Tristan, Malakai, Kalina, and Sarah traveled to Lincoln, NE for the latest mini-camp! The kids bouted for a couple of hours and got lunch with the LFC kids at the nearby mall. Then we all worked on footwork for 4 hours, led by LFC’s Coach Brad. This time we spent some time on fleches (another type of attack, also a French word for “arrow”), but while everyone improved, we still need more practice! It was hard work, but fun, and we plan to do it again soon!
You know, for as much as some of the kids groan about starting our regular practices with footwork, they sure had fun doing three solid hours of it with Coach Brad – no joke! We really appreciate Brad’s comments and feedback and energy, and we hope to do more of these kinds of things in the future [edit: next opportunity is Saturday, Nov. 22nd at the Lincoln Fencing Club, the day before their November to Remember D & Under tournament – come for the footwork, stay for the medals!]
Hisham Abdelaziz put on a great referee seminar for referees and aspiring referees from several clubs in Iowa and the Midwest. He took us through USA Fencing’s standard refereeing topics and rules on Friday evening, and on Saturday he observed the referees officiating bouts in all three Olympic disciplines (foil, epee, and saber). Those who passed the written exam and did well in the practical portion can now referee at local tournaments!
FIE referee Hisham Abdelaziz will run a referee clinic at the club on January 17-18. The Friday session is from 5-9 pm (please arrive 15 minutes early to get settled and take care of housekeeping items) and consists of lecture and discussion. This session is also available online. The 9 am-12 pm Saturday session will be observation for those who want to try to earn a rating. Those who aren’t interested in earning a rating are still welcome to attend and/or fence so that we have folks to referee!
More information is available on askFred.net: https://www.askfred.net/clinics/22fe0c4d-0966-4bee-8b8e-b0ea1f93df17
We strongly recommend looking at USA Fencing’s resources and information on becoming a referee: https://www.usafencing.org/become-a-referee
If you’re interested in taking the written exam (passing it is required in order to earn a rating), you have a 48-hour window to take it as many times as you want, so we recommend taking it once shortly before the Friday evening seminar, ask questions about concepts you didn’t understand during the seminar, and then you’ll have another shot at it afterwards.
Sorry, everybody, we were double-booked at the Franklin Jr. High gym so the Equinox Epee tournament will be held at
It’s a little north of our original facility, east of Merle Hay Mall. Event times are all still the same. Apologies again, and we hope to see you all on Sunday!
The final schedule for the (now not-quite-appropriately-named) Equinox Epee is two events on Sunday, April 10: Senior Mixed Epee at 9 am and D & Under Mixed Epee at 1 pm. Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel the smallest event, Women’s Epee.
The venue is the old Franklin Jr. High, which was used as a megachurch before being purchased by a private entity that is trying to creatively repurpose it. Parking and entrance are on the northeast side, off 48th St. in Des Moines.
RDF hosted an Iowa Division-sponsored referee seminar lead by Certified Referee Instructor and 2004 Olympic saber fencer Ivan Lee this weekend. We really appreciate Ivan traveling from New York to Iowa while we were getting 12 inches of snow and running an excellent seminar. Ivan is a dynamic speaker, full of wisdom, and passionate about developing new referees and coaching them to success.
Not only do referee seminars give aspiring referees the chance to become certified referees with USA Fencing, they are part of continuing education requirements for those already certified. Attendees came from the Des Moines Fencing Club, Iowa City Fencing Center, Iowa State University Fencing Club, Omaha Fencing Club, and RDF. There is a lot of material to cover, but all of the participants were prepared, asked good questions, and almost everyone tested for certification. We all are thankful for Ivan’s feedback and encouragement!
Fencers Daniel, Chantal, and Jack had an exhausting but educational time at the Twin Cities Fencing Club’s annual Winter Camp, Dec. 28-30. We spent a lot of time on false actions – basically actions that are not “real” or committed, which help set up your real, committed action for success by conditioning your opponent to anticipate something other than your real action. We stayed at a nearby rental house with some fencers from the Lincoln Fencing Club, which allowed us to cook some meals and socialize. Our legs were sore, but we had a lot of fun!
RDF is hosting a referee seminar with Certified Referee Instructor Ivan Lee, sponsored in part by the Iowa Division of USA Fencing, on January 14-15, 2022. This is an opportunity for aspiring referees to earn credentials and current referees to refresh their knowledge and possibly increase their rating. All experience levels are welcome, as well as fencers who want to learn how to most effectively interact with referees and understand the calls being made, family members who want to know how they can best support their athlete, and coaches who need to stay current on the rules and their understanding of our ever-evolving sport. Only those who wish to earn credentials need to take the online/written and practical exam, but everyone should familiarize themselves with the rule book and study guide for this seminar.
The seminar will be held in person at the club, and masks are required for everyone, regardless of Covid-19 vaccination status (but we appreciate that the vast majority of fencing folks are vaccinated!).
Ivan Lee is a 2004 US Olympian and 2014 Hall of Fame member with 23 years of refereeing experience. He is a Certified Referee Instructor and Observer, with ratings of 2 in saber, 3 in foil, and 5 in epee. He has served as a referee assigner for USA Fencing and the Public Schools Athletic League in New York City.
His fencing career also includes 15 US National Championships, 10 NCAA Championships, and team gold at the 2001 Junior World Championships, as well as two golds at the 2003 Pan Am Games. Ivan is the Head Coach for Women’s Fencing at Long Island University and the Head Saber Coach at Long Island Fencing Center.
More information about the process of becoming a referee: https://www.usafencing.org/referees-process
Sign up on askfred: https://askfred.net/Clinics/moreInfo.php?clinic_id=49461
Fencer Daniel and coach Kevin traveled to St. Paul last weekend for a fencing clinic with Olympic fencers-turned-coaches Michael Marx and Cody Mattern. It’s fun to work with fencers and coaches from other clubs and learn from their different perspectives, styles, and skills. Kevin and Daniel brought back some great drills and ideas that we plan on implementing in the club soon!
red door fencing 