Chicago

[Superscribe]

So, based upon the feedback I got, and who I am at heart, I've decided to talk about my experiences fencing at different venues and clubs across the United States... in a thread format until I'm forced to do otherwise.

The first episode will be the Chicago Lakeshore Fencer’s Club Open, Sun 2/28 11:30 AM. It took place at the Lakeshore Athletic Club, held by the Chicago Lakeshore Fencer’s Club.

Parking was a little tight, and I had to do so on a side street. It wasn’t bad on a Sunday, but during the weekday, it might be annoying. The Athletic Club was a full fledged athletic club: a big building with different levels and spaces separated for athletic activities. The Fencers basically get some space in the big building on a tennis court, or dancing floor and setup impromptu strips, and have practice. For those of you surprised by this, I’ve seen at least two other instances of this arrangement. Getting to the court or space where the fencing is going to be held can be confusing (multiple un-intuitive corridors, with stairs.)

Being a part of the Fencer’s Club means you get to be a part of the Athletic Club, and there are some pretty sweet facilities. I saw predominately basketball, swimming, tennis, tumbling and aerobics area. The locker room was pretty nice with a couch and a large flat screen you can sit and watch while you’re naked. Not that I did anything like that. There’s a sauna, hot tub, toilets and showers. It’s nice to shower and sit in a hot tub to reflect on your defeat in a tournament. Everything felt rather upper middle class, from the build of the lockers to the complimentary toiletries in the bathrooms. Nice.
Membership to the Fencer’s Club probably costs a bit of money. Is it worth it? Let tell you what I learned from the tournament.

The foil fencing started at 11:30AM, and I show up around 10AM because I didn’t know the area. The askfred info thing said it would be held on a tennis court. It was literally 1 indoor tennis court separated from other courts in a hanger by heavy drapes. There were like 50 epeeist who had already started in the morning. There were about 60 foilists who were going supposed to be fencing at 11:30am. Things were NOT going to be on time, and it was REALLY REALLY cramped. People were running out of space to put their bags. One of the problems with being in a shared athletic club is that it is shared. When fencer’s tried to move drapes and put their stuff on an adjacent tennis court (which had been converted to a children’s tumbling area) an angry lady explained they couldn’t do that, and they had to move. Around 12:00, a room next to the huge hanger (an aerobics floor) was opened, and people spilled over. Floor cords and machines were up, and we started fencing foil in… I think 2 flights. Maybe 3. The fencing in this area was decent, and the tournament drew a few strong fencers. Further, I learned this open was held pretty regularly (every few weeks). Having that many people (and that caliber of people) attending a tourney that’s not a special yearly event is a non-trivial point. It gives some good indication on the fencing in the area. I will note that almost 14 people didn't show up who preregistered, and i think 3 of them were A's.

On a technical note, I found that a lot of the foilists had really good sense of when to AIP or counter w/ opposition. I had to beat most of them with either prolonged blade sequences to draw an opening, or being faster than them. The fencer’s there were comprised of a pretty good mix, with teenagers as well as middle aged men. Most of the better foilists in the area were teenagers/young adults. They tended to stick together, but after I went over and found some common ground to talk, they were friendly.

The coach of the LFC was this guy who fenced on the Soviet Union team. I’m told this is a big deal. He’s soft spoken most of the time, but he has high standards, and gets pretty upset (read: loud) when his fencers do dumb things on the strip. He had a sense of humor, and was fun for me to joke around with. The leadership of the LFC was very amiable. I get the feeling they’re used to having to compromise and share space with other people. Things were done out of practicality, and there was an informality with everything. This created a relaxed environment which I liked. Unfortunately, I think it showed in how little space they had ready for a large tournament (the tourney looked large on the preregister a week before the tourney started). I also feel there was a bungle in counting someone’s victories out of pools, and a poor guy got seeded way lower than he should have. The last bouts of the day ended around 8pm. It was a long day.

I’m dedicating this thread to Pillow.

I appreciate all feedback, so please let me know what you'd like to see more and less of.

[Purple Fencer]

Do you have a set schedule?? Maybe people here can give you hints on where to go.

If you end up in Southern California, you might plan to hit San Bernardino or Orange Coast events, as just about the only events SoCal and San Diego are holding are quals.

[MdA]

I grew up in Chicago fencing....left for collegiate fencing 30 years ago...things haven't changed much.

[bb43]

I have been to a handful of CLFC open's including the 2/28 one, and have NEVER seen it as crowded as it was that day.
Ive also fenced some where they had two, maybe three of the tennis courts open for strips and gear. I suspect that they didn't expect that number of people when they reserved space.

[migopod]

I have been to a handful of CLFC open's including the 2/28 one, and have NEVER seen it as crowded as it was that day.
Ive also fenced some where they had two, maybe three of the tennis courts open for strips and gear. I suspect that they didn't expect that number of people when they reserved space.

I was there for the epee in the morning. I think at least with the epee it was an E1 for a really long time on Fred, but shot up to an A1 and then A2 only a few weeks out from the tournament. The guy at the registration table said that they had thought that it would be pretty small and when it got huge there wasn't enough time to get more space from the athletic club.

In fairness the CLFC tournaments this year have been pretty small for the most part, so the turn out for the 2/28 one was a bit of a surprise.

[Darr]

The last two CLFC tournaments have been restricted to only one tennis court. Every other time I have been to one of their tournaments they have opened up an additional court which gave them an extra 2-4 strips and a lot more bag space.

In my experience, 3-6 strips and around 30 people for both foil and epee is pretty much standard fare in Chicago.

[erooMynohtnA]

I appreciate all feedback, so please let me know what you'd like to see more and less of.

How did the Burton contrast to this?

[MdA]

The thing that really hurt fencing in Chicago was the loss of several High School fencing programs. These programs provided very large gyms for tournaments.

[Superscribe]

How did the Burton contrast to this?

The Burton was held in a large basketball gym, and there was much more space. There must have been around 15 strips setup for that event. It was held in one day, and things moved very smoothly. I felt the fencing was on the same level in terms of foil. There were more dedicated referees at the Burton, and I felt they were slightly better than the lakeshore tournament. I felt the same type of people who attended the Burton were at the Lakeshore open. Because the burton was held on the Northwest campus, the NW Women's team was there. This made the tournament much funner for me visually.

[Superscribe]

Do you have a set schedule?? Maybe people here can give you hints on where to go.

If you end up in Southern California, you might plan to hit San Bernardino or Orange Coast events, as just about the only events SoCal and San Diego are holding are quals.

I don't have a set schedule. I appreciate your tips though.

[Purple Fencer]

I don't have a set schedule. I appreciate your tips though.

You don't have a heck of a lot of time left out our way, tho...Orange Coast only has the Citrus Open in April (which I'm not working this year, as a SoCalQual is the same day), and San Bern only has 2....the one in Palm Desert May 22 might be the better choice of those 2. tho.