The Pomme de Terre is one of the largest tournaments in the Northeast. With over 500 entries it becomes a very exciting event.

Over the weekend, our Asst. Coach, Will Barnhart earned his B rating in Epee and re-earned his B rating in Foil! Ian Shultis not only did a great job fencing Saber on Saturday, he also directed several bouts on Sunday, including many semi-finals.

We had a some of our Teen students fence in the Pomme de Terre, Andy Zito, Vincenzo Agostaro, Russell Brearley, Ted Nalesnik and Jacob Shultis. All of these fencers had a great time participating and fenced very well.

Saturday evening, Team Phoenix went out and explored Waltham, Ma. We found a great restaurant, The Watch City Brewery, which offered a variety of moderately priced meals. One of the more notable menu items was the Tick Tock, a deep fried cheese burger!

We would like to once again congratulate everyone who participated this weekend. Also, we would like to Thank all of the parents and family members who made it out to support and cheer for the athletes.

Results from this tournament should be up on askFRED.net soon. We are also in the process of uploading the weekends videos to ourYoutube channel.

This fencing day camp will be coached by Aaron Kandlik and Eric Soyka. Anyone participating at Summer Nationals is welcome. Students should be prepared for multiple private lessons, tactical situations, as well as a lot of bouting.

The Camp will run from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Please pre-register if you plan on attending.

Please check askFRED.net or call/email us for more info.

http://askfred.net/Clinics/moreInfo.php?clinic_id=11542

C & under Men’s Foil

Russell Brearley – 1st Place

Dan Raven (Marist) – 2nd Place

Dan McCarthy – 3rd Place

D & under Men’s Foil

David Amrani (Marist) – 2nd Place

Russell Brearley – 3rd Place

C & under Men’s Saber

Ted Nalesnik – 1st Place

Tristan Dubin – 3rd Place

D & Under Men’s Saber

Ted Nalesnik – 1st Place

Tristan Dubin – 2nd Place

We would also like to congratulate James Dolan, Bob Nilsen, & Ian Shultis for their participation in the qualifiers.

Y14 & Cadet Qualifiers were held in March at CDFS

Jacob Shultis – Y14 Men’s Epee – 1st Place

Russell Brearley – Y14 Men’s Foil – 1st Place

James Dolan –  Y14 Men’s Foil – 2nd Place

Jacob Shultis – Y14 Men’s Foil – 3rd Place

Jacob Shultis – Cadet Men’s Epee – 1st Place

Russell Brearley – Cadet Men’s Foil – 2nd Place

James Dolan – Cadet Men’s Foil – 3rd Place

Tristan Dubin – Cadet Men’s Saber – 2nd Place

This years Summer Nationals are being held in Atlanta, GA. We will be traveling down as a club to support all of our fencers who qualified. Stay tuned to the Blog and the Newsletter for more information over the coming weeks! While at Summer Nationals you’ll be able to follow all the action on twitter.com/PHXcenter

]]> http://phoenix-center.net/2010/04/summer-national-qualifiers/feed/ 0 http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/weekly-results-222/ http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/weekly-results-222/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:41:55 +0000 admin http://phoenix-center.net/?p=296 Continue reading →]]> Results for February 15 – 21st, 2010

2/17 – Fishkill Fencers

Jenna Gorab – Mixed Epee – 3rd Place

2/21 – Uriah Jones Memorial Jr – Cadet Tournament

Russell Brearley – Cadet (U17) Men’s Foil – 13th

- Jr (U20) Men’s Foil – 24th

]]> http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/weekly-results-222/feed/ 0 http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/weekly-results/ http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/weekly-results/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:07:29 +0000 admin http://phoenix-center.net/?p=292 Continue reading →]]> Results for February 8 – 14th, 2010

2/14 – Uriah Jones Memorial Youth Tournament

Russell Brearley – Y14 Mixed Foil – 1st Place

Jacob Shultis – Y14 Mixed Foil – 3rd Place

Cadet Mixed Epee – 3rd Place

James Dolan – Y14 Mixed Foil – 10th Place

1/30 2010 CDFS Winter Foil

Russell Brearley – D & Under Mixed Foil – 1st Place

Jacob Shultis – D & Under Mixed Foil – 3rd Place

David Amrani – D & Under Mixed Foil – 3rd Place

Russell’s 1st place win on suday was his 4th in a row! Go Redfish!!

]]> http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/weekly-results/feed/ 0 http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/practice-makes-permanent/ http://phoenix-center.net/2010/02/practice-makes-permanent/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:47:41 +0000 esoyka http://phoenix-center.net/?p=270 Continue reading →]]> Hey Everyone!

I thought now would be a great time to talk about one of my favorite quotes from Maestro Ed Richards.  Ed often said “Practice makes permanent.”  His next line would talk about how striving for perfection in practice is what makes you better.  I think this message is universal for all sports.

When we do repetitions of a skill we cement that particular movement within our skill set.  If we are practicing the same error for months or years at a time, that error becomes a habit and that habit becomes difficult to change.  Constantly working on making the action better will lead to more success in the action while we are bouting.

One of the best ways to be able to constantly work on an action is to create scenarios where you always have to pay attention.  Mindless repetitions are the enemy!  We need to work the action against many different situations.  Let’s talk about a few ways to do this.

First we can have a partner (or coach) who can vary the way they make an action.  When someone changes their attacking speed and angle we end up paying more attention to our parries.

The other method is to practice against different people.  These partners will all have different methods of execution which is very similar to one person who can change up the way they make an action.

So the moral of the story is since “Practice makes permanent” we will add variety to the practice to simulate the most realistic scenarios.  This way we have better practice leading to better skills.  By doing this method of practice you will start to become the master of your actions… Permanently!

If you really enjoy fencing, you can take advantage of our unlimited Adult Program and have access to both Foil & Epee classes and receive 2 Private Lessons every month for $99.

Ladder Tournament Rules

This past Wednesday night we held a mid-holiday foil tournament and had great turnout!  Within less than 2 weeks we brought together 15 fencers to make the event a C1 (missed being a B1 by 1 “D” Rated fencer!).  We had some talented fencers attending the event including Ethan Patterson (“A” rated foilist from Gristmill) and William Barnhart (“B” Rated foil fencers from The Phoenix Center).

2 “D” ratings were earned in the competition by Josiah Patterson and Eric Soyka.  William Barnhart and Ethan Patterson met in the Gold Medal Round.  They had a great bout which Will won 15-13.  Will was undefeated in the event scoring a total of 75 touches and getting hit only 31 times.  This gives Will a total indicator of +44!

We certainly hope to hold more events like this in the future!  Keep checking in to find out when we hold more tournaments or to see other people’s views on the tournament.

Check out the results here!

Now it’s time for the final installment of our “How to Drill” series. Our final installment will talk about practicing skills in bouts. The best way to accomplish this is by limiting yourself in order to accomplish something specific. To do this you need to identify a specific action, moment, distance, preparations, and supporting actions.

A specific action could be a counter attack, the moment could be while their hand is down on an advance, the distance could be extension distance. I might need to prepare with early or searching parries or possibly even with a half extension. A supporting action for me might be distance parry and short attacks.

Bringing the drills into the bout are the final step towards integrating and mastering actions. It is crucial that fencers constantly complete all 4 parts of how to drill in order to identify, practice and integrate a skill into their fencing. Drilling can be done at any time. How frequently you do it is up to you and how quickly you want to improve.

Rule 1:

When drilling you should be able to have an 80% success rate. The only exception to this is if you are doing a 50/50 drill. In which case each fencer should be equally successful when drilling their actions.

Rule 2:

If the drill is not working then go back one step! The drill may be too complicated or the skill may be too challenging. Either way if it is too hard go back one step!

Rule 3:

Avoid going too fast or too slow. Do not make things too big or too small. Everything should be performed at an appropriate speed and size to facilitate learning.

Rule 4:

Keep it realistic. Act as though you were in a bout. Keep in mind the realistic does not mean at a speed you would use in a bout, however it does mean perform actions and respond as though you were in a bout. The speed an size should still be appropriate to the fencer learning the skill.

Rule 5:

Wear all proper gear. It’s no fun if someone gets hurt!

Rule 6:

Keep it fun! Things that are simple and too slow are BORING! Things that are fast and too complex are frustrating. We must keep a drill at a level that allows people to learn without being bored or frustrated.

Look for the final installment of this next week.