BladeFest 2014, Vet Epee

http://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=27065&highlight_competitor_id=91067&event_id=107153#107153

POOLS

John Comes. Lost 5-2.
I was probably over-confident at first, having won against him the last several times we fenced. Not this time. I attacked too much and too quickly, for one. He parry-riposted or counterattacked well, getting to 4-0 rather quickly. Yikes. Then I managed a point, mostly by luck. We doubled for the final point.

Niul Manske. Won 5-4.
A B fencer I had never heard of or fenced. Apparently he was only just returning to fencing after a long break. I was more patient with him, after my impatience with John failed. Niuls used a french grip and seemed to be a counterattacker who liked picking. He obviously knew his stuff, but was rusty from his long break, as I later learned. The rustiness meant I was able to score when he missed several picks. Even so it was close. We tied at 2-2, then I got a single light and kept a one point lead through a couple of fleching doubles.

Aaron Page. Lost 5-3.
The last time we fenced in a tournament pool, at the Seattle International Veteran's Cup, I beat him 5-1. That time I felt like I could feint and disengage him pretty well. This time he got the first point with a powerful binding attack that surprised me for being so strong. So I began fencing absence of blade and got the next point. I think he made a distance/blade mistake and I was able to hit with a direct lunge. Then I think we had a double touch and he scored again, I forget exactly what happened. Somewhere in there I decided I wasn't happy about fencing absence of blade, but I didn't want to give him my blade either, so I started using a lowish guard positioned for a possible septime beat or lift, like I had been practicing recently. That wasn't the best idea, especially against his style. I kept trying to gain a distance advantage and fleche. Eventually I did fleche, trying for a fast direct hit. He attacked into my fleche, or counter-fleched. We ran into each other a little. I thought it was a double touch but when I looked he had scored a single light. At the end I had my blade up again and he fleched with another very strong bind. I think he missed, or perhaps pulled his arm far back, then hit with a remise just in time as he ran by.

Jeff Johnson. Won 5-4.
Jeff is a relatively new fencer, but pretty good. We fenced a few times at RCFC open fencing in August, so I knew what to expect and what might work, more or less. He's left-handed, tall, and uses a French grip, which can be trouble. At first I tried some things that had worked back in August. My first attack might have worked except I went wide to my left and missed. I think I turned my hand over too much, making the tip go too far left. He scored. Then I tried an 8-6 fleche, feinting 8 and raising to 6. But he parried and hit. I might have been too obvious about starting to fleche. I was down 2-0, so I quickly changed tactics. Instead of attacking again I would wait for him. Before long he obliged me with an attack, and this time he was a little too obvious and I scored with a parry-riposte. Again I waited and again he attacked, and again I scored with a parry-riposte, or perhaps a counterattack. Being tied 2-2 felt better than being down 2-0. I forget exactly what happened next, whether I attacked and remised or he attacked and I countered, but whatever it was it ended with my getting a lovely touch on his forearm. That one felt good. Then we had a double touch, somehow, making it 4-3. The final point was also a double. He made an advance that was too inviting not to fleche into, so I did. My fleche was not great though, and he was able to get a double touch out of it. My aim was off and instead of hitting his arm I ended up hitting his neck somewhat under the bib. I was worried I had hurt him, but he was okay.

My DE bout turned out to be with Niul Manske. I had beaten him in the pools, but only by a point. Having just fenced him in the pools I felt I knew more or less what to do, and what not to do. As it turned out we had a lot of double touches. He was mainly counterattacking, and too many times I was drawn into an overly long attack as he retreated, resulting in a double touch or him simply picking my arm. He was up a point or two most of the bout, but I managed to tie it up at 8-8. With vet DEs only going to ten being tied 8-8 was exciting. But he got the last two points, winning 10-8. One of them was a nice fleche as I was stepping in a little too much.

A couple videos (not sure why sound cuts out, was fine in iMovie, hmm):