West Coast Fencing

[RoninX]

I've recently moved to the Seattle area from Upstate New York and I'm shocked at how much more fencing action there is out here. This is the same city that I first picked up a blade in 8-9 years ago now and while there are not major tournaments every weekend I could probably fence in 2-3 tournaments a week if I chose within the Seattle area without major time (and GAS!) expeditures.

Just for a frame of reference Upstate NY was basically a fencing Siberia (no offense to anyone unlucky enought to be a current or longtime resident). But there is also much more activity than in the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio region I fenced in while in college (though the Chicagoland area had a lot of activity then as well).

Just wondering if this is a west coast/northwest phenomenon or is this just a shock after "siberia"??

Thanks all!

[dberke]

Originally Posted by RoninX

I've recently moved to the Seattle area from Upstate New York and I'm shocked at how much more fencing action there is out here. This is the same city that I first picked up a blade in 8-9 years ago now and while there are not major tournaments every weekend I could probably fence in 2-3 tournaments a week if I chose within the Seattle area without major time (and GAS!) expeditures.

Just for a frame of reference Upstate NY was basically a fencing Siberia (no offense to anyone unlucky enought to be a current or longtime resident). But there is also much more activity than in the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio region I fenced in while in college (though the Chicagoland area had a lot of activity then as well).

Just wondering if this is a west coast/northwest phenomenon or is this just a shock after "siberia"??

Thanks all!

While I can't speak for the rest of the west coast, we certainly do have a lot of tournaments here in the Seattle area. As you've probably noticed, there is usually at least one (sometimes up to 3) tournaments each weekend, with a nice mix across the weapons. I'm not sure why we have so many events compared with other parts of the country - I think it's partially because most of the clubs in the area have dedicated facilities and therefore don't have to deal with securing space for tournaments. Plus, I've found that everyone up here really enjoys competition and the opportunity to get together and fence!

I hope you enjoy your time out here!

Dan

[RITFencing]

Originally Posted by RoninX

I've recently moved to the Seattle area from Upstate New York and I'm shocked at how much more fencing action there is out here. This is the same city that I first picked up a blade in 8-9 years ago now and while there are not major tournaments every weekend I could probably fence in 2-3 tournaments a week if I chose within the Seattle area without major time (and GAS!) expeditures.

Just for a frame of reference Upstate NY was basically a fencing Siberia (no offense to anyone unlucky enought to be a current or longtime resident). But there is also much more activity than in the Michigan-Indiana-Ohio region I fenced in while in college (though the Chicagoland area had a lot of activity then as well).

Just wondering if this is a west coast/northwest phenomenon or is this just a shock after "siberia"??

Thanks all!

Dude, I live in rochester, and while it is colder than satan's nipples up here, it is by no means devoid of fencing. I can think of three clubs in rochester itself, one or two in the buffalo area and at least one in syracuse.

[RoninX]

Interesting, we were in Ithaca. While there was a club (maybe two) in Syracuse - which is about a 50-60 minutes drive from Ithaca depending on traffic and weather, there was only the university varsity team and one local club (local = under 30 minute drive IMO). Rochester is a solid hour and a half from Ithaca at the best of times because you spend 45 minutes on winding back roads before you can even get to I-90. I wouldn't mind that kind of drive to tourneys but to do it twice a week just to practice was more than we were interested in.

The local club was basically a bizarre french forms club, where despite my 7 years of fencing both foil and epee at that point they refused to let myself or my wife (who had fenced for 3 years) hold a weapon, much less bout until we memorized this glossary of french vocab - order and then appropriate actions followed by a verbal response. It was bizarre, the whole competitive aspect of fencing was frowned upon by these people.

Anyway, like I said it is great to see such a vibrant tournament scene. I really hope this is representative of an upwelling of interest in fencing nationally. I'm going to SAS to fence in my first foil tournament in 5 years this friday after I had a blast in their epee tournament last weekend.

[darius]

The local club was basically a bizarre french forms club

http://www.classicalfencing.com

Occasionally, a few of M. Crowne's students will venture forth into competitive fencing ... the results are often not pretty, even in epee.

Although, at least he's doing his own thing; we've wandered to a few upstate events where extremely bizarre guys with euro-manes come out of the woodwork, from towns and salles we've never heard of. They "fence" like a Johnny Depp blooper reel on LSD, and actually try to thwack your shins.

darius