Hawaii Fencer's Club

Summer Nationals 2010
Participating in the 2010 US Summer Nationals in Atlanta served as a valuable learning experience. I, Jesse Payton, arrived in Atlanta on July 6th, just in time to see the end of the men’s foil Div. 1 event. As expected the fencing was astounding, and my love for the sport was never greater than it was at that moment. The venue was also impressive, with more than enough room for over 60 strips, all the fencers and spectators, as well as the venders. My events were the Div. II and III men’s foil competitions on Thursday and Friday. Luckily, a friend from Carnegie Mellon offered me a place to stay, so I was well rested for those events. Div. III came first, and I fenced well in about half of my pool bouts, ending up with 3 wins and 3 losses. Easily making the top 80% cut, I then fenced a higher seeded opponent in my first D.E. pulling ahead in the beginning, but ultimately losing 15-13 due to a mental error. The next day was Div II, which proceeded similarly to the previous day. I ended up with 2 wins and 4 losses, making the cut, but facing the 15th seed in my first D.E. Once again, I pulled ahead in the beginning, but ended up losing. I placed up in the top 128 in both events, which was not as well as I had hoped. However, I thoroughly enjoyed participating, and understand that this was just the beginning of my national fencing career. I recommend Summer Nationals to any fencer as a way to improve your fencing and just enjoy the culture of the sport. I can’t wait to compete again, and I look forward to future national tournaments. -Jesse Payton

Hawaii State Sabre Championships - 2010
HFC had two sabre fencers in what was a strong field of 11 fencers at the Open Sabre State Championships held on May 15th at the Ala Wai Golf Course.

This was Conny's first mixed sabre event and as luck would have it she drew a very tough pool with Yervand, Henry Chang, Thomas Miller and John-Rolf. Determined not to get shut out she scored at least one touch on each of her opponents and also gave T-Mac a run in the DE.
Timothy "Lucky" Scanson did well in the pools earning the number 3 seed behind Yervand and Jeff Dalli. In his first DE he went toe to toe with long time rival and friend Henry Chang. It was a tough bout but he prevailed 15-14 making it into the final four. Next up was Yervand who made short of work of "Lucky" 15-5.
Final results were 1. Jeff Dalli, 2. Yervand, tied for 3rd John-Rolf and Timothy "Lucky" Scanson.

Epee State Championships – 15 May 2010:
What has been a building year for HFC's fencing program continued its slow slog upward during the State Championships this weekend. “The Flying Rolando” breezed to take the juniors in epee, knocking out La Salle's Jared Schreiber in the championship round. He ages out of the Juniors next week, so it was a glorious end to the first part of what we hope will be a long and glorious fencing career! The Open Championships, however, were a mixed bag. “The Flying Rolando” got a good seed, sent OFC's Tom Miller home 15-14 in the closing seconds of the bought and earned his way into the quarter finals where he faced Jared again. This time, however, Jared had Roland's number and quad .50 caliber AAA, bringing down Roland's infamous flying wrist picks. Meanwhile, in an apparent attempt to mimic the tragic hero of a an unwritten Wagnerian opera, Eric “Wotan” Mueller ended his season with high hopes, high drama, and operatically suitable tragic results. Coming out of the pools with a mid-level seed (and peppered with, “Boy, you were there but your tip wouldn't bite” style comments), Eric faced knight errant Ethan Okura for a right to be in the “Group of Eight” and a shot at a rating. In a pitched and seesaw battle that brought out the best of both fencers and a lead that switched three times, it was, by both fencers' accounts, their best match of the season. Unfortunately, Eric stayed true to operatic form and lost to a desperation shot in the closing seconds of overtime. While Eric will lay down his blades until the 2010-2011 season, Roland will see if he can close out this one with high marks in June's Aloha State Games. Until then, check out the tournament results at the Hawai'i Division website here: http://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=11228

May 1: Hawaii State Championships/Take One
The beginning of May marked the foil competition for the State Championship 2010 (Junior & Open) and HFC had two fencers participating in the decently sized field of contestants: Roland Ng and Conny Jolitz. While Roland "Charge!" Ng polished off his pool with only one narrow 4:5 loss against Jared Schreiber, Conny "Wait, did we start already?" Jolitz had more mixed results in her group. She came back with a vengeance to knock off brother Schreiber, the Younger, 15:1, only to be stomped by brother Schreiber, the Elder, in a lively bout losing 8:15. Meanwhile, Roland continued his winning streak against Darin Padula and continued to the Semi-Final against Ethan Okura, trying to find the right timing against a very aggressive opponent. It was a very closely fought bout over the first and the beginning of the second period, but in the end Ethan managed to pull ahead in points to win the bout 15:8 and later the final against JR Oakley, which left Roland in well-deserved 3rd place in a tough field. Next up will be the Epee and Saber Championships on the 15th - and this time: no more Mr. Nice Guy/Girl! CJ

Dallas NAC
On March 25th, 2010 I flew to Dallas to compete in my first North American Cup. After a very long flight I finally got to my hotel around 2pm Friday afternoon which is about 5 or 6 blocks from the convention center. After a short nap I took my gear and walked over to the venue to get everything checked and stamped. Mike and Saul at the Fencing Post allowed me to keep my bag at the Fencing Post Vendor booth which was a big help as I did not have to lug it back and forth from the Hotel.

On Sat Morning at 7am I checked in for the Vet 50 Epee. I was in a pool of 7. 5 of the 7 were over 6 feet tall, thankfully there was one guy shorter then me. Two of my bouts went into overtime and I lost them both which was tough. I did beat the short guy 5-0 so at least I got one win. I came out of the pools seeded 38 and had the number 21 seed in my first DE. At the break I was down 7-9 but mananged to stage a comeback winning the bout 10-9. My first national DE win yayyyy. After that I had the number 6 seed and while I managed to hang with him in the first period he put me away rather quickly in the 2nd period. I finished in 32nd place and was warmed up for the next day.

Sunday the event was combined Vet Sabre and since my check-in wasn't until 2:30 I was able to sleep in and also take advantage of the free breakfast that the Hotel served. I walked over to the venue about noon to hang out and watch fencing. I ended up spending quite a bit of time watching the wheelchair events which was very interesting. Since my event was late in the afternoon all of the strips were still full from the morning events so there no strips to practice on. However the guys at the fencing post allowed me to warm-up in the big space behind their booth. Once again I was in a pool of 7. I fenced great in pools finishing with a 4-2 record which made me the number 8 seed. I was the only E in the top 10. So for a few minutes I was number 8 but then lost my DE 9-10 and ended up in 17th place for the day.

Monday was my final event Vet 50 Sabre. Check-in was 7am, this time there were some empty strips so I was able to warm up with Atilio Tass who is the current Vet 50 points leader and finished 3rd at the world cup. This time it was a pool of 6 and while I did have a couple of close bouts, I only won two bouts and came out seeded 17th. After getting knocked out in first round I ended up in 17th place which added to my national points total and I'm now ranked number 22 in the nation for Vet 50 Sabre.

Timothy "Lucky" Scanson

April 3 - A good Day to Fence
The Open Sabre & Epee tournament was a great success for HFC. In the Open Sabre, Timothy "Lucky" Scanson, fresh off the NAC-s, won the silver medal in the Open Sabre Tournament, losing to Sword Fight's Wayne Miyamoto in the closing moments of the bout. Roland “The Flying Rolando” Pendleton had a spectacular morning, culminating in an amazing come from behind victory over Jared Schreiber to place him in the quarterfinals, where he fell in to his arch nemesis, J.R. Oakley in a nail-biter. This enabled him to tie with teammate Eric “Pseudo-Scanson” Mueller for 3rd place, who lost to the day's ultimate victor, Ethan Okura, 15-11. “Pseudo-Scanson” Mueller had an intense day, begining with his obligatory weapon failure, proceeding to a jammed body cord, and finnishing with a jacket not actually in his gear bag. Fortunately, Timothy was no longer using his sweat-soaked jacket! Eric had a series of tight bouts. In the pools he almost threw away a lead to Wayne, only to defeat Wayne in overtime. In his first DE, the intensity continued. His opponent, Jason Schreiber, was behind by 1 touch but as regulation time ran out and bring the match to overtime. In overtime Eric used his knowledge, height, strength, and experience to help score the winning touch, sending Eric to his next, and final round, against Ethan O. As a team, the Hawaii Fencers Club had a very successful competition. They are looking forward to the next Tournament, and this time, they have their eyes set on the Gold.

HAWAII OPEN FENCING CLASSIC 2010- Earthquakes, Tsunamis and some serious fencing!
After the earthquake in Chile and the tsunami warnings/ evacuations for Hawaii, the Fencing competition obviously had to be cancelled for Saturday. Thankfully, we ended up barely getting our toes wet when the tsunami manifested itself in a minimal surge. So, that issue safely out of the way, we could focus back on fencing - the organizers scrambled to get the event back on track and held the Y14 late Saturday afternoon. All other events were crammed into a 12 hour non-stop day of competition - which satisfied and drained even the most battle-hardened swashbuckler. And even although a few fencers had to cancel due to the changed schedule, we still managed to hold all events with a decent turn-out. Our contingent from HFC (Roland Pendleton, Timothy Scanson, Zoe Robinow and Cornelia Jolitz) made its presence known in 6 of the 8 events and gathered a combined tally of 4 medals and one rating. Congratulations to Zoe for participating in her first competition in years and fencing very well in WF.
Click for Full results here
Special Thanks to all organizers and helpers, especially Mike Aiau, Wayne Miyamoto and HFC's own Timothy Scanson who all made this event happen despite the confusion. Neither rain, sleet, or tsunamis... the post office has nothing on you guys!

HFC Epee Hackin' Back!
A period of darkness had fallen upon HFC's epee fencers with the commensurate wailing and gnashing of teeth. Fortunately, Eric “Batlin' Bavarian” Mueller and the “Flying Rolando” Pendleton seemed to have brought a ray of sunlight back to the program. At the Open Epee on 21 November, both swept their pools, Eric actually earning a bye! Despite this, both fell in succession in nail biters to SFC's J.R. Oakley. In the semi-finals, “Flying Rolando” rediscovered his wrist pick, tying the bout in the closing seconds at 14-14. Unfortunately, “be ready!” was not on Roland's mind as he fell to J.R.'s fleche from the en garde line! Eric, likewise, battle J.R., losing a two point lead, gaining back the deficit to tie at 9-9-9 a the end of regulation. Even with the advantage in overtime, though, Eric fell to J.R.'s onslaught. Al in all, after a grim season for HFC's epeeists, bronze and a silver weren't a bad haul! Springtime, and a chance for further glory are not far away! (For the tournament's results, see the Division website: http://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=10219

The Flying Norwegian - aka The Iron Kupuna!
BRAVO ZULU to Timothy "Lucky" Scanson. Channeling the mana of Thor, Timothy participated in and won the 4th annual Don Appling 3 Weapon Iron-man tournament. The race for the Don Appling Memorial Trophy was nip and tuck between Timothy Scanson and Henry Chang. The first event was foil, Timothy took the gold and Henry took the bronze giving Timothy a 2 point lead. Next up was Sabre, Henry and Timothy went head to head for the gold medal with Henry coming out on top 10-9. That cut Timothy's lead to one point. The final event was epee with Timothy and Henry once again in the gold medal round. Timothy took the gold which also earned him the perpetual iron-man trophy and the right to keep it for one year. It was a great tournament and see you all in November. Full results are posted here. Timothy is on the to NAC in Pittsburgh to bring still greater glory to our club colors! As for the rest of us, remember the old adage about "old age and treachery!"

End of the Season - Aloha State Games 2009

HFC "Burninates" Epee & Saber!

13 competitors made their way out to the Ala Wai Ballroom on Saturday the 6th to test their skills in Epee, the traditional dueling weapon. The competition was fierce, forcing Roland Pendleton into 5th place and Eric Mueller into 10th. But, Ben Leider fleched his way through the competition and found himself facing John-Rolf Oakley in the semifinals. The pressure was high given that the two combatants had brought the previous year’s games to a 14-14 climax, and even more so for Ben given that he had lost. However, Ben’s tenacity was rewarded when he defeated JR and advanced to the finals. Although lacking the title of a grudge-match, Ben and Henry Chang gave the spectators quite a show. In the end HFC’s philosopher took the Gold, proving that even a foilist can have his day in Epee. Congratulations to the Aloha State Games Epee Champion, Ben Leider.

HFC’s last two competitors had a lot to prove in the open saber after witnessing Ben’s accomplishment. Tim ‘Lucky’ Scanson and Jesse ‘forever Bob’ Payton took to the strip hoping to gain a leg up on the competition by placing well in the pools. Tim accomplished his goal by sweeping his pool, but Jesse got off to a rocky start with a malfunctioning weapon and earned the 6th slot in the field of 11. Timothy continued his winning streak, fencing the D-rated Henry Chang in the Semifinals. Despite giving up some of his lead towards the end, Timothy fought hard and advanced to the finals after beating Henry 15-14. Jesse upset the competition, defeating Tom McClintock who was seeded 3rd. Defying the indicators, Jesse advanced to the semifinals hoping to defeat his fated foe, Tom Miller. The bout began favorably for HFC with Jesse earning a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately Jesse couldn’t hang on, leaving HFC’s hopes with Tim in the finals. The last bout of the season proved Timothy’s worth. After training relentlessly for the rapidly approaching Nationals, Tim dominated the competition and defeated the powerful Tom Miller 15-13 in the finals. After earning his first Gold we can all expect to see Timothy on the Podium again in the near future. And although only placing 3rd, Jesse still managed to earn a bronze medal, bringing HFC’s medal count up to 3 for the Aloha State Games. Congratulations to HFC’s medalists: Ben Leider, Timothy Scanson, and Jesse Payton.

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