Note that after every hit, both fencers tend to be staring at the scoring system like this, just after screaming "Aurgh!" and right before pulling off their masks to argue right of way.
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I heard a lot of complaining about this mask. The official story is that
it was approved for use until the final 16 of the championships. I think
the wearer ended up 2nd or 3rd - can't recall. Great mask though - I think
it's an excellent idea. Just think how much more watchable the olympic fencing would
become for non-fencers if they could actually recognise the people
who were fencing - the marketing impact for fencing would be superb. In my opinion...
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This is the head coach of the salle I attend (Nottingham Cavaliers) facing off
against someone who ended up either winning, or quite close - I can't remember. I really
like the colours of the lames and masks. I'm usually a conservative/traditionalist type -
I suppose that's half the appeal of fencing, but even so, I can't help but like things
that throw some colour into a sport with what many see as being a dry appearance.
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More of the same - this is technically terrible for fencing, but
you can't argue with the results. I'm pretty sure that the one-legged
lunge isn't part of the traditional french style though...
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Another conservative pose from the french style. It's also known as the
"I dare you to hit me anywhere" style. Cocky, eh?
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The sabre! This looks like a lot of fun and a lot of pain, all at once.
Those blades are actually quite stiff, and they're not normally anywhere near as curved as that.
Sabre doesn't seem to be a weapon for the reserved.
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Nice one - very nice. The valid target areas for sabre are the grey bits, including the mask.
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Back to foil fencing, and this was a great match, from what I remember.
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Even without much light, the camera seemed to maintain a quick shutter speed.
Check out the curve on that normally straight blade Riseley is swinging.
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Justa nice lunge shot, that. |
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Right, so I thought that last shot had a nicely curved blade - check
out the blades in this one. At this point, things were a bit too quick for
my humble S50. |
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Nice action shot - gives a good idea of just how much blade movement
is really involved in fencing. Remember in foil they can only score with the tips,
not the length of the blade. |
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I'm running out of banter - I just like the picture.
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Beevers, who is ranked #1 in the UK. |
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An epee action shot! Epee is incredibly hard to shoot, because with the whole
body as a target the fencer is much more cautious than in foil, and with no
"right of way" rules, there is no rush to attack first as in sabre. Epee fights seem to be
several minutes of very delicate point control, followed by someone suddenly scoring.
Interesting, but hard to photograph.
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This is what most
of my epee shots looked like. |
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Either this is a great parry with the guard, or an incredibly
lucky parry with the guard. Hmm. |
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Back to sabre! Sabreurs are easy to photograph - all points seem to
be scored in the first 1.5 seconds of the president saying "Fence!" |
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Neat little attack shot... |
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With an unexpected defensive score. Note that after every hit, both fencers tend to be staring at the scoring system like this, just after screaming "Aurgh!" and right before pulling off their masks to argue right of way. |
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Sorry, just had to have one last sabre shot. Sabre just looks cool - what can I say?
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