MUFG, I am always glad to hear of good news from SJC. We tend to be
pretty successful there, despite the enormous amount of competition
we face. However, Chris usually goes undefeated in his pools, so
it's no huge surprise. Allowing only 4 touches out of 5 bouts is
definately impressive though. I'm not too sure about the stats on
the guys Chris faced, but I try to learn as much as possible about
everybody just in case. Resources tend to be sparese at SJC, but
everyone works through it, but I think the fee should have been
waived for a consistant director.

One thing I see in Chris's post is that the score in his DE bouts
were tied most of the time. Since he smoked everyone in the pool
bouts, this is confusing. Chris should not have too much trouble
with DE bouts until the quarter or semi finals (unless he catches a
shark, although that happens frequently). Also, he has the freakin'
blitz attack which makes people paranoid after they're hit with it.
Either you see it and retreat FAST, or you duck and stop thrust. If
he sees your stop thrust forming, he'll counter-time or close out
quarte and hit with an opposition. Peter Pan attacks only work
against feints and false attacks. Very rare, is the false blitz
attack.

Bouts should be a relative landslide at the first few DE bouts,
because close scores get me nervous. I try to break ahead by at
least 3 or 4, then I relax and let my opponent try something out of
despiration. This tends to keep the score tipped in my favor until
15.

For the people who like to remise and dodge a riposte, there are two
ways to deal with it. If you see their attack in progress, I found
that the best way to counter it is to "beat parry" their attack so
you can line up the "riposte" almost immediately. It's enough to
throw their point away and give the blade clash that the director is
listening for.

If they're in the final stretch and are going to stumble forward
with the riposte, a retreat with a normal parry is the best option.
Just make the retreat quick so you can riposte and have room to
hit. If they shift out of the way, just keep the tip on if they
don't oppose it. Just don't miss. Or you could try the first as
a "feint", like Chris said, and then another retreat parry riposte.

The third bouts sounds like me. Retreat until pressed up against
the end of the strip. People are scary who can get barely out of
your distance, then launch a counter-offensive. If they parry with
distance or abscence of blade, remise like mad or recover forward.
Fleches also work if you're quick; close distance first. Or the
second option again is the feint. Chris tends to use this more
effectively than most people.

I do know some information on Lutke. He's insanely awesome. The
only reason he's not winning national competitions is because he
crumbles under a fencer who uses the flick without the march. Try
marching with feint and he'll fleche at you. Set up the flick and
he's in trouble. However, when the new rules go into play, this guy
is going to be one of the most feared people on the east coast.

He's the head coach of the Naval Academy in Maryland, so naturally
he's very competant physically and mentally. His main strength is
hitting you during a preparation. Before fencing, I always thought
I extended first during an advance. This guy hit me BEFORE I
started my step for advance, and thus I didn't have right of way.
That's simply crazy. I tried a feint/lunge combo and he'd hit me on
my feint, and I made sure I was ready for a counterattack.
Apparently I wasn't ready enough. He'd simply reach out and hit or
try a very low duck counter. It worked great on me, since it was so
fast. Chris described him well: "He paid his money he brought his
foils, he is going to attack."

He wins that competition every time it's held. He might not go to
any other competitions, would explain why he's only a C04. I'd be
afraid of this guy until you have nerves of steel. He did have 1
defeat in the pool round though.

Congratz to Chris and Roger for their performance at SJC. Hopefully
I'll be back in action soon to provide reinforcements to our team.

-Eric