Saratoga News

Photograph by Edmund Lee

14-year-old Martin Lee of Saratoga is ranked second in the nation in epée and sixth in foil in his age group.

Foiled Again!

Modern-day swashbucklers draw lights and buzzers instead of drawing blood

By Sandy Sims

There's something about swords. It's all those legends and myths of King Arthur's knights, of D'Artagnan and the three musketeers, of Robin Hood, of young men fighting dragons, of silver chalices, of Guinevere whisked away from death by Lancelot, of men in tights thrusting and clanking those long, thin knives as they bound from stairs to roof tops at heart-stopping speed.

Just now, the popular movie The Mask of Zorro is resurrecting one of those romantic legends. And the audience gets to watch the dashing duo of Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas brandish their sabers against hordes of sworded bad guys. This time women are part of the action as Catherine-Zeta Jones, whips through an amazing sword fight against Banderas.

The movie will only serve to recharge those little boys and girls who for hundreds of years have been grabbing sticks and whacking their little hearts out to emulate sword-wielding super heroes. Some of these little boys and girls, and adults too, actually pick up real live swords and go at it. They are among the swelling group of people who are learning to fence. "The sport is growing faster than it's ever grown." says Los Gatan Dan Tibbetts, owner and coach of the California Fencing Academy (CFA) in Los Gatos. And so has his business. He has reached his three-year goal of 100 students in just one year, which has forced him to lease the adjoining store and chop a passage between the two. Tibbetts, who has the high energy and look of a modern-day Robin Hood, means for his academy to be at the top of the heap of academies in the Bay Area. He also wants to push the skill of U.S. fencers overall up to that of European fencers.

His students have thwacked and thrusted their way from his academy at 459 N. Santa Cruz Ave. to state, regional and national competitions, and they rank among the top in their age groups. His 19-year-old assistant head coach, Ann Sidenblad, won a gold and a bronze medal in the California State Games this year. Saratogan Martin Lee, 14, ranks second in the nation in the youth-14 men's epée and sixth in youth-14 men's foil. Fourteen-year-old Los Gatan Eric Durante ranks third in the nation in youth-14 men's epée and fifth in youth-14 men's foil. Twelve-year-old Boulder Creek resident Rhiannon Cherf ranks seventh in the nation in youth-12 women's foil, and she came in second in youth-14 women's epée in the Junior Pacific Coast Championships. In that same competition, Chelsea Ambort from Santa Cruz came in first in two categories.

The youngest and the oldest national competitors at CFA were outstanding in this year's Summer Nationals at Austin. Fifty-seven-year-old Los Gatan Lance Bernard took a bronze medal in the veteran category, and Joshua Lepold (who just turned 11) took eighth place in the youth-10 epée category.

"My dream," Tibbetts says, "is to coach some of these students to the Olympics." With the success of his students, this is more than a fantasy. CFA's goal for 1999 is to have 20 youth fencers at the 1999 Summer Nationals and to be one of the top USFA Clubs in the North America Cup.

Tibbetts brings European skill and flourish to his coaching. He was the saber champion of the great Florentine Fencing Gala-a demonstration tournament between American and Italian fencers in Florence, Italy held in the Palace Medici Riccordi in 1992. Italians from the Providence of Florence--who sat on the board of examiners for his fencing instruction credential--gave him an Olympic gold medal for his teaching excellence.

Tibbetts began his fencing career in an Oregon college. Later he fenced at West Valley College under Gay D'Sara-an Olympic team member. Following that, Tibbetts joined the Military Master's Fencing Program at San Jose State University and trained under Maestro Gaugler who received his training from Italian Aldo Nadi, considered the greatest fencer ever.

Some say it takes two lifetimes to become a master at fencing. That's because it takes quickness of movement and quickness of mind, and because there are endless possibilities for strategy. Among the various college sports, fencers have the highest GPA. According to a U.S. News and World Report survey, the tip of the sword is the second-fastest-moving object in Olympic sports--the bullet is first. For strategy, fencing is compared to chess because fencers must think at least two moves ahead of their opponent. Very advanced fencers think up to four moves ahead. For every attack, there are a variety of specific responses. Fencers must quickly probe their opponents to get a profile of responses and style, so they can create a series of moves that will ultimately get the touch (a point).

The rules for gaining a point depend on which of three weapons the fencer fights with: the foil, the epée or the saber. These are lighter smaller sport weapons compared to their predecessor war weapons (before guns came along).

The foil--the modern version of the court sword--can only score with the tip and on the torso of the opponent. The epée (ay-pay), the descendent of the dueling sword, scores only with the tip, but can hit anywhere on the body. The saber--the modern version of the slashing cavalry sword and the one used in the movies--can score with the tip and with cuts but can only hit above the legs. (This correlates to fighting atop a horse.)

For all the poking and slashing, fencing is safer than golf or badminton. Fencers wear regulation protective gear, covering the face, head, body, arms and legs. While scoring once meant to the death or to "first blood," today, lights and buzzers go off when the tip of the blade connects to the target.

Bringing American fencers into international prominence will be no easy task. The United States is the "hinterland" of fencing, Richard Wolkemir writes in a 1996 article for Smithsonian magazine, and Europe is the epicenter because that is where it began. Tibbetts ranks American A-level fencers with European B-level fencers. The reason for this is that U.S. fencing is nickel-and-dime supported, so the competitors cannot go to Europe and duel with the best to achieve better skill. America's only medal winner for Olympic fencing is Peter Westbrook, who won the bronze in 1982. European coaches told Westbrook that he was so skilled and talented at fencing that if he had been Russian and gotten their support and training, he would have won the Olympic Gold many times.

In the '96 Olympics, Russia took four of the six men's gold medals in fencing. Italy took the other two. France took two of the four women's golds, and Romania and Italy took the other two. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, some of those Eastern European coaches are drifting to the U.S., which should help move U.S. fencers up the scale in international competition.

Fencing was originally a sport of the blue bloods, the aristocracy. Commoners caught fencing were prosecuted. Today, it's an anyone-can-do-it sport. Westbrook rose out of the New Jersey projects through fencing. It's even become a sport for college scholarships in the U.S.

However, many people get into fencing in a casual way. Saratoga's Martin Lee came to check it out one day with a friend. Eric Durante came because he saw it in the Los Gatos Recreation Department's summer catalogue. "The rec department has built my business," Tibbetts says. That's how Joshua Lepold and Rhiannon Chierf got to CFA. Ten-year-old Los Gatan Ali Emmons became interested in fencing after she did an alphabet report on the letter "F." Others, according to Tibbetts, stroll by the place and, out of curiosity, come in and watch the evening lessons and decide to try it. "I have the largest membership in the Bay Area" Tibbetts boasts.

While business is great and growing, there is the problem of how to finance the cost of travel around the country for competition. Parents have been bearing the costs. "We need sponsors for the fencers," explains Tibbetts. To help along these lines, parents have just recently formed a nonprofit organization, Friends of Los Gatos/Saratoga Fencers, that can receive donations for competition expenses.

However, competition and medals are not all of what CFA is about. Keith Emmons, while watching his daughter, Ali, thrust and parry (deflecting the blade), says his daughter has become more assertive. "Tibbetts is outstanding," Emmons says. He explains that the students show respect for each other and follow all the rules of fencing whether Tibbetts is there or not.

"I'm a tough coach," Tibbetts says. His students nod in agreement. "I get a thrill when I see a student grow in confidence." For him that's what it's all about. A champion to Tibbetts is not necessarily the one who wins the medal. It's the one who has poise and dignity, never stops working, tries hard and never gives up.

Getting athletes to increase their confidence and performance is a big part of Tibbetts' work. Aside from his fencing students, he works with other athletes to increase their performance, and this work includes dancers who are recovering from injuries. The name of this business is The Competitive Edge. Tibbetts is also working toward an advanced degree in sports sociology.

With all Tibbett's energy, enthusiasm and talent as a coach, one day we will surely see one of his talented fencers setting off winning lights and buzzers at the Olympics, and Tibbetts will have pushed the U.S. fencing skill up a notch or five.

For information about the California Fencing Academy, call 399-1893.

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