As a quick note, this blog is not updated regularly as we primarily use our Facebook fanpage.
Please stop by and like to support the Bradley University Fencing Club!
Please stop by and like to support the Bradley University Fencing Club!
As a quick note, this blog is not updated regularly as we primarily use our Facebook fanpage.
Please stop by and like to support the Bradley University Fencing Club!
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Coach Marc earned gold and his E14 rating today at Lincoln Square's unrated sabre tournament. John Preville also competed. This was his first tournament and he won his first DE, placing 7 out of 12. Congrats to both for representing both Bradley University and fencing from Peoria! Annamaria Lu BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee Happy New Year from Bradley Fencing!
Bradley Fencing completed some notable achievements this past year. In 2013:
Looking forward to 2014, we have just as many exciting opportunities. There are two more MFC meets in February. Notre Dame invited three club teams to a meet, and we will also be attending Purdue's duals. At the beginning of March, some of our fencers will be traveling out to Ohio State for the MFC Championships. Then a month later, Bradley Fencing will be down in Knoxville, TN, for our sophomore participation in USACFC. Here's to celebrating a fantastic year, and looking ahead to a bright future! Annamaria Lu BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee Xavier DualsOn November 23d, Bradley University Fencing Club had a women's epee team and a partial women's sabre team participate in Xavier University's first dual meet. The meet ran into Murphy's Law. While we were traveling, we were notified that one of the other clubs would not be able to make it. This meant only Xavier and Case Western would be present, but our hotel rooms were booked and we were already on the road. We also forgot to bring our box sets with us. Also, we hadn't been able to bring more than the minimum for gender for women. In the end, it was still a wonderful opportunity. Xavier made the best of the situation and ran an unofficial, mixed tournament once the duals were over, so everyone had plenty of opportunities to fence. In a way, it became more of a test-run for when we travel and rent hotels for future tournaments since this was the first time the club has ever done so. IFC Fall OpenOn December 1, two of our fencers did very well at the IFC Fall Open. Kate Palmer placed 3rd and medaled in Women's Foil while Krista Burkhardt placed 5th in Women's Epee. Congratulations to both fencers! Annamaria Lu
BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee On the weekend of November 2-3, Bradley University Fencing Club participated at Northwestern's Duals. This was our first time competing in the Midwest Fencing Conference.
Sunday's events were much more intense than Saturday's. On Saturday, partial squads moved the bouts much faster and there was plenty of downtime for our group in between rounds. All of the schools present on Sunday brought full men's squads, which meant more bouts for each of our fencers and much less downtime for everyone, including refs and coaches. The referees were also beginning to unravel after many hours of dealing with college fencers. At one point, a referee began calling right-of-way in one of our epee bouts. We also had to deal with more injuries: our men's foil captain, Alex, had guards smashed into his weapon hand three times, as well as a flick that landed on the back of his head. Peter (men's sabre) was cut on his back hand. Everything was much more aggressive than the day before. The women had been happy to just be there to compete; the men were out for blood. As with the women's teams, the day started off slow but improved. All of our men were learning a lot from competing, especially our sabre team, when it came to strategy, strengths, and weaknesses. Their footwork got better and their actions were cleaner than the beginning of the day. Referees who watched us throughout the day made comments about how they were learning. At the end of the day, two of our completely new sabre fencers even won against a fencer from the Northwestern men's club, which was worth celebrating. It was a fantastic experience, and again, while we lost everything, .we did so much better than expected considering half of our fencer had never competed, and had only started fencing this August. Annamaria Lu BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee On the weekend of November 2-3, Bradley University Fencing Club participated at Northwestern's Duals. This was our first time competing in the Midwest Fencing Conference. Out of all our women's teams, we had two on epee, two on foil, and a full women's sabre team. However, cold season was against us. The night before we left for Northwestern, Rebecca called in sick with a bad cold. Anayeli went up to stay with her family, but the morning of, also became seriously ill. That left us with only one fencer on our women's sabre team, who happened to be the newest and least experienced: Aneta Szczerba. I was worried how Aneta would react to being the solo member of her team. I wouldn't have wanted to be in that position. Maybe nerves would get her. Her first bout was against University of Chicago- who didn't have a women's sabre squad. Bradley Women's Sabre: 3 University of Chicago Women's Sabre: 0. And with that, Aneta became our hero, savior, and champion! It didn't matter that overall we lost to University of Chicago 16-5. That wasn't important. This was our first time attending a conference meet. We came, we saw, and we conquered what we could, even if that meant having fencers when the other team didn't. The entire day, all of the women involved with our club were smiling, joking around with the coaches, and maintaining an upbeat attitude about the competition. Throughout the day, everyone improved. Everyone won competitive bouts. I believe everyone who was able to go is excited and ready for our next meet at Xavier Nov. 23-24. Annamaria Lu BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee This past weekend, a few of us went up to Northwestern University for the Remenyik Open. One of our fencers and one of our coaches finished well, so congrats to Yasser Ellaicy for being the highest finishing U in Senior Men's Epee and earning his D2013, and congrat to Coach Theresa Stoodley for finishing 6th in Senior Women's Sabre and earning her D2013! Annamaria Lu BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee Rebecca is a beginning sabre fencer at our club who has started going to competitive tournaments this year. This review her recent experience at The Point Fencing Club in Champaign Illinois, one of our favorite clubs to go to for tournaments.
The Point hosted a marvelous tournament full of advice and camaraderie. This was only my second tournament fencing sabre with Bradley. Naturally, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but from past experience I was anticipating a large gym and a crowd of people. I was gladly mistaken. The Point offers the fencer a unique experience. The tournament is very well organized and is unique in that it offers a sort of “relaxed” feel to it’s participants. It is smaller in scale and fewer people to compete against. I enjoyed this aspect because it allowed for more discussion and feedback amongst the fencers and coaches. I received useful feedback from both my coaches and those of the Point. I did not win a bout-but I still got quite a few points! I was able to land an effective wrist touch/flick that impressed my opponent, and I made note of multiple other attacks I made that were effective. As before at the Burton, I gained valuable experience that I will add to my knowledge and apply to future tournaments. The Point might be my favorite tournament thus far! Rebecca Janus BUFC Publicity '13-'14 Women's Sabre Rebecca joined the club last year as a foilist, and now holds an officer position and a sabre. While she competed in USACFC last year, the Burton was her first sabre tournament and first USA Fencing tournament.
The Burton Open was a fun-filled learning experience. As someone who is new to fencing, the idea of a tournament can be both exciting and daunting; especially if you don’t know what to expect at one. But of course, Bradley’s Fencing Club helped to make sure I felt more prepared by giving me an idea of how tournaments are generally run, what I needed to check on throughout the day, etc. When I was nervous before my first bout, they offered insight and advice. And what were their instructions to me for the tournament? “Go out there, do my best, and have fun with it.” And I did. While competition can be fierce, everyone is encouraging, helpful, and willing to work with you. After each bout, coaches presented feedback and tips on what I executed successfully, and what still needed improvement. Practice always helps you to improve, and the Burton was an excellent chance for me to gain fencing experience, witness great sportsmanship, and improve my skill set while making new friends. I gave it my all and had a blast. I observed as much as I could of the other bouts to see what I could learn. I tried to implement the feedback I received into my routine each bout. I also learned I needed to work on footwork. Footwork. And more footwork. Also, not hesitating! I am still stuck in a bit of a foil rut and am not moving as rapidly as I should be-and part of my issue with quickness falls back to footwork. So I really need to focus on that during practices. Can’t wait for the next tournament! Rebecca Janus BUFC Publicity '13-'14 Women's Sabre
we attended USACFC at Michigan State, we only brought women's epee, women's foil, and men's epee. This year, for MFCs, we have full men's teams, full women's sabre, and only need one more member for women's epee or foil. While we still continue to support and teach recreational fencers, there is a new competitive focus at our club which is awesome to see.
All in all, this year has started to show the growth and transformation Bradley Fencing has gone through over the past couple of years. It's going to be a great season for us, and I can't wait to see where the direction takes us. Annamaria Lu BUFC President '13-'14 Women's Epee |
Bradley FencingThis blog is meant for our members to share their experiences or provide commentary on our club. Archives
October 2014
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