Category Archives: Fencing

Fucked up finger

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Mr Topp Leave a comment

On Monday night I fenced.

Towards the end of practice, two mistakes were made. My opponent made a somewhat violent action that really had no chance of landing. I responded not by scoring a hit and getting a bruise, but by instead trying to cover up my body with my limbs, to “avoid” getting hit.

Both actions were the result of fatigue-fueled bad judgement. In combination, they produced a badly bashed index finger.

Today, it changed colours. I have dubbed it the fucked up finger:

I am not sure that this does it justice. It looks more severe in real life.

The NHS kindly provides us with the following information about the fucked up finger:

  • The fucked up finger is not broken.
  • The fucked up finger is not infected.
  • The fucked up finger suffers from internal bleeding, a non-fatal diagnosis.
  • I must watch the fucked up finger for finger fever, which would signal danger

The more you know?

Fencing, Observations

To referee or not to referee …

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Mr Topp Leave a comment

… that is the question.

Is it nobler to spend the long hours of one’s day at a thankless and exhausting chore? Or better to avoid refereeing where and when possible?

This is the question that was posed to me – more or less – by the entry form to this year’s Norfolk Open. It is a surprising question, in that it is normally not asked on the form. It is also an unsurprising question, in that there is not a tournament (for adults) in the UK in which the fencers do not have to referee themselves.

Even the national championships and Leon Paul Cup feature some self-refereed pools.

Since I have arrived in the UK — despite very much disliking the concept of the self-refereed event — I have contributed pretty much as much as I could, at almost every event I have attended. I am what you might call “not bad” at the whole refereeing thing (which is an attribute not shared by many of my fellow fencers), and figured that by pitching in I was improving things.

But I wonder if my contributions are actually improving things, or merely contributing to the status quo. The last tournament I attended featured a cadre of one referee who was not fencing — and he was one of the organisers. Between the men’s and women’s foil events, there was £2,000 in prize money and £0 spent on referees.

I refused to referee for free at this event with large cash prizes. It was the most enjoyable day I have spent at a (non-World Cup) tournament since I left Canada in 2006. Fencing. Watching my next opponent. Supporting my clubmates. I had not had a day like it in a long, long time. And I had missed being able to simply enjoy the atmosphere of a fencing tournament.

And I realized something – I don’t enjoy refereeing. Not enough to make it worthwhile.

If I’m waking up at 5 am, getting home at 10 pm, exhausting myself with exercise, spending money on trains, taxis, entry fees, fencing kit and (often) hotels, I want to enjoy that whole experience. And I enjoy it when I’m fencing, and spending time with (and supporting) my clubmates.

I do not enjoy it when every moment between bouts is spent refereeing. And if I’m spending money to attend the tournament — to spend time away from my daughter, to take a break, to have some recreation — I’m damned well going to make the most of it, and try to enjoy the experience.

So the Norfolk Open asked me if I would referee. They would cover expenses, they say. These would be mine:

  • Transport: Approximately £26.
  • Entry Fee: £17
  • Breakfast: £5
  • Dinner: £15

That’s £63. But it doesn’t take into account that it ruined my day of fencing, so they owe me another one of those, of approximately the same quality … £126. Which is probably not the amount they have in mind. And that’s assuming I’d “do it for free”.

Which is the second problem with refereeing in Britain. British Fencing policy is that referees are not paid; they are merely reimbursed their expenses. As a referee, you will always be somewhat overworked, but the amazingly small size of the British refereeing corps makes that even more so.

So I have a refereeing policy, which I will adhere to from now on:

I will not referee if I am fencing at a tournament. It is not why I’m there. I accept that some amount of refereeing is unavoidable, if the fencing tournament is to run at all, but I believe that by refereeing for free I am contributing to the problem, rather than the solution.

Hence, I will purposely avoid refereeing as a fencer. I will only referee if hired as a referee.

And in that case, my fees are 1 month of my fencing club fees (currently £90) plus expenses. The idea being that if I referee a tournament every month, it ought to cover my club fees.

What I can guarantee is that I am not paying upwards of £60 on the weekend to work my ass off so other people can enjoy their hobby while I’m not enjoying mine. I can save my money and have more enjoyable days in my garden.

Fancy hat available for sale here.

Fencing , , , ,

Practicing for defeat

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Mr Topp 1 Comment

Here at the Big Bad Blog, we think that we might not have this “training” thing quite right. Those of you with a good long-term memory might remember that, back in September, we posted that the first tournament of the year did not go too well.

We spoke of an increased competition schedule, and a pared back practice schedule.

All this is true, young Padawan.

This weekend, your intrepid blogger will be in Cardiff, preparing for another early exit from another large tournament. There exist dreams of glory, of course, but the reality is that the last tournament was followed with three practices.

The last of which was in late September.

After that there was the moving, and Maggie, and certainly no fencing. Not even a jog, if we are to be completely honest with you.

As a result, once again, on Saturday morning I will be hitting the piste while out of shape and rusty. I will have a poor seed from having been in insufficient competitions. This will mean:

Two difficult-to-impossible-to-win bouts instead of one in my pool.
One I-should-have-won-but-screwed-up bout in my pool.

This will culminate in three losses — four if I am having a bad day — instead of one. I have learned that you do not win the difficult fights if you don’t train. Unless your opponent also does not train. We can always dream.

This will lead to a bad seeding, and a loss in either the 64 or 32. And an early start to the rest of the weekend, including time to enjoy Cardiff.

My training regimen isn’t all bad, you see. It still works well when teamed with fencing tourism.

Photo by Mr. Topp. See it bigger here.

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Rusty duels in Essex

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Mr Topp 1 Comment


Just over a year ago, I began the fencing category on my blog with an entry titled The Return of the Fencer. With August (and much of July) being dead time during the domestic fencing season, it is a theme that will probably repeat itself ad nauseum.

Every September a new season begins. And every September I feel a bit of excitement as I try to get back into shape, and adjust my life around a fencing schedule.

Last year marked a return to fencing after a year off. Frequent travel and a developed distaste for British Fencing’s competition schedule meant that I didn’t practice as much as I would have liked, and competed even less than I practiced.

The practice front still looks dire. Travel for work looks less onerous in the coming months, but with a baby on the way there is simply no way I can dedicate one night a week to the sport, nevermind the three that I would prefer.

Competition is another matter. While I rationalized my absence from competition via my general disappointment in the quality of organzation and refereeing found at British Opens, I found I missed them. Because of this, my competition schedule is likely to be comparatively busy this year. Being spaced out and on weekends helps. So does the occasional attractive location that my partner might want to visit.

The competitive season began Saturday, with the Essex Open.

Not unexpectedly, the season did not start out well. Apparently, not doing anything athletic for four months is not a good preparatory plan for a fencing tournament. And the dearth of competition this past year meant that my seeding was low.

Low seedings lead to difficult pools, which lead to low seedings, which lead to early exits.

That said, with the exception of one bout in the pool, I comported myself fairly well through this first day back. Losses to all three top-50 fencers in my pool hastened a short day, but none of them ran over me — I had a chance to win every bout I fenced, there was just a bit too much rust there.

I’m hoping more competitions and occasional practice help to get rid of the rust. Because my usual method — regular practice — does not look likely to happen.

Of course, the baby’s delivery date likely mean another two months before I compete again.

The rust, it would appear, will remain for now.

The photo is not of Mr. Topp or the Essex Open. It is BY Mr. Topp, however, and can be seen larger here.

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