Vet Mixed Epee
Came in 3rd and got a nice medal, yay. Being a small group it was not crazy hard to do, but I was happy with doing fairly well in the pools (and getting a bye as a result), and then beating Mark Blom in the DEs. He's been beating me recently and had a good start, but I felt like I figured some things out during the bout and managed to get to 8-8, then 9-9, and the final point. Then I fenced Michael Mehall and lost 7-10. Then Michael fenced Erich Cranor for gold and Erich won.
Pools
I tried to keep in mind at least three "go to" actions to use in the pools. I hadn't fenced any of the people in my pool before, so I figured I might be able to use my 4-6 attack. I also figured I would try what I've been calling my "Dragonetti fleche". For a third action I figured I'd try my 6-prime trap, or if people didn't fall for that a leg/knee touch. Failing that I wanted to use lots of active in-and-out footwork and patience, coupled with hand and forearm threats, feints, and attempts. I was less sure what to do with Erich Cranor since he is left-handed. Both my 4-6 thing and the Dragonetti fleche don't translate well to lefties. With Erich I just figured I needed to be extra careful of my outside and my distance. I thought I would make lots of hand attempts, perhaps try prime or 2, and maybe go for his knee, which he kinda sticks out.
Debra Allen (SAF, E2014), won 5-3. I hadn't met Debra before. She's so friendly and cool. I felt a little cold going into my first bout but warmed up pretty fast, trying to focus on being active and patient. I got the first point in a way I can't remember. A parry-riposte maybe. Then I tried my 4-6 attack and it worked just right, 2-0. Then she got a point, I think with a nice disengaging attack. Then I tried my "Dragonetti fleche" and although a little ugly it worked nicely too, 3-1. I forget exactly what happened next except that it was a double touch, so 4-2. At the end I tried another Dragonetti fleche but she counterattacked and hit. I was a little surprised to see I hit too, so we doubled and I won 5-3.
Richard Hoopes Jr. (TFC, B2013), won 5-3. Starting out he seemed a bit unready and slow, so I soon fleched. He countered and we doubled, 1-1. Then I did my 4-6 thing and it worked nicely, 2-1. Then, as with Debra, I tried my Dragonetti fleche, and again it worked well, 3-1. Then, I forget exactly—I was probably trying to draw a fleche I could prime against and he wouldn't go for it. Somehow we doubled, 4-2. Then, since I couldn't get him to fleche and he seemed a bit slow on his feet and open to being fleched I tried to set up footwork for a fleche. Slow advance, quick retreat retreat, pause, etc. Eventually it seemed right and I fleched. He managed a counter and we doubled, so I won 5-3.
Erich Cranor (NWFC, A2013), lost 4-5. Erich was the top rated fencer in my pool. I had seen him fence very well before, although I'd never fenced him myself. He's tall, thin, and left handed. To my surprise I did pretty well. He started off well, scoring the first two points with nicely done attacks that confused me. Then I got a point in a way I can't quite remember, except that it felt good. I think it was a counterattack to his arm. He was fencing fairly aggressively, pushing me back and fleching or making long lunges. I wasn't expecting to win, but mostly just trying to get as many points as I could. So I was ready to try for double touches by counterattacking. On the next touch I tried to wait and bait and eventually he fleched. I counter-fleched and we doubled, making the score 2-3. Then, after much maneuvering, something similar happened again and we doubled. So it was 3-4. One of my plans was to go for his knee if he attacked high. On the next touch I saw him coming off the line quickly. He made an immediate fast attack to the high outside. Somehow I had the presence of mind to counterattack low to his knee just in time for his blade to go over my head. He said it was well done. I was pleased. So we were 4-4. I worked hard on the last point, being patient and as active as I could, trying to find or make openings. We had a little exchange then both attacked. I thought, or hoped at least, it was a double. But it wasn't. He won, 5-4.
Michael Moore (NWFC, C2013), lost 4-5. Ratings can't always be relied upon. Michael was fencing very well. I watched him beat Erich and others. I was worried but planned to use the same basic tactics I had been using. Michael was fast and strong so I tried to keep some extra distance and use some absence of blade, and I tried to be more active and in-and-out with footwork—closing rapidly then opening distance wide a lot. I can't remember the details of the first few points. I got one point using my 4-6 tactic, which felt good. I tried my "Drag. fleche" but it failed. I think I was starting it from too far. Joel later said he thought I was fleching from way too far. Anyway, we got to 2-3, then I scored in an exchange where I thought his counterattack was good, but I must have just grazed his arm going in. This made it 3-3. He made a very nice beat-fleche to my arm, 3-4. I kept trying to close then open distance, seeking to draw a fleche from out of distance. It worked and he fleched from far enough that I was able to swat his blade with a big 2, then riposte sideways as he ran by. So, another 4-4 bout. Again I tried to draw a long fleche and again it worked. This time he fleched from way too far. I retreated and had soooo much time. Time enough to think "ah ha, got it" as I took aim. But he managed to keep his blade free from mine and land his point on my arm. Argh!
Patrick Daugherty (NWFC, D2011), won 5-3. I don't think I had met Patrick before, but having watched him in the pools my plan was to try and use in-and-out fast footwork to draw attacks. It seemed possible to trigger fleches from out of distance. But I also wanted to try my tactics of the day. I don't remember the exact details very well. I couldn't get my 4-6 thing to work, but my "Drag. fleche" worked twice. Once he fleched and I parried, then hit him on the leg almost by chance as he ran by. That one was a little lucky. A couple other times we had exchanges and ended up in infighting distance and he kind of gave up trying, letting me get easy points. I got up to 4-3, then used the Drag. fleche to win.
Direct Elimination
So, pretty good pool. I seeded 5th out of 11. Better than my initial seeding by rating, which was 9th or 10th (Debra and I are both E2014, Joel is E2013). There were five byes, so I just barely got one. My two 4-5 losses made a difference. Richard Hoopes and I both won 3 and lost 2 bouts, but I had scored 23 touches to his 20, and received 18 to his 19. Or put another way, his two losses were 5-2 and 5-3, while mine were both 5-4. That's what gave me a first round bye, while Richard fenced Patrick Daugherty in the first round and lost 10-9.
I was paired with Mark Blom in the second round. He also got a bye, seeding 4th. In the past Mark has usually beaten me, although I've beaten him at least once, in a pool. This day we had warmed up together and he had scored on me a lot more than I had on him, although in my defense I was focused on warming up rather than scoring per se. The bit of warming up we did helped me plan for our DE. Mark is left handed, which often gives me trouble. He uses a French grip, which is usually something I like, if I can take advantage with hard beats and strong takes. But the way Mark holds his blade, which I took note of in warm ups, makes it hard to do a "normal" beat, due to the angle and left-handedness. He is good at surprise toe-touches and, like a French-gripper, quick disengages and picks. I went into the DE without a strong plan. Mostly I intended to keep good distance, try and be faster on my feet, and try for second intention type actions.
Mark was up a point or two for most of the bout, but I was able to keep it close. At some point, despite my intention to be ready for it, he got me with a toe touch. Another time I got rather lucky—he made an attack and I swatted it aside but totally missed my remise, going clear over his shoulder. I was wide open but he missed twice, giving me enough time to recover from my miss and hit. We got to 4-6, which felt like a rather dangerous place to be when the bout is only to 10 points. Knowing I had to get single lights I became more patient. I also began to work out a tactical approach that in the end worked pretty well. I couldn't beat his blade the "normal" way, but I could make strong downward beats in 2 and upward beats toward 6. I began doing both of these quite a bit, to distract him and break up his plans if nothing else. Before long I realized that even with a strong beat he came back on line too quickly for me to make a direct attack without doubling, and he'd come back on line ready to disengage if I tried to take his blade, which would also result in a double touch. But if I beat and made a convincing feint he might be drawn into a counterattack out of distance, then I could get a clear and open shot. It also seemed to help for me to mix up my downward and upward beats, trying to set up minor patterns to be broken. Figuring these things out got us to 8-8, then 9-9. By then I felt good about this tactic, although worried about the close score. I kept up the hard beats and feints and eventually he counterattacked into a feint, giving me a wide open shot. So I won 10-9, woo.
Afterward he told me I did a good job in changing tactics. I felt good about it too—adjusting tactics during a bout is one of the things I have difficulty with. I think I did good with patience and focus toward the end—often I feel an urge to rush toward the end of DE bouts, to try dangerous things, when usually I ought to be doing the exact opposite. This time I felt the urge to rush but held it in check.
So, with just 11 of us and with my first round bye, I made the final 4, where I fenced Michael Mehall. Michael had been in the other pool, and I had never met him before. I got to watch him finish his DE with Maria Copelan. I watched knowing I would fence the winner. I kinda hoped Maria would win since I knew her slightly better, but Michael won 10-7. Watching I saw he was strong and fast, and good but not particularly unusual. I figured I would continue with the same basic tactics I had been using. We had a good bout and I think I mostly did what I "should have" done. Except I sometimes fleched from too far, and sometimes allowed him to fleche from too close. Also I felt like I simply missed a few too many times. There were two or three times where he fleched and I made good parries but missed my ripostes while he snuck in remise hits before running by. At least twice he fleched by and yelled in frustration before realizing he had actually scored the point and I hadn't. Anyway, we got to 6-8, then 7-8, at which point I tried to be extra patient, looking for singles, while he seemed to turn things up a notch. He got the last two touches with a burst of speed. I made "correct" parries, but too slow. So he won 10-7.
Michael Mehall and Erich Cranor fenced for first place. It was fairly close. Erich won, 10-8. Coming in 3rd, or tied for 3rd anyway, meant I got a medal and stood on the podium for pictures. I also got a little insulated bag thing printed with "Columbia International Division 1A ROC 2014". They said the bags, for 1st-3rd places, had "goodies" in them. The goodies turned out to be a little pack of peanuts, some dried fruit, and a granola bar, heh. They actually had medals for 8th place and higher, which was more than half of us.
It felt very nice to come in 3rd and get a medal and all. It's been a while since I came in 3rd or 2nd (I've yet to be 1st). If I remember right I've been 2nd or 3rd six times now. Three times at U-only tournaments in Tacoma, once at a U-only tournament at SAS, and once at a D and under SAS tournament with just ten fencers. I got medals at the Tacoma tournaments but not the SAS ones, so this was my fourth medal and the first that wasn't from a Tacoma U-only tournament. While it feels a little silly to enjoy medals, and I always remember Mikol Ryan saying he didn't care for them because "I have a drawer-full of medals", well, I got a kick out of it.
Senior Men's Epee
The next day I was in the Senior Men's Epee event. There were 39 fencers, all quite good and most very very good. I did very poorly—perhaps the worst I've ever done, although it was perhaps the hardest tournament I've been in. I won't go over it here, except to say my pool was Wesley Johnson, Andrew Lee, Sawyer Jackson, Henry Lange, and Tristan Krueger. My DE was with Zachary DeWitt.
I took a video of Tristan Krueger and Cole Mallette fencing in the final 8. Lots of prime-like infighting craziness. Maybe some ideas for fencing lefties.
The director of this bout was a kid, which is always nice to see. Justin Meehan was there too, as a mentor perhaps. There were a few tricky calls (well, tricky for epee) and I think the kid did very well, especially considering the craziness of the fencing and less-than-wonderful attitude of the fencers. At one point the ref called halt then had to think about what the halt was for. Justin prompted him and he decided to call it corp-a-corp, which was the right call, I think. Later he gave Cole a yellow card for turning his back. Cole complained about it in a rather impolite way, but watching the video it seems quite clear that Cole was fencing his with back turned and not "just waiting for the halt" as he claimed. Near the end Cole got a touch that Tristan didn't think hit him and in the video looks like a wall-hit. The ref let that one stand, but in his defense it is hard to tell even in video slow motion. Good job, kid.
