Club Competitions.

In 2006 the club as a whole decided to run monthly competitions amongst the members. We began by running an Epee Poule but this year we are also running a Foil Poule. The current results for 2008 are shown below.

The Poule rating is based on a rolling accumulation of points. The individual monthly competition results for both Epee and Foil are shown here.
For the dates of the monthly Club Poules you can check our Club Calendar.

Duel in The Park.

2007 was the inaugural year of Duel in The Park, an invitational competition designed to bring together local clubs to fence during the Danson Festival, an event that usually draws crowds of around fifty thousand over the two days.
For Duel in The Park 2007, click here.
For Duel in The Park 2008, click here.

External Competitions.

In our more recent history we have not entered competitions as a club but due to the expansion of the club we have begun to do so again. Some dozen or so of our more talented members also do so as individuals, fencing under the Bexley Fencing Club banner.

This is the bit that has come to be known as "The Fencer Diaries"

The Invicta Open 2008.
15th March.
The Spring adventures of the Competition Fencer...
“The first thing that can be said about the Invicta is that I was late out of the starting blocks. I had one of our younger competitors waiting for me at the station for about 15 minutes. I wonder how his parents drummed up enough confidence to let him in my car.

Finally I set off with the youngster in tow and proceeded to shave 12 minutes off the journey time to the venue. We arrived without the SatNav getting us too lost and proceeded to fill up on the appropriate beverages.
The Doctor and one of our enforcement fencers turned up a bit later, but well in time for check-in.

It was only a single round of poules for Invicta this year, so I needed to be in a reasonable frame of mind to unsettle a few people. Thankfully, none of the Bexley crew were drawn against each other. I did have an Army guy in my poule, along with a couple of people I've seen on the circuit previously.

I had two really good fights in the poule. Bexley v Army was a hard fight. Army is a leftie who happens to be quite a nice chap.
I opted for distance and no fleche (imagine the disappointment), and it worked a treat. That was a fight worth winning.
The other fight was one of sheer annoyance. My opponent decided he wanted to play psycho games and asked me to pull up my sock on my leading leg. Having done so with the ease and calm of a watchful eagle, I proceeded to pounce on him with the speed and precision of an attacking cobra. A 5-0 victory was nothing less than deserved.
I also beat the South African, who later went on to beat Taz in the DE. He was outsmarted by the subtle attack to foot that slid along the metal piste before planting itself on his toe. Four victories and two defeats in the poule (and a seeding of joint 21 out of 80 fencers) wasn't to be sniffed at.

All four Bexley fencers were through to the next round, although I was conscripted into the referee cadre by virtue of a bye into the L128. My L64 was against a Gadaski opponent. Cheering me on was the Red Head from Hunts FC. I had decided to use the pistol grip against my pommelling opponent - less distance but more strength to parry. It worked well. Parry and close quarter riposte. Feint to foot, parry and counter attack to body. Step back, bounce, fleche and hit. The blades clashed in their own time and blended with other blade music around the hall. Somewhere in all of that, I managed a decisive 15-7 victory.

And that was it really. My L32 was basically lost from the moment I realised who it was - a really good Italian from Haverstock. His bladework was so neat that I was happy enough to get five hits in the match. My fleche didn't work, partly because his armoury of parries was so effective. But when all was said and done, I had redeemed myself after the travesty of Edinburgh (not something I care to report on, for those of you who might be interested).

Whilst I had been fencing Italians, the rest of the Bexley crew had entered the Plate competition, with two of them finishing in the top four. Overall, another good outing for Bexley."

Note to Self: One bad result is not enough to throw in the towel
Note to Youngster: One hit at a time, one fight at a time. The rest is just packaging
Note to Yoda: I did well, so ...

Slough Open 2008.
2nd-3rd February.
Adventures of Team Bexley and the Competition Fencer...
"You know something is up when the chaps you're going to pick up are waiting outside the house in one of the cars. I could only assume that Dr. Tim had been kicked out for stepping on the cat.
Slough was taking place in Rickmansworth so we estimated a 90 minute journey. With two passengers and my trusted American voice (sat-nav) I hit the gas and arrived at the venue 50 minutes later - full 25 minutes to spare before check-in closed. The fact we had to walk 'miles' from the car park went down really well.

With a posh venue, one could only hope to do well and enjoy the surroundings. And then I saw my poule sheet - Raj, the ringer from Aldershot, Big Barbi, a semi-finalist from Kent and a few others. Gosh - did I end up at the wrong venue?
At least we had the company of our very own University fencer. She had the pleasure of taking some pics since she had fenced women's epee the day before. Generous lass that she is, she left the last places for others. I was impressed, it being her first open and all that. We had also been joined by Captain Kev and the WebMonkey who both missed the cut but only just.

Well, I had a good(ish) poule. I lost to the ringer and the left-handed Raj. But I was ecstatic to get the upper hand over Big Barbi. From 3-4 down, I managed to get a single hit for 4-4. I vaguely remember it being an arm hit - and he's left-handed. The final stroke of that fight culminated in him turning to angulate his own point. Fortunately, I managed to fix my point on his side/back as he turned. I can proudly say it was me that prevented him from seeding in the top 10 after the poules.

With four victories and a less-than-average indicator, I was required to fight off at the 128. The first six hits were only eventful in that I fenced low and scored without response. But then it went a bit wrong. Either he woke up or I fell asleep. Any which way, I lost a hit on a fleche and ended up scoring quite a few doubles. Not good. However, I managed to prevail and win the fight 15-8.

Next up, the L64 and the Silver Fox. This fight had quite a bit of screaming and plenty of frustration. I was ahead at the end of the first period, but it seems that the Fox woke up and realised what he was supposed to do.
As I have said elsewhere, there should be a law against Vets beating up young(er) fencers - at least until I can qualify as a Vet. Then the laws would have to change. What can I say? I lost the fight 13-15 (or some similar score). Again, I lost because I couldn't maintain the momentum. But don't let it fool you - I'm on the mend. The cure is in April. "

Note to self: You didn't do badly - you just didn't meet your expectations. Don't carry it into the next competition.
Note to others: Look out for Team Bexley - we're coming for ya.
Note to Yoda: Do we know where that tracksuit person has disappeared to?

Aldershot Open 2008.
12th January.
Further adventures of the Competition Fencer...
"Jumping into the Doctor's car at some unworldly hour seems to be a habit for this travelling swordsman. But that's exactly what we did a week after the Kent and Cambridge.
As always, we arrived in record time - thanks to the warp speed driving of Dr. Tim.
The actual competition was memorable for two things. The first was the fact that we fenced with the sun in our faces for most of the poule round. Not surprisingly, therefore, there were a few complaints from the fencers about poor organisation.
All I can say is that I lost all three fights where I was fighting into the sun. The other three fights were won by fencing from the non-sunny end. I must admit, there were some wiley characters in my poule.
A modern pentathlete, as well as a left-handed pommeller. Yep - they seem to be springing up everywhere. Even my changing to the carbon fibre grip did not help me against the pommeller. He was just a little too good for me.

My recollection of the proceedings beyond the poule are sketchy. However, I do recall coming up against a ringer in the L64 DE. Despite being ahead for quite a while, I ended up losing the fight 13-15.
Truth be told, I think I lost it when I was leading 12-10. Too much of a rush to get it over with meant he just picked me off and surged ahead. Suffice it to say, I was not a happy chappie.
However, I did resist the urge to throw my mask at the nearest spectator and give my most recent opponent an edema with my (un)trusty epee. "

Note to self: Winning is important, as is staying ahead (if you can). Getting all the points available is much further down the food chain.
Note to others: I am not, and never was, invincible, but I will make every effort to win on the piste. I'll be back.

The Kent Regional – Individual 2008.
6th January.
The exhausting exploits of the Competition Fencer...
"Having recovered from the adrenaline high (and low) of the Cambridge Winter, two very weary fencers jumped into a very nifty vehicle to glide along to the University of Kent in Canterbury. The day started well, with four BFC fencers (the other two managed to find their way without too many detours) sitting at a table laughing at a female fencer trying to get coffee out of a machine and wake herself up.

Having warmed up, we listened to Pete Huggins tell us he wouldn't allow kicking, biting or hair pulling. He then sent us into our respective poules - Tim and Scott having to face off in the poule. Kevin and I were in poules with absolute brilliance, but we still prevailed.
The DE was fun. I have some recollection of having a hard fight against somebody rather in awe of the stripes - but then, he had left off the fencing for quite a while. Having prevailed here, I went on to deliver a few hits to the chap who knocked Fitz out last year. Ah yes - we're talking about the semi-final here. The foot hit was brilliant, but I've got pictures of everything. The doctor was cheering whilst Kevin was taking pictures on the nifty camera. Scott was giving the advice. Victory in the semis suddenly opened my eyes to the fact that I was facing Ralph in the final. Oops.

The fight started well - I mean, I was leading. Distance and a half decent fleche (or two) were key. But nobody ever said Ralph was silly. He picked up around the period when I was leading 6-4. From then on, it would appear that his 150% effort kicked in. I think there were lots of screams on both sides (although I heard a woman on another piste scream louder than me), and plenty of encouragement from the wings.

Alas, experience prevailed over youth. And there was a yell of victory from the lungs of Ralph when he finally prevailed 15-10. But a silver medal for second place is nothing to complain about."

Note to self: Another medal? I need a cabinet
Note to others: BFC has two silver medals in the space of two months
Note to webmaster: Perhaps we should get a bit of publicity in the local papers?

Addendum

"In a sport of kings and gentlemen, it is rare to see an opponent deprive himself of a hit and hand himself a yellow card. But my final with the wiley Mr. Johnson was memorable for exactly that.
He accused himself of turning his back whilst I was executing a fleche. I could only watch in admiration and awe as he insisted that the referee show him the yellow and annul the point that he would have scored. His well-deserved victory was all the more thrilling - from the view of both the spectator and the competitor."

The Cambridge Winter 2008.
5th January.
The new year adventures of the Competition Fencer...
“Having consumed copious amounts of goose, ham and alcohol over the festive period, the thought of competing against seasoned athletes in the first weekend of the new year was less than appealing, Nevertheless, I jumped in the doctor's car and we breezed off to Cambridge at a stately 90mph.

Arriving with 15 minutes to spare before check-in closed, we found one of our nomadic members returning to the fencing fraternity. We also found out there were 79 fencers in total.
My first round of poules was reasonably acceptable, even if I fail to remember how I managed to win four of my five fights. Hunts. FC almost caused my downfall though - simply because the blond related to Jack Sparrow had improved since I last fenced him. I lost 4-5 but then won the poule on indicators.
My second poule was a but more memorable - perhaps I had woken up by then. I came up against a chap who knocked me out in the Aldershot '06 event. So, other than losing that fight, I won the remaining four to give me a total of eight victories in the poule - ranking 12th after both rounds.

The DE was a different affair. My first fight was against a chap from CADS (who was nice enough to send me some pictures of the fight). He wasn't too impressed by my stripes and went about trying to knock me out in the L64. Fortunately the fleche came to my rescue, along with some stop hits and a nifty duck or two. Finally, the chap gave way and allowed me a well-needed (notice how I didn't say earned) victory.
Down to the L32, and I'm fencing against Haverstock's Biker A'. I'd watched him come from 10-14 to win 15-14 in the previous round so I wasn't taking any chances. Distance was the key, with some well timed parry-riposte deliveries. I was also fortunate in that every time he ducked I had a good view of his back. I even managed to hit it a couple of times.

Another victory and into the L16 where I came up against that Aldershot nemesis again. This wasn't good - or so I thought. But then I got the first hit, and the second. Gosh - I even got the third and managed to have a 6-4 lead at the end of the first period. The second period went in the opposite direction. He caught up and then tried to bolt ahead. I wasn't having that and so upped the ante in the last period. Somehow, from a lead of 11-9, I found myself staring defeat in the face. Then we got to 12-12 before my crafty opponent went 13-12 ahead. Unfortunately, my attempted fleche was out of both distance and time, the score ending 12-13. I can't complain though. It was a good outing. More importantly, all three BFC fencers were in the L32 or beyond. Once again, BFC is firmly imprinted in the minds of the fencing fraternity."

Note to self: More of the same at Kent and Aldershot
Note to others: It's time we started taking pictures at events
Note to secretary: Er - aren't we missing something

The Other Fencer Diaries.

The Fencer Diaries for July to December 2007 are here.

The Fencer Diaries for January to June 2007 are here.

The Fencer Diaries for 2006 are here.

The Diaries of a University Fencer are here.

Future Competitions.

There is a list of some of the competitions on our Club Calendar. If you would like a more comprehensive list of what is coming then the best place to look is the British Fencing Website.