BladeFest 2015, Vet Epee, and gold

BladeFest 2015, Vet Epee

https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=30135&highlight_competitor_id=91067&event_id=118403#118403

Since Nationals at least I've been slow in writing up these "after action reports". Maybe because it's summer. It seems best when I do it just after a tournament—like right after. If a few days pass it easily becomes a few weeks. Immediately after BladeFest there was a lot of summer and kid related stuff going on, so it has taken a while. Let's see what I can still remember.

Well, the awesome thing was coming in first place. I've been wanting to come in first place for a long time. I didn't care what kind of tournament, any kind would do. An E and under with only six fencers, sure, whatever. I've come in second place twice (both in U only tournaments, but still), and third place at least five times. I wanted to come in first someday, if only to see what it feels like.

After Nationals my tournament goals were basically to get a D rating and to come in first in something, anything. So it was funny that in the very first tournament after Nationals, the Subway Games, I got a C, and then in the next tournament, BladeFest Vet, I came in first. Well. Time for new goals.

Actually, I figured those goals were basically "things that would be nice". I don't think moving up the ratings is a very good goal, since there is so much random chance involved. And coming in first, yea, it wasn't something I was consciously aiming for—more an "it would be nice" thing. My "real" goals have more to do with specific "getting better at fencing" things—improving my balance, less shoulder tension, better parries, etc. Then again, these are goals that don't really have an end point.

Anyway, coming in first was nice. And it wasn't as small or easy a tournament as it could have been—I had to win four DEs. In other tournaments I've won several DEs but always lost one in the end, of course. To continue winning until there is "no one left" felt very nice, I must say.

POOLS

There were 18 fencers, so three pools of six. Throughout I felt a bit off, uncertain, a little slow and unfocused.

First I fenced Robert Lampson. We hadn't fenced in a long time. I remember fencing him in a pool at...the Battle in Seattle? And winning, but it was close. I remembered using strong beats against his French grip style, but also having some lucky touches. He was using a French grip again, I think, so I went in with the idea of trying to draw attacks or at least blade extensions, then using hard beats. Things didn't go quite like I hoped. He was faster on his feet than I expected, and I felt slow and uncertain, like I often do in a first pool bout.

He got the first two points, the second one a nice toe touch that surprised me. Then I got one, somehow, and another with, finally, a hard beat and fleche. Then he got the next two. I think I kept inching a little too close, trying to draw him out. I wanted to draw him out in ways I could beat or parry, but instead he just hit me. Or I would try a strong beat but he'd get his point back in line fast, or evade my beat. Maybe my actions were too obvious.

At 4-2 I started to get a little more focused and got a single. Then we ended up a little tangled and close, and he hit my shin, I think. Afterward he said that last one was lucky. Maybe, but he probably would have won one way or another.

Then I had Jeff Lucas, who has been getting a lot better lately and almost won—should have won even. I've forgotten how things began, but I think we were tied 2-2 and he got a nice outside hand hit, making it 3-2. Then, if I remember right, we doubled, making it 4-3. That got me trying to be very careful. Doubles would not do. I took my time trying to find an opening and, luckily, he launched a fleche from too far, basically giving me a point and making it 4-4. I don't remember the details of the last point, except that it was close either way. I got it and won, 5-4, but it was very nearly his. Could have gone either way. Yikes.

Third up was Jeff Johnson. I felt like I knew what I should do with him. We had practice fenced a bit in July and discussed what worked or didn't work against each other. And I had watched him and seen how his main tactics work. Of course he had fenced me and knew what my tactics were too, particularly my tactics against him. So it wasn't surprising when he did a good job denying me opportunities to do the things I wanted to—mainly strong beats against his French grip and drawing him into attacking. He very patiently waited me out, keeping his blade back and out so I couldn't beat, and tempting me to go for his inside hand, arm, or body. I did my best to feint and draw his attack, but he was good about not biting until I was truly committed to a real attack. Then he would get my arm on the outside, as expected.

Still, I managed one nice inside hand pick and kept the score fairly close. We tied 2-2, then he got up a point and we essentially doubled our way to my 5-4 loss. Toward the the end time was running out. I kept trying to get him to attack and he patiently waited, content with his lead and defense. My last attempts to tie came in the last few seconds of the bout.

There was an odd bit where we had a mild corps-a-corps and the ref gave Jeff a yellow card. Jeff asked why and he said "corps-a-corps", which was confusing. It might have made sense for jostling or something, although it had been a mild and clearly unintentional corps-a-corps. Jeff almost let it pass, it just being a yellow card, but asked for further clarification. After a bit of confusion the ref apologized and said he was mistaken, no card. [edit: just realized it is "corps-a-corps" not "corp-a-corp"; silly French]

After Jeff I was one and two, not where I had hoped to be. Next up was Brent Farnsworth, who I figured I should be able to beat, but then I had figured my bout with Jeff wouldn't have been as close, and that I should have done better with Jeff and Robert. I have to stop thinking I "should" or "shouldn't" be able to do things! But, perhaps by this point I was getting more in the right headspace. I did well and won 5-1. I don't remember the details, although I think I was starting to use this Max Heinzer-inspired thing involving a tip-up guard, inviting hand hit attempts, coupled with extra-strong seconde beat/smacks, followed by either sixte oppositions or, failing that, sixte-prime type stuff. I used this kind of stuff quite a lot in the DEs with decent results.

Anyway, all I remember with Brent is getting one weird hit on his back while passing him in a fleche...or while he was passing me. And one time I fleched and missed, letting him score.

Next up, and last, was Dreas Nielsen, a newish (I think) WFA fencer. We had warmed up a little together, but otherwise I don't think we had fenced before. Our bout was fairly ugly and I felt like I was awkward. One time I charged badly in a kind of half-hearted fleche that abruptly stopped right in front of him. I got stuck and he scored. Otherwise I did okay, if somewhat awkward, and ended up winning 5-3.

I came out three and two with an indicator of +4, which got me third place in my pool. Both Jeff Johnson and Robert Lampson won all their bouts but one (Robert lost to Jeff and Jeff lost to Brent). Jeff had a +11 indicator and easily took first in the pool, and 3rd seed overall. Carlo Malaguzzi also went four and one in his pool, with a +15 indicator, so got 2nd seed. Mark Blom won all five pool bouts and got 1st seed. I tied with Joel Howard for 7th seed. I worried that this would not be high enough to get far in the DEs.

DIRECT ELIMINATION

I was thinking BladeFest was a Div 2 tournament, so everyone was a C or under, except Frank Hewitt, a B. I wasn't sure why Frank was in a Div 2 tournament but figured there was some reason. Later I learned that the vet event was not limited to Div 2. I was lucky, I guess, that no one like John Varney was there. Still, I had to laugh when I saw that my first DE was with Frank Hewitt, the sole B fencer.

I've learned to ignore ratings, but I couldn't help but notice that he was the only B, and everyone else was a C or less. Also, I don't think I have fenced Frank before. Or if I have I couldn't remember. Don told me a bit about him. Apparently he is on the US World Vet team, which scared me, but in the over 70 category, which made me a little less scared—though not much. Don warned me about Frank's excellent bladework and point control. I went in feeling concerned and nervous. But things went very well and I won fairly easily, in one period and a decent lead the whole time.

I mainly stuck with shallow actions and lots of disruptive blade actions, beating his blade and trying to break up anything he might try to set up, while looking for shallow opportunities and trying to stay threatening. I used that "Heinzer" thing a lot and it seemed to work pretty well. I'd do hard swats in seconde which would sometimes surprise and "freeze" him for a moment, and sometimes would get him to launch an attack, perhaps because my blade would go far outside, but I could return to sixte quickly. I'm calling this stuff "Heinzer" for lack of any other name, but I'm sure it isn't at all like what Heinzer was actually doing in the video I got the ideas from. Actually, maybe I should call it "seconde swat". I don't know.

In that video Heinzer kept using a guard with his tip way up, making a very blatant invitation to his lower hand. It was way too blatant an invitation for anyone to fall for, not at Heinzer's level. I'm not sure what the point was for him. But from this position he would make very strong "swats" into seconde, sometimes onto the other person's blade, sometimes not. Again I'm not sure what this means at his level. Then, sometimes, he fleched out of the seconde swat, sometimes with opposition in sixte, sometimes in octave. It wasn't exactly clear to me, but it looked cool enough for me to try out in rough imitation a bit in practice. And I had figured out a few possible things to do with this "seconde swat" thing. I suspect one of the key things for me was the surprise of how strong a swat I can do, especially from that tip-up guard position. Thwacking the blade far out of line might trigger a bit of panic. Also, my own blade goes rather far out of line with these swats, and sometimes I would throw out one that intentionally missed the other person's blade, with the goal of drawing an attack.

(Actually, I just remembered Leland Guillemin posted a gif of Heinzer a month or two ago, showing an example of this move: http://www.gfycat.com/GranularHauntingGalapagosalbatross —this gif was the seed of my trying "seconde swats", although I highly doubt what I do is anything at all like what Heinzer does! Leland describes it a bit in this reddit post, https://www.reddit.com/r/Fencing/comments/395mbp/one_of_my_favourite_max_heinzer_touches_from_the/ — he calls it an 8-6 fleche and "one of Heinzer's patented moves". While Leland calls it an "8" it looks more like a 2 to me.)

I wasn't really sure about most of this, and still am not, but writing now I think another key aspect of this swat tactic is to draw attacks—by getting so far out of line maybe I look vulnerable to a high line attack. So I'd swat and if the other person attacked I'd quickly return to sixte, and if that didn't catch their blade (ie, they disengaged to the inside), prime. I suspect this whole thing is a tactic of limited long-term value. A couple days later Aaron Page said he had worked out some ways to deal with it, for example. But also, it seems like the kind of tactic that depends on surprise. Surprise by the strong swat, and surprise by the apparently high line opening. If I use it enough for someone to get used to it they are bound to work out ways to deal with it, or at least not to attack into it. So I'm already kind of giving it up. Also, the strength of the swat makes me reluctant to do it very much in practice, where against most people it feels somewhat rude. In tournaments though...

Anyway, I won my first DE, yay. Next I was paired with 2nd seed Carlo Malaguzzi, which made me shake my head. We've fenced quite a bit over the years and he usually beats me, often badly. But lately I feel like I have begun to figure out what might work with him, and what definitely does not work. Mainly I seem to have trouble with his binds and beats, especially his binding fleches. I get in trouble if I let him take my blade, especially if I also give him time to set things up. In other words, in the past I learned that if make strong/deep attacks, he parries well and hits me. If I wait for him to attack he sets up lovely fleches with beats or binds. Seen that way I needed to avoid making big attacks but prevent him for setting up his own attacks.

So I went in with a few basic tactical ideas. I would use absence of blade so he would have trouble beating or binding. And I would try to break up his prep with my own beats and with footwork, in and out, broken up. Also I would try to stay shallow and defensive. I get in trouble when I fleche him.

That was the basic idea, and it worked well. I used absence of blade in both down and up positions—sort of like Dragonetti does (or Heinzer in that gif, though I was "more absent" than that). The upward absence position was just right for starting that seconde swat, so I threw that out a lot. I mostly scored by counterattacking. His attacks were easier to deal with from an absence of blade position, since I still have a lot of trouble when he beats and binds me. When I attacked we mostly doubled—he'd parry me and hit on the riposte, while I would usually just manage to escape his parry in time to double. I soon gave up attacking. Once I was up a few points everything seemed easier. I was happy to wait and did well with counterattacking. As I got up more he was forced to attack more. I won 10-5. Afterward Jeff Lucas said it looked "decisive". Carlo, Jeff, and I went out to eat after the event and I learned that Carlo wasn't feeling 100%—his knee, or ankle, or something, was not feeling great, which was throwing him off. That undoubtedly helped me be "decisive".

Next up was Aaron Page in a semifinal bout. I had made it to at least third place. I looked forward to this one. It feels like sometimes Aaron just destroys me, but other times he seems off and I do well. I don't think we had had a DE bout before. In any case it was the hardest DE bout for me. It was close most of the way. I got up a point or two, then he came back. I think we tied 8-8, then I got the last two points to win.

My tactics were similar to what I did with Carlo. I tried to stay shallow and avoid deep attacks, feeling daunted by Aaron's parries. So I tried staying shallow and using lots of disruptive bladework, especially those seconde swats. Afterward Aaron called them "traps", which I guess they are, even if I hadn't worked it out in my head very well. He said he kept trying to evade my swats and hit my hand, but couldn't quite get it to work. Thinking about that action now it does seem like a trap, or a double trap even. At first it's a blatant invitation/trap, with my hand exposed from below. Then the swat opens my hand up from above. The first invitation is too blatant to work, unless I get stupidly close. The second one though. Maybe if done well it can look like I am not meaning to expose my hand like that. I think at the time I half meant the swat as a trap and half didn't really understand what I was doing, which perhaps made it more convincing and less blatant.

Anyway, I think I got a few points out of the seconde swat trap thing, or at least broke things up and distracted him. A couple times he fleched from too far, which I was happy to take advantage of. The last point, I was up 9-8 but for some reason ended up attacking with a fleche. I got parried but managed to escape and, passing, landed a hit on his knee. It was a bit awkward and lucky. But I'll take it.

The final bout was with Mark Blom, who had won all his DEs rather decisively (10-3 in all three). I had watched some of his bouts and seen people falling for his leftie French-grip tactics. I felt like I had fenced him enough to know basically what to expect and what to do. I needed to protect my outside, watch out for his surprise toe and low line attacks, and try to use a lot of beats if I could.

So, mainly, beats, attempt to draw attacks, stay shallow. Twice I tried a beat and attack to the body inside, and both times he recovered from the beat in time to hit my arm outside. Don, who coached me in the breaks, told me to stay outside and shallow. That going for the body was not going to work well. And that protecting the outside might mean way outside, as Mark sometimes gets way out there and angulates to the arm, getting around a "normal" parry six. Something like that.

So I stopped trying to go deep and worked more on the outside line. I found I was able to stop some of his outside attacks with what felt like really wide parry sixes.  I had trouble scoring from that position, but at least I stopped him a bit. I got one point simply by keeping my bell guard at his point, so that his attack got deflected by my guard just enough to miss, while my point just nicked his arm. That one surprised me a little and I didn't quite understand it. In a break Don explained it and after I kept trying to put my bell guard in the way of his point.

I got at least two points with a kind of high six beat followed by a prime-like lunge. Mark's blade was often way over in "my six", what with him being left-handed and tending to hold his blade outside and sometimes a bit point-up absence-ish. So sometimes I could make a strong sweeping beat into six and then lunge to his inside, turning my hand over and moving my arm away in a somewhat prime-like way. Sometimes, I think, I was able to capture his blade in six this way and transfer it to prime, so his blade would be caught behind my guard.

Anyway, I won 10-8—the same score as with Aaron Page, but I think I kept up a better lead than I had with Aaron. I felt fairly well in control. I made a few mistakes but corrected them (with some help from Don), and felt like I adjusted to things pretty well.

All in all it felt really nice to come in first. It also got me a C rating for the second time, making me feel like I really deserved it, even if ratings are best ignored and mean a lot less than they seem to. Also, it was interesting to see how I moved from feeling slow, uncertain, and not well focused in the pools, to much more focused and confident in the DEs. Where I felt a bit distracted in the pools and thought too much about bigger picture things, in the DEs I felt much more able to focus on "one touch at a time", with minimal distraction about the score. Maybe in part it has to do with the fact that if a DE is lost then you are finished fencing. I don't want to be finished fencing, so I work harder in the DEs?

Toby took some photos. Thanks Toby!

I score on Carlo, I guess he missed.

Carlo scores on me. This one showcases some bad form on my part, ugh.

Aaron and me.

Aaron and me from the other direction.

Apparently I scored on Mark Blom here, despite the awkward form. Perhaps a double touch.

This and the following are nice, showing me and Mark and the "six-ish to prime-ish" thing. Here the six-ish part, although looking now, unsure if "six" is at all the right term.

And the prime-ish lunge.

Gold!