national points lists.

Here is the eligibility table from the Athlete's Handbook, for events this season (2008-9), before Summer Nationals:

Here is the eligibility table from the Athlete's Handbook, for events at this Summer Nationals, including qualifying events.:

Here is my eligibility table for fencers 20 and under:

This table is correct from August 1, 2008, to July 31, 2009. Add one to each year listed after that date, for the 2009-10 season.

In order to be eligible to compete in a Youth NAC, a fencer must first compete in a Regional Youth Circuit or a Super Regional Youth Circuit.

Once you have competed in a RYC or SRYC you can also compete in Youth events at Summer Nationals.

If you are fortunate enough to earn points at either a SRYC or the NAC, you can also fence up one age group, locally, regionally, and nationally. E.g, points in Youth 10 allow you to compete in Youth 12 even if you are not old enough. Points in Youth 12 allow you to compete in Youth 14 (even if you are only 7 or 8 years old).

Hope this helps!

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

From: Nick J

To: eastbayfencers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 3:08 PM

Subject: [eastbayfencers] Youth Tournaments

Hi Theresa,
I'm I right to assume that that the y10 groups are for 10 and over? What would be the category for 8yr olds, or does it even exist? I just want to know so that I can figure out if any of these tournament notices ever apply to Z at all.
Thanks!
Nick Johnson

Hello everyone!

I know, I have about thirty tournaments to write up at this point,
and I'll catch up, I swear! But right now, here's information on the
Paul Pesthy Memorial SYC tournament in San Jose which, by the way,
will be the first tournament for Mathias Arizmendi, Tiernan O'Neill,
Max Cramer, and Darius Roffe! Good luck to you all!


The Paul Pesthy Memorial Super Youth Circuit tournament will be held
March 28-29, in San Jose, California.

The competitions on Saturday, March 29 are Youth 14 Epée, Youth 10
Epée, Youth 12 Foil, Youth 14 Sabre and Youth 10 Sabre. The
Competitions on Sunday, March 30 are Youth 12 Epée, Youth 14 Foil,
Youth 10 Foil and Youth 12 Sabre.

To avoid late fees, paper entries need to be postmarked by Thursday,
March 5 and online entries need to be completed by TUesday, March 10.

Complete information is available on the tournament website:

http://tinyurl.com/westernsyc>

We look forward to seeing your fencers at the tournament.


--
Midi Cox
Volunteer
Paul Pesthy Memorial Super Youth Circuit
Parkside Hall, San Jose Convention Center
March 28-29, 2009
<http://tinyurl.com/westernsyc>
(858) 731 0832

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't seen you all, and even sorrier that I can't fence.
The doc says I have a "serious multiple tears in the lateral
miniscus" of my knee.  I'm hoping that arthroscopic surgery can
patch it to some degree, but even with that I'll be out at least
another 2 months.

I'm trying to find a silver lining in all this - the doc said with
the pain I must be in, he's surprised I was even able to fence in
the Nationals.  So, I guess I have an excuse for how crappy I did.

But no matter how long it takes, or how many aspirins, I am
determined to follow thru on our Governator's words.... "I'LL BE
BACK"!

Look forward to seeing you all.

Sol

I will be gone whole of next week to AZ. This week, I also will take
off due to persistent neck issues. I will be back the 21st. If the
team event is on the 22nd somebody will have to post where and when
before I am back.

I got the 9th place in Linkmeyer. I was the 1st seed after the pools,
but it was downhill from there, as I had no desire to fence for some
reason. I almost lost my first bout, and then some kid who under
normal circumstances should have been easy, just killed me. Of well,
**** happens as they say.

Mehmet T.

ps. I am jogging everday, and doing 4000 situps, so Abdul, you can relax.

Folks:

The PCC's registration is posted.  Please forward this to your members
and friends.  See Ask Fred at the following link:

http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=7884
<http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=7884>

Thanks!

Gary M. Zeiss
Chair, Pacific Coast Section

Gary M. Zeiss
Chair, PCS Fencing

Well, I'm sorry for that double post. I wrote the first one and
Internet Explorer froze. I thought I lost the whole post (and it took
me about a half-hour to research and write), so I waited for my good
humor to return and re-wrote it. Anyway, looks like the first one
eventually went through. Ugh ugh ugh.

Hello parents!

This is a long posting, but I've had several parents email me with questions and I realized I'd better give a bit of info on how to sign up for tournaments that your youth fencer finds interesting.

Your first step should always be to speak to Abdul. He knows what fencers are likely to show up, if they would be a good mix for your fencer, and whether or not it's an appropriate tournament.

Next, you need to see if preregistration is necessary. If it's a Bay Cup tournament, it is required to preregister at least a week before the tournament. Most tournaments are listed on AskFRED.net now – they're quickly becoming the listing source for all tournaments and they do a great job. So here's how to find a tournament and preregister on AskFRED:

Go to www.askfred.net.

On the home page, click "more" on the top right of the box titled "Tournaments coming soon" (the first section you see there).

In the dashboard at the top, put "Bay Cup" into the "Tournament Name" box (or the name of your tournament) and click "Find Tournaments." (You can also enter the date mm/dd/yyyy in the "Date:" "is:" box if you just want to scan through what tournaments might be happening on a certain day.)

Scroll down to see the tournaments. To the left of the name, you'll see four little boxes - a check mark, a list, an "i," and a . . . um . . . bell? I don't know what that is. When you run your cursor over the check mark, it says "Preregister."

Click on the check mark.

Enter the last name of your youth fencer into the box and click "Go."

In the "Choose Yourself" box, click on the drop-down arrow and find your name. Then click "go" and follow the directions from there, making sure to click the box next to the tournament that you want to attend.

If you've never used AskFRED before, click "Create a New Fencer Record." Enter the info asked for. Our division is Northern California. At the bottom, click the box for the tournament you want to attend.

There may be some other question you need to answer, but it should go now to a "Thanks for preregistering" page, which you should print out and have with you if there are issues when you show up for the tournament.

The Bay Cup requires you to preregister for all their tournaments now, at least a week before the tournament. If you don't, there's a $10 "late fee" at the time of the tournament.

If your tournament is not listed on AskFRED, then please call the people running the tournament and ask what is required in terms of preregistration. Fencers are friendly people and they really do want you to come to their event. There are still plenty of tournaments where no prereg is required.

OK – fees:

Bay Cup events are $20 for the event, $10 for the Bay Cup fee (unless you are a Bay Cup member - $45 for the year for our youth fencers, or $80 per year if the youth fencer also wishes to fence in the Senior category).

Fees for other tournaments should be listed in the info about the tournament.

You'll need to be a USFA (United States Fencing Association) member to fence in any tournament. This is a yearly membership that runs from July to July and it costs $60. You can sign up when you show up at the tournament or sign up online before hand at www.usfencing.org/usfa/  and clicking on "Join or renew!" at the top of the left-hand blue column.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! And if anyone sees something I've left out, let me know.

By the way, when responding to a yahoogroup post, don't hit "reply to all." Just reply to the message itself or email me directly at mrstrogers@...

Thanks!

What follows is a quick review of tournament etiquette:

1. Whoever is called first in a bout goes to the director's right.

2. If you're "on deck" (next), be ready to go onto the strip the second the other bout is done so as not to make everyone wait.

3. When you're done, hand the plug to the next fencer. This is just a classy, nice thing to do - unless they're nowhere to be found. In that case, just put it back. (Never let it snap back to the reel! Horror!)

4. After checking weapons, return to the beginning line (back up to it - never turn your back on your adversaire; it's not polite) and salute your adversaire, the director, and the audience, in that order.

5. If the bout is tied before the last touch (4-4 or 14-14 or whatever), salute your adversaire and the director again before the bout begins again.

6. At the end of the bout, return to the beginning line, salute your adversaire, the director, and the audience, then go shake your adversaire's hand.

7. Then you can unplug and hand it to the next fencer.

8. Don't leave the strip area while the pools are happening. Bring your water, anything you want to eat, your extra weapons and body cord(s), everything, with you to the strip. Find somewhere unobtrusive (this is sometimes difficult) to put everything.

9. Bring your extra weapon(s) to the strip when you go up to fence so if one of yours breaks or fails, you can just pick it up and plug in so no one has to wait while you unplug . . . go find your weapon . . . etc., etc. :

10. Keep track of your scores during the pools so when you go to sign off on your pool record, you can check to see if it's accurate. There are sometimes mistakes - don't be afraid to say what you remember.

11. During your DE bouts, you cannot leave the strip at all. During breaks, you can go to the end of the strip, but you can't put your feet off of it. Put your water and snacks and weapons and what have you within easy reach, but not somewhere where you might step on them if the fighting moves back to the end of the strip. I usually put my stuff to the side (the opposite side from where the director is going to be walking up and down) at the end.

12. Bring a larger water bottle, unless you have someone you can hand it to to go fill it up. Since you can't leave during pools or DE bouts, if you run out of water, that sucks.

13. When you're done (i.e., if you are knocked out before the finals), you are free to go, but you don't have to. Sometimes it's fun to stick around and see who won, watch how they fence, etc. You'll probably run in to them in the future and that knowledge may help. Some people keep track of every bout, their score, who they fenced, how they got their touches, etc., so they can refer to these notes at every tournament. I don't do this, but I can see the benefit of it.