Blog
To judge or not to judge?
Friday, February 10, 2012
By coach Alisher Dzhakhangirov
Dear friends! I would like to write about a conflict that happened at the last tournament Barbara Linch memorial in Maplewood, NJ. The events there are usually very well managed.This tournament was a practical test for brand new referees. They had passed theoretical exam and their practical skills were tested by judging this competition.
Here lies, I think, the error that led to the conflict. When you have a young pilot that just got his pilot license, you do not test his practical skills by sending him into the war zone. Just as well you do not conduct practical exams for driving license on the Turnpike or on any other big and busy road. Because it is too dangerous for the tested and people that would be around.
Somehow in our sport it is acceptable to train judges in tournaments. Where by being inexperienced, they make huge mistakes.Thus they ruin hard delicate work that coaches and athletes do to prepare to the tournament. Not to mention all the money and time that parents spend on fencing classes, individual lessons, driving, etc. and the reason is a new referee taking a practical exam. My point is very simple - tournament is the time for the coach and his student to see the results of their hard work. They are the customers of the tournament organizers and they have all the rights to demand quality judgement in the tournament. The solution could be the total control of the examiner on the testing referee. I was a witness when a parent of a young fencers let his child to fence without long socks. This is prohibited by the rules. The referee didn't even pay attention, until the examiner pointed out to her about this and made her give the fencer yellow card. The parents were sent to buy the socks. All the participants waited in patience when they would be back with the socks.
People, including the referee, didn't know the basic rules. In the different situation, the same parent suggested to the referee to give me a black card. One of my young students started a bout with another fencer(that who didn't have the right socks). In the first fencing phrase, the referee reverted the result and my student parade turned out to be the parade of his opponent. I stopped the bout. I was restrained, though I was outraged by this blunter. I demanded or an additional referee or a representative of the bout committee to be present. The referee started to argue with me that I don't have the right to stop the bout. Only the fencer can do that. According to the letter of rules it is true. But my student is 11years old and this is his second tournament. He didn't suspect that he won this touch, but the unqualified referee reverted it. I call it cheating, when someone who does not understand is being deceived. In this case it was not on purpose, because the referee herself didn't understand what was going on. And how could she, if she even didn't notice the lack of proper attire two bouts before.
I was trying to go to get a new referee, when she and another referee-trainee start the bout again. I returned and stopped it. At this moment the other fencer's parent(the one that did not have the socks) suggested to give me a black card. He does not understand the essence of the process! I did not insulted anyone. I did not argue with the referee. I just demanded on behave of my student additional referees from the bout committee.
The situation had got heated, after the bout was stopped for the second time. Finally, the more experienced referee was presented to continue the competition. If you want to understand in medicine, you have to graduate from a medical school. If you want to know fencing, you need to study it for several years. To really know it you need learn not only techniques, tactics, strategy and psychological aspects of training, you have to learn physiology, biology basics, rules and the most important of all how to teach all these! That parent took his child to a fencing club when I already had 30 years of experience. When the kid finishes with the sport (in 5-6 years), I still will put on the coaching gear, I will be in contact with my teachers, with leading fencers at the national level. I will analyze every bout in the world championships. I will plan new things to try with the students. I will read books about fencing. All these I am doing to improve the fencing of my students, to get them to the highest levels in the sport. To speak the same language with me, people have to live and breathe fencing.
In one of the latest interview Alexey Yakimenko, the leader in world sabre rating, when asked to assess the preparedness of young Russian sabrers, answered that he cannot do it because he is not a coach. When talking about training results he is talking about the coach. We talked over the phone a while ago, and he was worried about his coach who was in the hospital and underwent an operation. To the contrary in the United States the fencer achieves everything alone! There is no respect to the coach as the source of knowledge and the architect of victories.
In my option this is a huge mistake to think I fence therefore I know! Unfortunately this is not enough! There are handful of people who understand what I mean. But they are real professionals.
Baltimore Charm City Classic ROC
Monday, December 12, 2011
By coach Slava Danilov
On December 3rd and 4th, fencers from across the East Coast competed in the Maryland Regional Open Circuit (ROC) Charm City Classic at the University Maryland, Baltimore County. The competitions were Open Div 1A qualifiers for the Summer Nationals, which are being held in Anaheim, California next summer. There are three divisions in ROC tournaments: Division IA (A,B and C ratings), Division II(C and below ratings) and Veterans(40+ years old). Top 10% of fencers in each event qualify for the Summer Nationals, and top 32 earned ROC points. A total of 1000 points on the ROC points list also qualifies a fencer for Division IA nationals. This is a different qualification path from last year, when the only way to qualify was through division qualifiers. These will still be held in the Div II and Div III categories; however, ROC competitions are not the only way to qualify for Div 1-A. Luckily, there are several competitions around the country.
Over 30 fencers in every women's competition and over 40 fencers in every men's competition participated. The largest event was men's foil, with 86 competitors. Three fencers from Morris Fencing Club participated in the events. Lars Swanson placed 5th place in men's epee, earning his A 2011 and qualifying for summer nationals. Alexander Andriatis, also in men's epee, placed 16th and earned his B 2011. Both fencers were C rated before the competition. Lindsey Severud, competing in women's sabre, placed 20th in her event.
The next Div 1-A ROC moderately close to New Jersey will be in Atlanta, Georgia on April 21st. Cobra Fencing Club in Jersey City will be hosting a Div II ROC on February 11th. It is highly recommended that club members attend this tournament for experience and a chance to qualify for summer nationals.
See our news post with results
The 2011 World Championships
Friday, November 11, 2011
By coach Slava Danilov
The 2011 World Championships took place in Catania, Italy from the 8th to the 16th of October (The official website). The event drew the eyes of 4,500 daily spectators supporting their country’s teams, and 1.3 million viewers watching the live broadcast of the events. 1,000 athletes from 116 countries participated in the events, up from the 96 countries that entered the Paris 2010 World Championships. Italy took 1st place, followed by Russia and China.
The U.S. women’s team earned one silver and two bronze medals, placing the U.S. in 6th place overall. The women’s sabre team won bronze after taking out Italy in the quarter finals 45-43 but losing to Russia 33-45. Two-time Olympic champion and two-year consecutive women’s sabre fencer Mariel Zagunis tried to win her third consecutive world champion title, and after a 13-8 lead, lost 13-15 to Sophia Velikaia, who took gold(see the video). The second bronze metal was claimed by seventeen-year-old foilist Lee Kiefer(Here is semi final bout). The women’s foil and epee teams finished 7th and 12th. Romania won team epee, while Russia won both team foil and sabre.
The U.S. men’s team saw no medals this time, with the foil, epee, and sabre teams finishing 11th, 15th, and 8th, respectively. Foilist Race Imboden finished 8th(Imboden vs Joppich), while epee fencer Weston Kelsey placed 10th in individuals. Italy won all 3 individual events, while France, China, and Russia won epee, foil, and sabre. These countries will come face-to-face again in the London 2012 Olympics and in the 2012 World Championships in Kiev, Ukraine.
Prepare your attacks
Friday, October 28, 2011
By coach Alisher Dzhakhangirov
Dear friends, as I have been explaining to you many times, actions in modern sabre fencing deliberately designed beforehand.
2011 Euro Champs: Alexey Yakimenro Number 1
Check out the hit Alexey Yakimenko did at 3:10 just before the minute break in the video. Alexey is the leader in the world fencing ratings. Look how he performs a huge step, a gigantic lunge, and all these at highest speed! This attack was prepared beforehand, and partially was hinted by the intuition. You should learn how to guess or how to preempt your opponent's actions.
Watch the parades in this video. In the starting box all parades are used as counter-measures for jet-speed attacks of the opponent. Fencing is a science, you need to study the science very carefully.
Play ball, Power Ball
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Fencing is a sport of skill, speed, and power. Skill is improved by long years of practice and experience under the guidance of expert coaching. Traditionally, fencers have relied on this same practice for the development of speed and power. However, the days are gone when elite competitors in any strenuous sport can rely on the practice of sport skills as their sole source of conditioning. Resistance training is the choice of athletes all over the world, regardless of sport, for the development of the strength necessary to compete at the elite level.
Resistance training is a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent).
Resistance training can be performed using various types of exercise equipment or:
- Resistance bands
- Exercise machines
- Swimming machines
They are very good, when you have time to go gym. But when you work long hours in office or prepare yourself for SAT, who has spare time? There are a lot of things that can help you with your busy schedule. One of them is Power Ball.
What is Power Ball? Power ball is a finely engineered and precision crafted gyro consisting of a rapidly spinning rotor enclosed in a solid [hand held] outer sphere. The ball is about 3in in diameter. You set this rotor in motion using a cord or your finger and build its speed by subtle rotation of the wrist. It contains no motor or no batteries. The faster you spin the inner rotor the more inertia it generates and the more resistance it subsequently inflicts upon the fingers, hands, wrists, arms and shoulders. These unique instruments generate massive force and put the shoulders, arms and wrists of the user under big pressure - making them ideal for fitness enthusiasts and virtually every kind of sport imaginable.
It literally comes alive, thrashing and jerking furiously, as your arms, wrists, shoulders and chest struggle to control and stabilize it - on and on it goes until even the fittest of athletes have to admit defeat and give up! It is really fun to work with. Actually you would not notice that you are working out. Try it! It is not expansive and could be bought at a local sports store or online.
NSD Store
Search for Power Ball
Greatest News
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Today we started our blog! We will talk about fencing, fencers, issues related to fencing and fencers. If you have suggestions, problems or an interesting topic please let us know and we will talk about it.
