Category: Uncategorized

The temperature outside was frightful, but the fencing inside was delightful! The second Heartland Youth Circuit was a small event last weekend, but those that braved the weather all earned points toward the end-of-season placings. In Y10 Mixed Epee, Nora and Grant tied for 3rd, and Sam finished 5th. In Y12 Mixed Epee, James L. took home the goofy trophy for 1st. In Y14 Mixed Epee, Kalina was 1st, James L. took 2nd, Tristan tied for 3rd, Lucas was 6th, Robert finished 7th, and James G. ended 8th. Kalina also won Cadet Mixed Epee, with Tristan finishing 2nd, and Malakai tying for 3rd. In Junior Mixed Epee, Kalina was 1st, Tristan ended 2nd, Jack and Malakai tied for 3rd, and Liam finished 5th. It was also Nora, Sam, and James G’s first tournament! We also got to see our friends from Kansas City and Lincoln and make some new friends from Minnesota!

Full results: https://www.askfred.net/tournaments/dba39aa6-de11-45a7-97b8-4fb41c0a6459/results

HYC Points standings: https://www.askfred.net/leagues/1ad09edd-9945-44e5-89af-214f8fea82e4

Kalina and Malakai were in Chicago again last weekend for the Fencing Center of Chicago’s regional tournament. In Junior Women’s Epee, Kalina tied for 3rd, and then won gold in Y14! The next day, Malakai fenced Junior Men’s Epee and finished 30th!

Full results: https://www.fencingtimelive.com/tournaments/eventSchedule/CDF384474DB64DE1AB3AF37D0C6DFB60#today

We’ve got warm-up jackets, wicking athletic shirts, t-shirts, pajama pants, zip-up hoodies, and socks available from Jones Creek Apparel: https://jonescreekapparel.com/RedDoorFencing/shop/home

The store closes at 9 am on May 19.

The Des Moines Fencing Club hosted their 3-weapon women’s tournament last weekend and four women from RDF represented! In Senior (ages 13 & up) Women’s Epee, Sarah took home the gold medal, Ava won silver, Tasha finished 5th, and Chi Chi ended 8th. Tasha also fenced foil (bronze medal) and saber (7th) and earned the Iron Woman award!

Full results: https://www.askfred.net/tournaments/bb4c2a50-3cfc-4cd7-9bbd-ffbfb056efc2/results

A small group from RDF attended the annual Twin Cities Fencing Club Winter Camp this year: Kalina, Jack, Ava, James, Javy, and Sarah all participated in drills, bouting, games, and activities. We rented a big house that we shared with several fencers’ family members and some fencers from Lincoln, which lets everyone have their own space but also a common area and a kitchen. James’ family showed us how to make fresh spring rolls and pad see ew, Suzana was the dessert queen, coaches Kevin and Brad headed up taco night, and another night we ordered pizza and played around on a ninja warrior course and had a nerf battle (despite having spent 6 hours in the fencing gym already that day and being unable to navigate stairs without groaning)! All the fencers worked hard, and they gained a lot of experience fencing new/different people and thinking about fencing a little differently! Thanks to all the parents, organizers, and coaches from all the clubs who make the camp possible every year!

Six fencers, plus coaches Kevin and Sarah and some fencers’ family members traveled to St. Paul, MN for the annual Twin Cities Fencing Club Winter Camp. We rented a big old house where everyone had space to socialize or chill out away from the group as needed.

Huge thank you to Suzana (Kalina’s mom) for helping us get food, shuttling people around, and taking care of miscellaneous things that came up! We’re also grateful to the leaders of segments of the camp, those working in the background to make it all happen, and all of the athletes who came and fenced with us.

Fencing-wise, the goal of the camp was to create a foundation for successful fencing, which means a lot of work on some core skills that will us to “survive” longer in bouts and from which we can build the rest of our game. The pandemic had us fencing a much smaller group of people than usual, and it was great to practice with a variety of unfamiliar fencers! We also spent some time on developing a warm-up routine, building some muscles we may have been neglecting, and thinking about how to handle some of the psychological aspects of a competitive environment. We saw noticeable improvement in all of our fencers and we think they got a lot out of it.

In addition to the fencing, we enjoyed getting to see old friends, making new friends, cooking, eating, playing games, going rock climbing (because all day in a fencing gym wasn’t enough physical activity, apparently), and hanging out together!