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Originally uploaded by FencingNet

Playing with some of the plastic training foils that we sell. We needed a quick stress break and Carlos brought out his camera to prove to everyone that adults can fence with these!

More photos over on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14815135@N04/

Here’s our first pic of it:

Taking his inspiration from the fencing mask, Thayer designed a mask that added a forehead pad and chin rest to help absorb the impact of the ball. He also replaced the fine wire mesh of the fencing mask with a “birdcage” face protector that improved visibility.

This was reported in Wired - http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/02/dayintech_0212 from Fencing.Net form member DJ Apostrophe.

Know any other everyday products inspired by fencing?  Let me know.

On my way from Atlanta however, I was quite surprised to have my bag measured and told that it’s over-size and therefore I need to pay $50. Understandable, if it weren’t for a golf bag that was not charged right before me! Fencing, it turns out is not on their list of “accepted sports equipment”.

So, golf equipment gets a free ride, but a fencing bag gets a $50 charge?  Vote w/your dollars and don’t fly AirTrain, or better yet, email them (custserv@airtran.com) and let them know they’re losing out on a valuable set of customers.

 Here’s an email that one fencing.net member sent:

Dear Air Tran,

As a fencer who previously used Air Tran to fly to Atlanta for competition some years ago, I was very surprised to hear from my fellow fencers (AirTran: charging $50 for fencing bag on return from Atlanta.) that Air Tran has begun charging a $50 fee for fencing bags. This surprised me, because I was not charged a fee on past trips ; and because I understand that golf bags (which are equally large and equally heavy) are not charged these fees. In the future, this will deter me from using Air Tran, since other airlines (to date, Southwest, Delta, United, and American) have not charged such fees. I travel by air at least 4-5 times per year for national fencing tournaments, and these additional fees would make Air Tran’s fares significantly less attractive.

I suggest that you review this policy. Over 3000 fencers came to summer nationals last year - many traveling with family members and coaches. Most of the attendees flew to the host city - and they fly to the other seven national events that occur over the season. I look forward to your response.

Now, I’ve never had to pay extra for my fencing bag, but it could have happened at any time.  Doesn’t seem to be a good policy, so send off an email and try to change it for the next NAC.
 

Read the full article at Fencing.Net

This article was a lot of fun.  It’s cool to hear about all the design challenges and also have the forces we subject our feet to compared to other sports.

Just got my pair of review shoes in this afternoon and they are *very blue*.  Pics soon.

Lefties tend to really excel in hand-eye sports such as tennis, baseball and fencing. And given that underwater factoid from above, it’s no surprise that they also rock it out in swimming.  [more]

The blog post links to another BBC story which references the studies that go into combat and sports advantages for lefties:

Australian research published last year found left-handed people can think quicker when carrying out tasks such as playing computer games or playing sport.

And French researchers concluded that being left-handed could be an advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

So, what do you think?

The tough thing about a buyers guide is that you have so many different levels of fencer to write for - the beginners who need to know what is a decent starter set to get (and who don’t need to start off with FIE gear on day one) to the experienced fencer who needs some help choosing a blade.

I’m taking the approach of writing for the beginner first, since one of the main missions of Fencing.Net is to introduce new people to the sport and give them the information they need to get going, and then foster the community which then really helps fill in the blanks on gear, training and tactics to use for the intermediate to advanced fencer.