The Phoenix Center

The Phoenix Center was very happy to have Michael Marx come out again to our area and work with our athletes. Michael, a 5 time Olympian, is one of the top coaches in the country. He worked with our students on “The Drill”, taught us how to use preparations in epee and showed us a great drill for problem solving! After that he watched all of our kids fence, analyzed them and offer them advice to improve their fencing. If that wasn’t enough, he also got up and fenced some of our fencers and then the folks who stuck around got to go through a line drill with him. Everyone who attended had a great time and Michael told us that this was a great area for fencing! He really liked everyone who was here and he told us that we had a great group that we were working with. Great job to everyone who attended the clinic!

Michael Marx at The Phoenix Center

We have updated the site with this years Summer Camps. We are excited to be able to bring back Michael Marx in June and Aaron Kandlik in August. You can see all of the info about the camps under the Fencing tab or click the link for a PDF Camp Flyer.
Camp Flyer 2011 low res

Please make sure your name is stenciled on your Lame or Knickers if you fencer foil or saber.  Epee fencers should have their name stenciled on their jacket or knickers.  The name is required for SYC, NAC’s, and Summer Nationals.

For foil competitions:

Jacket
Plastron
Chest protector (optional for men, required for women)
Foil Mask – NO Lame on the bib unless you are fencing nationally (Includes Qualifiers, ROC’s, NAC’s, and SYC’s)
Glove
Knickers
Long Socks
Foil Lame
At least 2 Body Cords (We recommend 2 prong as they are easier to fix)
At least 2 Electric Foil with a 2 prong socket – Size 2 or 0 blades for Y10 and younger. We recommend you use Viscounti grips or something similar.

For saber competition:

Jacket
Plastron
Chest protector (optional for men, required for women)
Knickers
Long Socks
Saber Mask
2 Head Cords
Glove with electric cuff
(Electric over glove if your glove does not have an electric cuff)
Saber Lame
At least 2 body cords (We recommend 2 prong as they are easier to fix)
At least 2 sabers – Size 2 or size 0 blade for Y10 fencers.

For epee competition:

Jacket
Plastron
Chest protector (optional for men, required for women)
Epee Mask (NO Lame on the bib unless you are fencing internationally)
Glove
Knickers
Long Socks
At least 2 Body Cords
At least 2 Electric Epees – Size 2 or 0 blades for Y10 and younger.

When fencing in competition you may choose to have more than 2 weapons and body cords. I frequently will bring 4 weapons with me to North American Cup events. Having extra weapons allows a stress free environment in case a wire breaks or the tip malfunctions. Competitive fencers will also frequently have spare wires, screws, tips, etc. This lets them do any necessary on-site repair.

Unfortunately, for those following Ian’s progress at JO’s, he did not make it out of his pools.  Ian finished 128 out of 154.  On a positive note, Ian earned his 5 as a saber referee this weekend!

Ian has arrived safely in Dallas and is checking in to fence his event!  Junior Men’s Saber is one of the first events of the day.  Ian will be competing against our nation’s top Junior fencers and although it will be challenging he certainly has the skills to go far today.  Good Luck Ian!

Vassar College’s Women’s Team takes the number 1 slot of the Northeast Conference for the first time in Vassar history!  The Men’s Team took 2nd, also a Vassar first.  The Combined results for Men’s and Women’s teams also put Vassar in first place in the conference!

Vassar College’s Head Coach, Bruce Gillman, has done a great job putting together a coaching team to help lead Vassar to this success.  This team includes 4 Phoenix Center members:  Eric Soyka, John Satterfield, Becca Kwiatoski, and Will Barnhart.