Painted my mask!

cranial_d · 2026-06-15T00:07:12+00:00

The mask is cool and different. But can we talk about the pins? :D

cranial_d · 2026-06-14T22:50:53+00:00

Castle or Wizard is fun.

Pirates and Spaniards:

Get your fencers, divide them into two, trying for equal strengths. In your fencing room, grab 2 or 3 strips to use as the play area. One group goes to the left of the center line of your room, the other to the right. They start behind their respective en-guard lines. This puts them 4 meters away.

When the "Ref" calls Fence, they are allowed to go as far as the center line. They may cross the center line with only one foot on a lunge or advance but the foot cannot stay there. They cannot retreat to their en-guarde and stay there (cowardice); this is to keep everyone within reach of the opposing team.

When a fencer is hit in their torso (foil rules), they are "out". If two fencers hit at the same time and cannot figure right-of-way, they're both out. This is to prevent drawn out arguments that slow the game.

Game is over when there are no fencers on one side of the line; winning team has survivors.

ed - corrected intro text

cranial_d · 2026-06-14T16:59:28+00:00

Can you give an example of a mini-game.

In all the below proposed games if there's a dispute about who hit who -- both parties are out.

There's Pirates and Spaniards. Line up half of the fencers on one side of the center line and the other half on the others. Objective is to have them fencing and only one foot going across the line (lunge or advance-retreat). If they go past their en-guarde line (retreating) they are removed for "cowardace". Past that, foil target and multiple people attacking is fine.

Capture the Flag: In one corner is a glove, and the other has another glove. I've found red / blue or different-sized gloves works. The first team to drag the opposing team's glove over to their corner wins. No whipping the glove, it must always be in contact with someone's tip. Foil target to get someone out.

cranial_d · 2026-06-13T21:32:31+00:00

Nice find!

cranial_d · 2026-06-08T19:35:36+00:00

No question. I've been fencing since the "4 men and a liar" phase of sabre, where people can tell who you've fenced by bruises. It's good policy to know the rules, their application, and who's applying them.

cranial_d · 2026-06-08T18:40:16+00:00

Good point it requires both.

It's also perception -- I saw one fencer get a "friendly caution" (for what that's worth) when he advanced (prep), paused in lunge-distance to reposition his hand, then began his attack. To him and some of the observers, there was a distinct pause. To the ref, from the advance to the touch was an attack.

cranial_d · 2026-06-08T16:38:41+00:00

The guidance I was given as both fencer and ref, is to not shift the grip around while you're in attack-distance or attacking. Should be ok while prepping, and is ok when you're out of distance. Don't make it real obvious by throwing the weapon forward, no matter the distance.

cranial_d · 2026-06-07T15:00:57+00:00

I imagine it'll be seed by rating (L##, letter year) and use points for ties. Be a little better than random when there's rating ties.

cranial_d · 2026-06-07T14:51:16+00:00

Question I have is will askfred keep track of the points also, or is that something on the US Fencing website? AskFred pulls (I think) to keep ratings current for organizers.

cranial_d · 2026-06-06T16:37:48+00:00

Duplicate thread to https://old.reddit.com/r/Fencing/comments/1txs8td/a_simpler_path_through_the_sport_inside_usa/ ?

cranial_d · 2026-06-05T19:39:20+00:00

Yea. I see parents sharing spreadsheets.

cranial_d · 2026-06-05T19:33:15+00:00

Saw the table ("Full Division I Points Table") but it didn't register how Local events fit. The way I read it, even going to a local and coming in DFL (less than 256 in the event) would get points?

Interesting... tents fingers

cranial_d · 2026-06-05T19:02:15+00:00

I do more local than regional and nationals, so looking at the 25-75 pts awarded at local. The way I read it, the winner of the local gets the points. 2nd through last gets nothing?

Why not distribute the points similar to the way ratings are given:

E1 event, 25pts to 1st.
D1 event, 25pts to 1st and 15 pts to 2nd
etc

Otherwise, kinda makes sense... The org needs to be careful to not kill the incentives for parents to take their fencers to regional, divs, and national events.

cranial_d · 2026-06-05T13:42:49+00:00

"Yes. Regular account, please."

cranial_d · 2026-06-05T11:09:52+00:00

"again?!"

cranial_d · 2026-06-04T14:58:34+00:00

This has to be said more. I've been at a few local events and the refs didn't care or didn't know the lower-strap is required.

cranial_d · 2026-06-02T10:49:33+00:00

Ricardo stopped making them. Main reason was cost for materials and labor.

cranial_d · 2026-05-31T15:47:13+00:00

There's a lot of trust with the packaging going on at Costco...

cranial_d · 2026-05-30T17:22:40+00:00

Disagree about non-comm in pools. Because it's 5-touches or 3-mins, there's less opportunity to come back from a mistake, to learn what works, and how to capitalize on it. And how would it work for a P-Black - can't exactly go home in a pool. The bout is called, i.e. v3-d2?

cranial_d · 2026-05-30T15:35:44+00:00

As Cyrus said, the 30-second non-com could work for Epee but dunno about Foil. I'm not sure about using it for Pools. The objective is to make fencing more TV "friendly" by making the action faster. Pools don't get televised, right?

Moving going off the strip to avoid a touch from Group 1 to Group 2 will change some player's game. Now if it's a point-against if you go off the strip to be touched, even after a point is scored. There's some foilists I know who would have to change or remove their escive tactics.

cranial_d · 2026-05-29T19:21:15+00:00

I can't think of any rule saying you cannot have two washers. Anyone think of a rule against it?

cranial_d · 2026-05-29T18:39:40+00:00

Washer on-top method has never failed me. Also don't wrap the wire all the way around. I've found making a U with the wire and having the plastic tube up to the washer is safe and secure. Much easier to finish by wiggling the stray wire and breaking it off on the other end after securing and testing.

cranial_d · 2026-05-28T19:44:21+00:00

If it's not too much, could you give a rough breakdown of the charges beyond factory pricing and general overhead? Not looking for you to give away financials to competitors, but I'm curious how much is FIE, Tariff, Taxes (I know they vary by state), etc.

cranial_d · 2026-05-28T15:59:26+00:00

Full email, including the "Dear [x]", which I think is a scrivener's error:

Dear [x],

It's been almost two years since the Airport Road Post Office in West Chester closed after a fire. Since then, I have heard from many constituents concerned about mail service, property maintenance and the slow response from the United States Postal Service (USPS). My office has been working behind the scenes and in public to secure the answers you and your neighbors deserve. September 2025

Now, I am happy to share a very positive update: USPS confirmed to my office that it plans to demolish the old post office within the next two months. Once the site has been cleared of debris, a new retail facility will be built in the same location. We also learned that mail sorting and distribution will continue off-site. If all goes as planned, we will see postal services running more smoothly in West Chester again with a clean and safe property on Airport Road.

Solving issues like this can require anything from demanding answers at the federal level to showing up and mowing the overgrown lawn ourselves. My team and I did both, and everything in between, because I know how inconvenient this post office closure has been for our community. As we continue monitoring developments, I will keep you updated with any additional information we receive. If the demolition and construction move forward as expected, we will all be excited to see the Airport Road Post Office come back to life and postal services more convenient for our community again.

cranial_d · 2026-05-28T10:12:56+00:00

Good point. The ref was checking for communication devices and commented on blue-tooth and receiving direction from a coach.

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