Victory Fencing

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Thanks, Senor Dingo! That this happened is just the price, literally, of doing business. The new landlord is a great guy, very positive, relaxed, and helpful. His new tenants are getting a good one. The price that the building sold for guaranteed that we would have to go. This was known for 1.5 years, so no surprises for anyone.

The bulk of my swords went to a sale to raise money for Locus Magazine (specifically, The Locus Foundation). They found good homes and the history of Science Fiction gets some support.

[Drunk Monk]

The bulk of my swords went to a sale to raise money for Locus Magazine (specifically, The Locus Foundation). They found good homes and the history of Science Fiction gets some support.

Wow.  FTW Maestro!

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

We reopen tomorrow morning. We’re functional and compact, like DM, and we have knickers in all sizes, like DM.

[Drunk Monk]

One of my fondest memories of ED was one day when he came to visit me and the yeti at AFS.  We were always gruff to anyone who came in AFS - it was SOMA, and not the gentrified SOMA that it is now, the nasty Folsom-st-fair SOMA where the alleys were filled with dominitrixs on cig breaks, and leather bears would be circle-jerkin around your parked car.  srsly.  

That day Glenn was manning the door, arguably the gruffest on our crew at the time.  He had worked as a bouncer at SF strip clubs and never lost that attitude.  ED walked in and Glenn asked what he wanted. Without missing a beat, ED launched into an overly nerdy tale of how he had heard of AFS and then with a total deadpan asked 'Do you have any swords that light up?' 

To this day, that moment still makes me laugh.  The look on Glenn's face as we watched it play out was absolutely priceless.  It's one of the countless reasons why I will always luv ED.    

And now, this:

In France, the Force is strong with lightsaber dueling
By JOHN LEICESTERFebruary 18, 2019


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In this Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, photo, competitors battle during a national lightsaber tournament in Beaumont-sur-Oise, north of Paris. In France, it is easier than ever now to act out "Star Wars" fantasies. The fencing federation has officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
BEAUMONT-SUR-OISE, France (AP) — Master Yoda, dust off his French, he must.
It’s now easier than ever in France to act out “Star Wars” fantasies, because its fencing federation has borrowed from a galaxy far, far away and officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport, granting the iconic weapon from George Lucas’ saga the same status as the foil, epee and sabre, the traditional blades used at the Olympics.

Of course, the LED-lit, rigid polycarbonate lightsaber replicas can’t slice a Sith lord in half. But they look and, with the more expensive sabers equipped with a chip in their hilt that emits a throaty electric rumble, even sound remarkably like the silver screen blades that Yoda and other characters wield in the blockbuster movies .
Plenty realistic, at least, for duelists to work up an impressive sweat slashing, feinting and stabbing in organized, 3-minute bouts. The physicality of lightsaber combat is part of why the French Fencing Federation threw its support behind the sport and is now equipping fencing clubs with lightsabers and training would-be lightsaber instructors. Like virtuous Jedi knights, the French federation sees itself as combatting a Dark Side: The sedentary habits of 21st-century life that are sickening ever-growing numbers of adults and kids .



“With young people today, it’s a real public health issue. They don’t do any sport and only exercise with their thumbs,” says Serge Aubailly, the federation secretary general. “It’s becoming difficult to (persuade them to) do a sport that has no connection with getting out of the sofa and playing with one’s thumbs. That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies, so participating in a sport feels natural.”

[img=500x0]https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1097473318419079168/pu/img/o_3EnHRZtvh5FnvY?format=jpg&name=small[/img]

John Leicester

✔@johnleicester




Lightsaber dueling: Some basic rules.

50
4:31 AM - Feb 18, 2019

38 people are talking about this


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VIDEO: How-to guide to lightsaber dueling.
In the past, the likes of Zorro, Robin Hood and The Three Musketeers helped lure new practitioners to fencing. Now, joining and even supplanting them are Luke Skywalker , Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader.
“Cape and sword movies have always had a big impact on our federation and its growth,” Aubailly says. ”Lightsaber films have the same impact . Young people want to give it a try.”
And the young at heart.
Police officer Philippe Bondi, 49, practiced fencing for 20 years before switching to lightsaber. When a club started offering classes in Metz, the town in eastern France where he is stationed for the gendarmerie, Bondi says he was immediately drawn by the prospect of living out the love he’s had for the “Star Wars” universe since he saw the first film at age 7, on its release in 1977 .
He fights in the same wire-mesh face mask he used for fencing. He spent about 350 euros ($400) on his protective body armor (sturdy gloves, chest, shoulder and shin pads) and on his federation-approved lightsaber, opting for luminous green “because it’s the Jedi colors, and Yoda is my master.”
“I had to be on the good side, given that my job is upholding the law,” he said.
Bondi awoke well before dawn to make the four-hour drive from Metz to a national lightsaber tournament outside Paris this month that drew 34 competitors. It showcased how far the sport has come in a couple of years but also that it’s still light years from becoming mainstream.

[img=500x0]https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1097472762942246913/pu/img/L80uekoT3DzlXbl7?format=jpg&name=small[/img]

John Leicester

✔@johnleicester




In France, the Force is strong with lightsaber dueling

6
4:29 AM - Feb 18, 2019

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The crowd was small and a technical glitch prevented the duelers’ photos, combat names and scores from being displayed on a big screen, making bouts tough to follow. But the illuminated swooshes of colored blades looked spectacular in the darkened hall. Fan cosplay as “Star Wars” characters added levity, authenticity and a tickle of bizarre to the proceedings, especially the incongruous sight of Darth Vader buying a ham sandwich and a bag of potato chips at the cafeteria during a break.
In building their sport from the ground up, French organizers produced competition rules intended to make lightsaber dueling both competitive and easy on the eyes.
“We wanted it to be safe, we wanted it to be umpired and, most of all, we wanted it to produce something visual that looks like the movies, because that is what people expect,” said Michel Ortiz, the tournament organizer.

This isn't the car you're looking for: 'Star Wars' fans in cosplay had a ball at the tournament.
[url=https://apnews.com/cd0c1f824ff949cab6f76d3b03a389bb/gallery/media:7787733eebce45339480c2e61cc496bb]Combatants fight inside a circle marked in tape on the floor. Strikes to the head or body are worth 5 points; to the arms or legs, 3 points; on hands, 1 point. The first to 15 points wins or, if they don’t get there quickly, the high scorer after 3 minutes. If both fighters reach 10 points, the bout enters “sudden death,” where the first to land a head- or body-blow wins, a rule to encourage enterprising fighters.
Blows only count if the fighters first point the tip of their saber behind them. That rule prevents the viper-like, tip-first quick forward strikes seen in fencing. Instead, the rule encourages swishier blows that are easier for audiences to see and enjoy, and which are more evocative of the duels in “Star Wars.” Of those, the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in “The Phantom Menace” that ends badly for the Sith despite his double-bladed lightsaber is particularly appreciated by aficionados for its swordplay.
Still nascent, counting its paid-up practitioners in France in the hundreds, not thousands, lightsaber dueling has no hope of a place in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
But to hear the thwack of blades and see them cut shapes through the air is to want to give the sport a try.
Or, as Yoda would say: “Try not. Do! Or do not. There is no try.”

I can hardly wait until I can go pick up my lightsaber at a DOOM discount at Victory.  Can I get an Italian epee grip on that, Maestro Yeti?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

It’s always the goddam *French*!

[thatguy]

Wow, Stanford U is cancelling 11 “minor” sports including men’s and women’s fencing. 


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sp...r-BB16vtfH

—tg

[Drunk Monk]

Sign of the times.

Victory needs to start carrying lightsabers.

[Greg]

You would think a school with as many endowments as Stanford would be able to keep it's Varsity programs. I was sad to read this.

But glad that when Victory Fencing popped up it wasn't something dire about the shop.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

You would think a school with as many endowments as Stanford would be able to keep it's Varsity programs. I was sad to read this.

But glad that when Victory Fencing popped up it wasn't something dire about the shop.

Yeah, I got worried when Victory Fencing popped up, too.

It sucks that this happened. We send a lot of our kids there, which means they can still train with us (and I like those kids). One less big name draw for local parents/kids, also a big chunk o change loss for Victory.

[cranefly]

It's never too late to take up fencing.

[thatguy]

Oh, my knickers!

(I wasn’t sure what forum to post this in)

http://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_cb7a319...d2cc8d34b6

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Maryland CEO paid former fencing coach $1.5 million in bribes to get his sons accepted to Harvard, feds say
Updated 1:45 PM ET, Mon November 16, 2020
(CNN) - A Maryland businessman paid Harvard University's former fencing coach at least $1.5 million in bribes, including payments for a car and a house in the suburbs, to get his sons admitted to the Ivy League school, federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint released Monday.
Jie "Jack" Zhao, 61, and Peter Brand, 67, were arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery for the alleged agreement, the US Attorney's Office in the District of Massachusetts said.
Zhao, of Potomac, Maryland, is the CEO of telecom company iTalk Global Communications. He was scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Brand was Harvard's men's and women's fencing coach from 1999 until last year, when he was fired by the university following an investigation spurred by reporting from The Boston Globe on his suspiciously expensive house sale. He will appear in federal court in Boston on Monday afternoon.
The arrests are just the latest salvo in the sprawling college admissions scam, first revealed in March 2019, in which rich parents of college applicants used their wealth to cheat on standardized tests, bribe sports coaches and lie about the payments.
"This case is part of our long-standing effort to expose and deter corruption in college admissions," said US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. "Millions of teenagers strive for college admission every year. We will do our part to make that playing field as level as we possibly can."
An attorney for Zhao denied the charges in an email on Monday.
"Jack Zhao's children were academic stars in high school and internationally competitive fencers who obtained admission to Harvard on their own merit," attorney Bill Weinreb said in a statement. "Both of them fenced for Harvard at the Division One level throughout their college careers. Mr. Zhao adamantly denies these charges and will vigorously contest them in court."
An attorney for Brand did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When Brand was fired in 2019, a lawyer said his client had done nothing wrong.
The conspiracy charge comes with a possible sentence of up to five years in prison. Other parents who were charged with similar counts and pleaded guilty, such as actress Lori Loughlin, have generally been sentenced to several months in prison.
How the scheme allegedly worked
College coaches do not explicitly decide who gets accepted into the university, but their recommendations to the admissions office about certain recruited athletes carry powerful influence.
The complaint alleges Zhao made a series of payments totaling $1.5 million to Brand in exchange for the coach recruiting Zhao's two sons to the fencing team, thereby facilitating their acceptance to the prestigious university.
"Jack doesn't need to take me anywhere and his boys don't have to be great fencers," Brand allegedly told a co-conspirator in May 2012, according to the complaint. "All I need is a good incentive to recruit them[.] You can tell him that[.]"
In February 2013, Zhao made a purported donation of $1 million to a fencing charity operated by a co-conspirator, prosecutors say. Zhao's older son was admitted to Harvard as a fencing recruit in December 2013 and matriculated to the university in the fall of 2014, and shortly afterward, the conspirator's fencing charity paid $100,000 to Brand's charitable foundation, prosecutors say.
The older son graduated in 2018, according to The Boston Globe. 
As Brand recruited Zhao's younger son, the businessman made a series of payments to Brand or for his personal benefit, prosecutors say. Zhao allegedly paid for Brand's car, made college tuition payments for Brand's son, paid the mortgage on Brand's house in Needham, Massachusetts, and then bought the house for well above market value, prosecutors say.
The payments allowed Brand to buy a more expensive residence in nearby Cambridge that Zhao then paid to renovate, the complaint states. Zhao's younger son began attending Harvard in 2017, and the complaint alleges Brand did not tell the university about the payments when recruiting the sons.
The Needham house payment drew particular attention from Harvard and federal investigators. Brand sold the home to Zhao for $989,500, according to the deed, almost twice what a tax document said it was worth. Zhao then sold the Needham property about 17 months later at a loss of over $300,000.
Following the sale of his Needham home, Brand purchased a condominium in Cambridge. Documents obtained by CNN show the Cambridge property was originally listed for $989,000 -- just $500 less than what Zhao paid the Needham home. Brand bought the Cambridge condo for about $300,000 over the asking price.


—tg

[Drunk Monk]

I was just going to post about this. 

tg wins the right of way.

[Greg]

I thought we all knew this story?

[Drunk Monk]

This was about the arrest...

...in countertime.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

10 points to TG for the timely post, 11 points to DM for the Very Nerdy fencing reference.

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Yeah, this particular story was unfolding just after the Carsity Blues scandal broke. Those know Brand say that he is a shiftless asswipe.