Thanks. Glad I am not the only one that does that!

Well I just got home from the epee tourney....I WON! Yeah so now I have my E in epee which is really strange since I still like foil more. It feels good though to prove myself. Are you on facebook? If you are you should join the MTFC group. That's where we post all of our vids and pictures and stuff.

Sabre feet huh? That would probably help with the whole not parrying thing. What worked for me really well was to just stick my arm out when I saw my opponent coming at me which worked really well. I think I played defense all night.

It's friday, you should get some ice cream and grab some couch and just veg. Thats what i'm doing now, haha. Yeah I graduate in the spring and can't wait to get back to the WWD and see how I stack up against some of those fencers.

Wow maybe I got your pages then. I also had a whole bunch of blank pages. Very strange.

I just got back from SFU and I got stomped at epee. I keep trying to use foil parries and its not working out the way I want it to. I'm afraid to go for the attack because there is no right of way and its not like a parry repost is gonna save my butt. It just stinks because my footwork is my strong point and I really can't use it how I want. Very frustrating but fun at the same time I suppose. I guess I just need to keep at it.

That's nice that you can just order through your coach. I think that my coach could do that if I asked him to but it's usually just easier to get it myself. WOW you are all over the place during the week aren't you? I really can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am that you get to fence that much.

Those are pretty fair prices. I think that MTFC charges like $15 for a individual lesson and our master teacher gives free lessons on Saturdays. He's getting up there in age so I don't think he will be giving lessons very much longer. Hopefully this summer I can learn as much from him as possible.

One question about that book. Did your edition come with a double print of the saber section or am I just special?

I tried to stay with the french grip but was soon converted. I actually fenced my first tourney with a french grip and did fine but my coach suggested the pistol and I actually like it more now. I can get a lot more range of motion and stronger parries out of it. Seeing as i'm a foilist and you are an epeeist it makes sense for me to use pistol and you french.

Where do you buy your stuff from? I got my last blade from f.net and its just really heavy, like I said, it could be just because i'm used to foil.

Sounds like your coach is pretty tough. What do you pay for monthly membership and individual lessons? I know at MTFC they charge 50 a month and SFU is 30. EWU just upped their quarterly dues to 20, which still isn't enough.

Wow I guess that leaves you with little time to do anything else. It's kind of how I was this last summer. I would work all day and get off at 5 then fence from 7 to 9 every night. So I was in there about 5 or 6 out of 7 days of the week. I loved every minute of it though and I wish that I could be back there now. Well i'm sure that you will make the choice that's right for you. Just remember that fencing is a sport that you will never master, which makes it so much fun. (i'm super jealous of you too, I wanna fence that much)

Oh which one do you have? I have The art and science of fencing, and it was pretty good from a historical standpoint but the technique just doesn't apply to modern fencing. HAHA I totally remember him saying that over and over. Yeah the club calls the class all sorts of nasty names which is funny because that's where they get most of their fresh meat. The club calls me dirty things behind my back too because I use a pistol grip. Sigh...

Yeah I practice at SFU on Mondays and Fridays and then have the school club Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Everyone at SFU is really nice and they have a few pretty good fencers there. They don't have the super nice equipment like they do in the WWD but I mean it's the Inland Empire so I guess you can't expect too much.

I just got my own epee with a Zivkovik BIII grip. It's pretty comfy but I still need to get used to the weight and the fast that I can't flick it around like my foil. Hand touches huh, i'm more partial to the knee and foot. It makes me feel cool when I pull one of those off.

Right now I don't really see anyone that I would be comfortable leaving the club with. There is a guy named Jacob who was in the club last year but he's kind of shy and quiet. I think with a little grooming he could be a really good president. It's difficult though because mostly everyone there does it just for fun when they have time. I think the president should be someone who competes and has an idea of whats going on in the fencing community. I don't know any Aurora but she might have class and not be able to make it this quarter.

Funny you mentioned Fire and Ice. I met a few of them at the last tourney I fenced in and they seemed like really nice guys. They told me that I really needed to stop by and fence with them but I forgot what days they meet! I think that they meet at the Cheney Community Center a few times a week. I'll have to ask them at the next tourney. I would like to have some of them come to the EWU club and visa versa so the kids who are more interested will have an outlet without having to drive all the way to spokane.

Of course its worth it! You love it right? Anything that you enjoy is almost always worth it. I would say even if I didn't compete I would still enjoy fencing as a hobby. How far do you want to go in fencing?

Yeah I think that Paige drank the Evangelista kool aid. He's really all about becoming one with the weapon and all that but then he lets his students whack at each other by the fourth class. Kind of counter productive to healthy fencing habits if you ask me. I think this was my 4th tourney and I was able to get my rank but it was an all unrated tourney so that helped. I'm competing in my first epee tourney this Friday and i'm kind of nervous because i'm not that stellar at it yet but I guess it will just be a fun learning experience.

A redouble, is that what they call that? Haha I really have no idea. Don't worry about rambling on about things. Like I said its nice to talk to people in the community. Especially ones that you have a common tie in with.

I'm sure that i'll miss EWU when I graduate and move back to Tacoma this spring. I told them all that they can email me whenever and I'll still try to help them in any way I can. I would just hate to see that club die because it's been so important to me. Yes Gary is still the vice president but I think that he's graduating this year so he will be stepping down. I know hes doing his graduate work at EWU so he will still be around but not as an officer. Jessica will probably be stepping down at the end of this year so we will need to elect a new president as well. I actually see this as a good growing period for the club to move in a new direction.

So in response to your last post...

I don't think that i'm going to have time to take the class for credit this quarter but I might have to stop by and try to lessen the damage caused by Paige and possibly recruit some new blood to the club. I haven't even started working to improve my fleche yet. I'm still trying to work on a lunge that actually works. Possibly a lunge crossover lunge combo. I just earned my E08 in foil last weekend so now I really need to step my game up so I dont look like a fool. I know what you mean about the MTFC tourney, I have one this weekend and then two next weekend but I love everyone at MTFC and they would be heartbroken if I didn't show.

By the way, I don't think that I ever got your name. I'm so rude for not introducing myself. I'm Chris Winslow. Glad that I have someone to complain to about the sorry state of things at EWU.

You're right, if Roz remembers me I must have done something right! She's so quick but I think next time we meet i'll be more prepared.

I heard Salle Auriol is crazy expensive and there are a lot of really high rated fencers there. Sounds like it would be a hard place to get your foot in the door as far as meeting people and all that. I recently started going to MTFC more frequently as in 5 out of 7 days of the week. It's tiring but well worth it I think. It really helps that its so laid back. When your not fencing you can just sit around and BS. Really good atmosphere.

Yeah, i've done a little bit of saber but I don't want to pick it up until I can get some formal lessons. I hate going home after a few hours at the club and looking like I just got into a fight with a weedeater. It's something that interests me though so i'm sure i'll get lessons sooner or later.

I went to Evergreen State my freshman year so i'm even more behind than most ED majors. It's okay since i'm not really on a timetable.

I'm still pretty quick so that's why I prefer the foil but i'm sure i'll switch over to epee when I get older, haha. Whats the name of your club?

Yeah I entered my first tourney earlier this summer. It was just a small novice foil tournament that my club hosted. I think we had ten people enter and I placed third which was pretty cool. In my semifinal bout I lost 14-15 which was a heart breaker since it would have put me in the gold medal bout. It was fun though. Have you competed yet?

I'll be a 5th year senior in the Fall. I'm in the education dept. so it takes a little bit longer.

Well it's a good thing that I fence foil huh, lol. The club is pretty a pretty good size, lots of epee fencers. If I'm not careful I have a feeling that I may be converted haha.