GOLD, ALUMINUM, ELECTRIC WIRE
I won the gold medal at the Maryland State Fencing Games in my early 20's and it’s been all downhill from there.
I've been a member of Halberstadt Fencer's Club in San Francisco since 2016. After being off strip for a few years, I couldn't have imagined a more welcoming and encouraging club to be a part of while clambering my way back into competition shape.
In college I was a home grown fencer trained by a coach known for building home grown fencers into championship teams. I competed at the varsity level starting my sophomore year and became Epee Team Captain my senior year. So many of those principles on training, approaching fencing as a full sport (learning everything from tactics to agility training to armoring your own gear) have stayed with me even as I step on strip today.
// Fencing Culture
Best upcycling of fencing masks I’ve encountered so far: turn them into a wall of sconces. Seen here out in the wild at Marcel, an upscale steakhouse with Parisian vibes in Atlanta named after early 20th century French boxing champion Marcel Cerdan.
A wall of fencing masks converted into wall lamps in the dimly lit Marcel restaurant in Atlanta in 2023. Part of Chef Ford Fry’s culinary empire, Marcel is a high end steakhouse with early 20th century Parisian vibes.
// My Fantasy Dream Club as a Child is No Longer a Fantasy
Loved seeing that a place like the Nova Archery & Fencing Club exists. The club was featured in USA Archery’s Club Spotlight in 2021.
Throw in a bouldering feature along the side wall and we’d really be all set. More info on the club is here.
// Team USA Men’s Epee Olympic Fencing Team…let’s gooooooo!
Can’t say enough how proud I am that this Men’s and Women’s epee squads made it to Tokyo this year to represent Team USA.
From Yeisser Ramirez’s Insta page: Curtis Macdowald, Jake Hoyle and Yeisser Ramirez himself dressed for the Opening Ceremony of the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. Go Team USA!
From Kelley Anne Hurley’s Insta page (L to R): Anna van Brummen, Kat Holmes, Kelley Hurley, Courtney Hurley
// USA Gold
Truly stunning to watch Lee Kiefer become the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in individual foil. She bested Olympic repeat-medalist Inna Deriglazova who was also the defending gold champ from Rio in 2016. With the added challenges of training an additional year for a delayed Olympics under the unpredictability of COVID, Keifer went from training in a homemade basement fencing strip in Lexington, Kentucky to the top of the podium in Tokyo.
Keifer one touch away from an Olympic gold in her match against Deriglazova.
Keifer’s history-making touch.
Celebrating the Olympic win for some solid momentum heading into the Women’s Team Foil event. And then it’s back to med school (!). So inspiring.
// We interrupt this study break for an Olympic gold medal
Really loving the story behind Epee Gold Medalist Romain Cannone of France. Just weeks ago was studying for his business school classes as an alternate for the French Men’s Epee team before being unexpectedly being called up to pack his bags for Tokyo to replace a teammate.
Ranked 47th in the world, he was not on anyone’s radar at the world class level, not even his own. Then he’s on stage at the Tokyo Olympics and battles his way to the finals only to face world #1 Gergely Siklósi of epee powerhouse Hungary…and then defeats him 15-10 for the gold.
Also inspiring for me personally is that Cannone is 5’10” and right-handed (Siklósi also a right-hander) where there are so many dominating tall left handers in our sport.
What an incredible fencing journey that ends not with just a shot at competing at the Olympics, but winning a gold.
// Unlocked
Open my locker for the first time in over a year at the fencing club and the first time since COVID hit. Fencers are used to wearing masks, so to add one more mask requirement in order to bout, train and practice again together was an easy ask. Looking forward to getting tuned back up and dialed back in.
Swapping out some fresh gear for a fresh year.
Good evening, Maestro Halberstadt. Thanks for having us again.
Wire up, hook in, dial up.
// Cheat Day
My perfect cheat day is gorging on Chicken McNuggets while streaming an F1 race.
// Opening Day (Maybe)
As of this post, it’s been 245 days since I set foot on strip. With COVID now in a bit of a resurgence in my neck of the woods, there’s no telling when this gate at my home club will be unlocked again. So for now, the at-home training and patient daydreaming will have to suffice. Looking forward to the day when the only masks required are the kinds used during a fencing bout.
// Fenckcd
via xkcd.com
// Keeping Good Fencing Distance Has Been Redefined by COVID-19
Training tools to attempt (and boy do I mean attempt) to stay in fencing shape when there’s no one to fence and your only real opponent is yourself.
// Change Yourself
The One Punch Man shelter-in-place workout. #COVID19
“Human strength lies in the ability to change yourself.”
100 pushups
100 sit ups
100 squats
Run 10K
Sounds reasonable (as reasonable as fitness advice from a comic book can be) … except maybe for the part about vomiting blood.
When Saitama is not working out and wrecking super villains, he watches for sales at the local grocery store and likely has to stand in a social distancing line just like the rest of us.
// High Intensity Interval Training
A few years ago, I walked into my first HIIT training session and it completely reinvented my fitness level (by first breaking me down into a sweating, crying child). The related result was getting me into a level of fencing shape that I haven’t been in since I was the captain of my college varsity epee squad. So grateful to my coach and my classmates and our shared pain.
There’s something charming and poetically brutal about working yourself into a pulp while laying upon the stained asphalt of a parking deck in a pool of your own sweat, still grasping 25 lb kettle bells pulled out of the back of a moving truck.
// The Importance of Unagi in Fencing
“Unagi is a state of total awareness, okay? Only by achieving true unagi can you be prepared for any danger that may befall you.”
// USFencing North American Cup (NAC) Division II Nationals (Salt Lake City; December, 2019)
Walk this way.
First national level tournament in an unspeakably long amount of time. How long? Let’s not speak of it.
Getting to watch some of my favorite fencers compete during the Division 1 competition day.
A realm where I will remain foreign to for a while.
College roomie reunion! The best part of my trip out here was the chance to catch up with my college bestie and former roommate Ben and his wife for a celebratory feast of tandoori chicken and dosa.
// Climbing Up the Hill
One of my favorite routines whenever I’m in Atlanta is to stop by the Ponce Market and grab toast and coffee from Spiller Park. Hot coffee, people watch, check out the local indie bookstore Posmans. That and because their coffee is engineered for championship athletes.
“The wolf climbing up the hill is hungrier than the wolf on top of the hill. And I’m starving.”
// Davis Fencing Academy 20th Anniversary Tournament (Davis, California, US; November 2019)
After not having picked up a sword in over 14 months, I jumped right back in cold (Thanksgiving) turkey. My goal was “Don’t finish last.”
Having been off the tournament circuit even longer, I started as the #51 seed (out of 56 entrants). After the round robin pools, I tied for 41st place. I won my direct elimination round afterwards, winning a bout against someone ranked four levels above me, and finished the tournament #31.
My conditioning training has helped me feel fit, but I definitely need to dial in some mechanics and ensure my fundamentals are still in my feet and fingers.
So I was excited that I surpassed my low bar and overall it felt great to be back on strip again.
And extra congrats to Davis Fencing Academy, who shared that this all day tournament that spanned foil, sabre, and epee, was the largest in the club’s history. What better birthday present than that!
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// Halberstadt
In 2016, I hauled my rusty fencing gear and even rustier body to Halberstadt Fencer’s Club in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, the oldest fencing club in the Bay Area. Founded in 1942, I love feeling the history of the club and the spirit of its founder, Hans Halberstadt, each time I walk through the front door.
FOOTWORK IS LEGWORK
My entering fencing class at Johns Hopkins consisted of forty newcomers. That whittled down to twenty recruits and finally to three, one person for each weapon (by coincidence, not by design).
I specialized in epee and most of my accolades were won with that domain. My two other teammates would each go on to win the Mid Atlantic Conference championships in their respective weapons, sabre and foil. I finished my collegiate career as Epee Team Captain.
I learned to fence from the incredible Coach and US Fencing Hall of Fame Honoree, Richard F. Oles (1934 - 2011) who, despite being known to put the fear of God into us “barbarian unwashed” newcomers, built homegrown fencers into individual and team conference champions year after year. We were all fueled by his persistence and inspired dedication.
Epee Fencers (Artist Unknown)
// Let’s Practice Like Champions
Saw this photo of a contemplative Curly Lambeau when I was traveling for work to Green Bay, Wisconsin, a town that is centered on the Green Bay Packers and all things football. Pretty inspiring story to learn about the founding team of the NFL, which started their football life as the Acme Packers, named after a meatpacking sponsor.
// EPHEMERA
I somehow missed seeing this game in the arcade as a kid. Could’ve started my aspirations as a great swordsman a little earlier, one arcade token at a time.
LEARN FENCING, NOT HOW TO FENCE
Coach Oles taught us everything---from theory and history of the sport, strategy, to armoring our own weapons, electricity 101, to watching Douglas Fairbanks fight pirates in Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Beneath his trademark curmudgeonly grumpiness, was a leader who crafted each of us by immersion. He wasn’t there to teach us how to fence, but to teach us fencing---in all its aspects: physiological, tactical, strategic, technological.
That was just the way he built championship teams.
Fencing is a sport that you can stay active in as long as your hands and feet will allow. If I could have the blitz-fast hand speed of Coach Oles by the time I’m in my 70s like he was, I’ll be in pretty good shape.
Coach Oles walking the beach at Cape Cod (circa 1998 or 1999) after having the team stop to take in the view as well as learn the history of nearby Marconi Station. Very typical of Coach: fencing is about working with your team and learning alongside them, on the strip and off.
