Fencing

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

I have a cameo in this at 5:42

[sanjuro_ronin]

Who is that young and dashing swordsman?

[Lucas]

Wow that's really cool!

[GeneChing]

[-N-]

They need to program the AI so it can learn to avoid not just by retreating.

[David Jamieson]

I've recently replenished my gear and am getting back into fencing.
French foil for a while, then move up to epee and saber.

I think it's one of the best ways to teach live sword play.
And so, it shall be done.

[GeneChing]

This is terrible. Matt was the shop manager at American Fencers/The Armoury when I worked there as a swordmaker in the late 80s/early 90s. He was a good manager - we got it done. I haven't seen him in years, but heard about him through old fencing ties and was following his facebook posts from Rio with great interest and pride.

Member of Olympic fencing team loses new home in Clayton Fire
By Kurtis Alexander Updated 8:27 pm, Thursday, August 18, 2016


Matthew Porter (center), the armorer of the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team, lost his home in Lake County’s Clayton Fire.

It was the last thing anyone at the Rio Olympics would expect to hear after an exuberant string of medal wins: that a catastrophic wildfire was racing toward his home.
But that’s the unfortunate news Matthew Porter, armorer for the U.S. Olympics fencing team, received over the weekend from his wife. The couple live in Northern California’s fire-ravaged hills, and their house in Lower Lake was in the path of Lake County’s devastating Clayton Fire.
Porter’s wife, Karen, was forced to flee with only the clothes she was wearing, their two long-haired Chihuahuas, Tucker and Fidget, and a stray cat. All else was likely lost, she told her husband in an email and follow-up phone call to Rio de Janeiro.
“What a way to finish there,” Porter, 59, said in an interview with The Chronicle on Thursday, having returned to California early. “Not really what I wanted, but my active job had been over at that point.”
Porter’s responsibility at the Games was to take care of the weaponry for the 17 American fencers who walked away with two silver medals and two bronze medals.
After landing at San Francisco International Airport late Tuesday, Porter greeted his wife and rushed to Lower Lake, about 100 miles north of the city. Although their neighborhood was off-limits because the fire was still burning, a law-enforcement officer confirmed what the Porters suspected: There was nothing left.
The two bought their property east of Lower Lake’s historic downtown only three months ago, shortly before Porter left with the fencing team for Brazil. The couple had just finished moving their personal belongings as well as their online fencing supply business from Pacifica.
“We loved it there,” Porter said. “We had gotten things fixed the way we wanted. It took every last penny to do it.”
Making matters worse, the Porters, who bought their house in cash, hadn’t yet obtained fire insurance, they said. But on Thursday, as the couple drove to pick up their pets from friends in the Bay Area, they said by phone they were just happy that neither they nor the animals were hurt.
“My No. 1 concern was Karen, and whether she’d be able to get out,” Porter said. “That is the most important thing.”
The two plan to stay with a friend near Lake Berryessa while they figure out their future.
“I’m still in shock,” Karen Porter said. “It’s still hard to believe that everything’s gone.”
The Clayton Fire is believed to be the work of a 40-year-old man, who has been charged with a string of felonies and has been accused of being a serial arsonist. The blaze has destroyed an estimated 268 structures since it began Saturday, the last day the U.S. fencing team was competing in the Rio Olympics.
Among the fencing medalists was Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American woman to wear a hijab at the Games. She was part of the women’s saber team that won bronze.
As grim as Porter’s situation may be now, he said it doesn’t detract from the thrill of being among the fencing team’s dozen or so coaches and support staff. This is Porter’s third time at the Olympics.
“Matthew made sure our weapons were in absolutely top shape and was critical in making sure that we did not miss a single point due to our equipment,” said Greg Massialas, head coach of the U.S. Olympic men’s foil team, in a prepared statement. “It is a shame that after he spent so much of his time making sure Team USA had the opportunities for success, he lost everything.”

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

How to help
Friends of the Porters have launched a fundraising campaign for the couple at https://www.gofundme.com/2kg64t5p

This is my third friend that has lost their home to a California wildfire in the last year or so.

[GeneChing]

The Fencer looks intriguing. It's been a while since we've had a decent fencing film.

[GeneChing]

A robot that can fence.

[GeneChing]

A robot that can fence II

[GeneChing]

Thread: Kendo
Thread: Fencing

[GeneChing]

She was Gay D'Asaro when I knew her. She coached me a little back when I was with the SJSU team.

Spartan Women in Sport: Gay MacLellan, ’83 MA Kinesiology
By Julia Halprin Jackson


Photo: Courtesy of West Coast Fencing Archive


Photo: Courtesy of West Coast Fencing Archive


Photo: Courtesy of West Coast Fencing Archive


Photo: Courtesy of West Coast Fencing Archive

As a child, Gay MacLellan says she loved to move. She played tetherball and four square at recess at her elementary school in the tiny central California town of Ripon, where she was spotted by a teacher who coached fencing. As a shy 11-year-old girl, she was surprised to find that the strategy and technique of the sport attracted her, with its balletic and sometimes aggressive movements. Within a year, she was competing with the foil—the only fencing weapon that women and girls were allowed to use in competition until 2004, while men were using foil, epee and saber. Decades later, she still remembers the sport’s appeal.

“There’s the beauty of the movement,” says MacLellan, ’83 MA Kinesiology. “You’re a warrior if you fence. The history of fencing is so incredible—it goes way back to when there weren’t guns. Swords were used to settle arguments. I was a shy girl, and it was so unique. It gave me something to talk about with people. As I grew up, I realized how lucky I was to have this avenue to travel the world and get the most incredible education, seeing different cultures. It gave me a career.”

Starting when she was 14, she began training with Michael D’Asaro, a Pan American, U.S. and World Military Saber Champion, and member of the 1960 Olympic fencing team. D’Asaro’s club was located in San Francisco, which meant that MacLellan’s parents had to drive her 90 minutes each way to train every week. Between practice and weekend competitions, MacLellan cultivated a unique fencing style that soon became her trademark.

“I was a skilled technician,” she says. “I learned the movements as perfectly as I could and that’s what served me. Michael trained me to be fast. I perfected that and it took me to the Olympics twice.”

MacLellan fenced for two years at UC Santa Barbara before following her coach to San Jose State in 1974, where he had been hired to coach the women’s and men’s teams. Drawn together by a shared love of sport and drive to compete, the two fell in love and later married.

At SJSU, MacLellan trained with champion fencers Stacey Johnson, ’80 Public Relations, and Vincent “Vinnie” Bradford. The landmark legislation Title IX had passed in 1972, setting a standard of gender equity in sport that the women’s athletics director helped reinforce.

“The women’s athletics department had a very strong athletics director named Joyce Malone,” MacLellan remembers. “She really fought for women and got pretty good equality for us. As our coach, Michael was always a strong supporter of women. We had so much support, the women at San Jose State.”

That support was essential when it came time to compete. MacLellan split her focus between fencing and academics, building her strength, running for speed and endurance, traveling regularly for tournaments. Her hard work brought serious results, including winning the U.S. Women’s Foil Championships in 1974 and 1978—and earning a spot on the Olympic fencing team at 1976 games in Montreal.

“I don’t even remember touching the ground with my feet,” she says. “I was just so amazed at everything. I was pleased with my performance, winning more than I lost. But it was my first major international competition, so I was just overwhelmed. It blew me away.”

MacLellan and her teammate Stacey Johnson qualified for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, but were unable to compete because the U.S. boycotted the Games. It was a complicated time. As thrilling as it was to make the team, the fact that they couldn’t actually participate affected the fencers. MacLellan retired from competition that same year, switching her focus to teaching fencing, dance aerobics and body mechanics in SJSU’s physical education department. In 1983, she completed her master’s thesis, “A History of the Amateur Fencers League of America,” the governing body that predated the United States Fencing Association.

By studying the history of the sport and the way it had been governed, MacLellan gained perspective on how it might evolve. She stayed active in the sport by refereeing around the U.S., as well as worldwide. Though she and D’Asaro eventually divorced, she remained very active in the fencing community.

“At the time, there weren’t many woman referees, and internationally there were none,” she says. “I was one of the first U.S. women to get an international referee license.”

Unlike competing, which emphasized her individual performance, as a referee MacLellan had to confront stereotypes about women in sport, which she found frustrating. As a national champion, Olympian and unofficial historian of the sport, she grew tired of hearing others question her qualifications.

“International refereeing did get hard,” she says. “Many people did not feel that women were capable of being good referees. I didn’t want to fight that battle internationally. I had already fought that battle in the U.S. I think I was scrutinized a lot more than men were, in what kinds of calls they were making. I had to try to be as perfect as possible to prove that I, as a woman, was capable of being a referee.”


Photo: Courtesy of West Coast Fencing Archive

Despite this, MacLellan was always grateful for the opportunities that the sport afforded her. Not only did she create a career out of competing, teaching and refereeing, she gained confidence, composure and independence that has served her in her life beyond fencing.

“Starting sports as a girl was so helpful in my growth,” she says. “It taught me that I could take care of myself physically. I really felt that if I was going to be attacked, I could handle it. The travel I did as a young girl and teenager, and then in my 20s, was so educational in training me to be independent. I always encourage young girls to get involved in sports early.”

A 2004 inductee into the U.S. Fencing Association’s Hall of Fame and an inductee into SJSU’s Sports Hall of Fame, MacLellan now splits her time between southern Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. It has been years since she has donned her mask, jacket, gloves, knickers, socks and protective gear. She has since found new ways to apply her skills, such as ballroom dancing. Understanding how to approach, assess and react to another person has carried over to every other aspect of her life. She is proud to belong to a tradition of high-achieving woman athletes and has seen the impact that positive role models can have, not only on athletes, but anyone who watches competitive sports.

“To see women perform at high levels, and to hear those women speak and present themselves, I think changes a lot of people’s opinions and outlook on women,” she says. “Sport shows women as confident, strong and capable of accomplishing high goals. In that sense, I really think it does help social change.”

[GeneChing]

My good friend Greg Lynch Jr. is working on his second full length documentary - STRO - which is about my former fencing coach, the late great Maestro Michael D'Asaro. Greg heads Bad Ass Bunny Productions and has produced many of the videos on our YouTube channel. His previous documentary is also on a famous fencing master, the late great Maestro George Pillar, the award-winning doc The Last Captain.

Greg made this little vid last month, just for fun, for the many fencing notables that he has interviewed for STRO. While I'm not a notable fencer by any stretch of the imagination, I do hold a Provost Masters degree in fencing and so he interviewed me too, for contrast perhaps.I appear in this at 17 sec, but it's super quick. If you know the world of fencing, there are some really famous fencers and masters appearing in this, and I'm really honored to stand among them, and excited to see my old Master showcased in this.



THREADS
Stro
Fencing

[GeneChing]

This is really the fault of the TCM doctor. That's so sloppy and it almost cost Lin the medal. What an ignorant TCM doc.

Hong Kong fencer Coco Lin apologises after traditional Chinese medicine nearly ruins her Asian Games dream
The 23-year-old receives only a reprimand despite a positive test as Hong Kong take silver in the women’s épée at the Asian Championships
PUBLISHED : Friday, 22 June, 2018, 8:20pm
UPDATED : Friday, 22 June, 2018, 10:47pm
Chan Kin-wa



Upcoming fencer Coco Lin Yik-hei has apologised after a doping incident almost ruined her dream of competing in the Asian Games in Indonesia this summer.

Lin was part of the Hong Kong women’s team that took silver after losing a nail-biter to China 35-34 in the final of the women’s épée at the Asian Fencing Championships in Bangkok on Friday night.

After spraining her right ankle in April, Lin enlisted the services of a bonesetter to accelerate her recovery, a move that proved more negative than positive.

Lin was given traditional Chinese medication by the bonesetter and a doping test two days later turned up a banned substance.

The 23-year-old, a scholarship athlete at the Sports Institute where fencing is a tier A programme, posted on social media this week that she had been temporarily suspended for two weeks by the Hong Kong Anti-Doping Committee leading up to the tournament in Bangkok.

Her name was also removed from the 2018 Asian Games squad after the Hong Kong Fencing Association had confirmed the list.


Chu Ka-mong (left), Kaylin Hsieh, Vivian Kong and Coco Lin. Photo: Handout

She was asked to provide an adequate explanation or face a two-year suspension when she was informed of the test results early this month.

After a hearing, Lin received only a reprimand allowing her to compete in this week’s regional championships.

“I am a professional athlete and must take responsibility for the drugs I have taken,” Lin said. “It’s my own negligence that has affected not only my career but also the image of Hong Kong athletes.

“I have grown up quite a bit the past month, learnt to take the greatest caution with all medications that I put inside my body, and to stay strong in difficult situations.

“Thank you for all the love, care and support over the past two weeks from the fencing association, sports institute, my family, friends, teammates, coaches and the media. I’m deeply sorry for all the confusion caused for all parties at such a critical moment.”

The Hong Kong women’s épée team also features Vivian Kong Man-wai, the individual champion in Bangkok, and bronze medallist Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan, who knocked Lin out of the competition in the quarter-finals. Lin’s top-eight result was her best finish in five appearances at the Asian Championships.


Cheung Siu-lun (right) on the attack against Ryan Choi at the President’s Cup in Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Friday night’s result was Hong Kong’s second silver of the week after the men’s foil team lost to South Korea in the final.

But gold medals from Cheung Siu-lun and Kong, in the men’s individual foil and women’s individual épée, respectively, ensured Hong Kong’s best result in the regional event and gave them a strong boost before the Asian Games this summer.

Why is the Asian fencing champion missing the Asian Games? Hongkonger only has himself to blame

The women’s team’s épée silver was also their best performance in the event, with Hong Kong taking bronze in every tournament since 2001.

Kong, the individual champion, was in superb form and matched the class of her mainland counterparts, with China headed by Olympic bronze medallist and world number two Sun Yiwen.

China went in as favourites and were in control of the game until Hsieh closed the gap to 29-27 in the second last session.

Kong gave her all in the final three-minute session but her opponent managed to hold on for a tight victory.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Fencer Lin apologises for doping incident

THREADS:
TCM Fails
Asian Games
[URL="http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?9851-Fencing"Fencing[/URL]