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Post by schlager7 on Aug 14, 2005 10:26:18 GMT -6
This isn't exactly a duel, but this is board is the closest I've got for this story. This is from my local history project, Campeche Steel (231 pages and still growing), the section covering 1957. I still hurt just thinking about it!
Robert Shelton recalled, “When we were young, a number of us aficionados of sabre had a game we played, separate from foil and epee and quite un-sanctioned. Although we fenced the other weapons, some of us had a particular fondness for the military weapon. The game was simple. You fenced without a shirt or jacket. Some called this “guts sabre.” Unfortunately, this occurred back in the old days prior to ladies fencing sabre. The object was to inflict a certain amount of pain on your opponent without giving too much blood for the cause yourself. Unlike schlager, where no mask is worn, we kept the mask (we weren’t complete fools) and took our wounds where only we knew about them. This activity also aided one in learning to parry!”
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Post by saberbobcat on Aug 14, 2005 14:09:52 GMT -6
;D *chuckle* Has the object really changed? Hee! Hee! Hee! Just kidding!
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Post by fox on Aug 15, 2005 12:53:54 GMT -6
Ow! That stings!
Schlager7 gets my compliments just for GETTING that story out of someone.
If it had been me, I doubt I would admit it now.
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Post by saberbobcat on Aug 20, 2005 10:32:13 GMT -6
Sorry, Schlager...I believe you know me well enought to know that my comments were not intended to sting. I really enjoyed the story, too. I'm just a sabre fencer that loves to joke around about it.
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Post by LongBlade on Aug 20, 2005 22:24:03 GMT -6
I remember watching one of these spontaneously erupt at a SWT Fencing Society party by the pool at the Treehouse Apartments back in the '70s.
Being an epee fencer, I could only shake my head at those drunken Sabre idiots.
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Post by schlager7 on Aug 26, 2005 11:41:09 GMT -6
On a related note, this excerpt comes from Texas A&M circa 1939...
Goodstein, who graduated in 1939, also had an unusual memory to take with him from his years as a fencer at Texas A&M. At one point, he had crossed paths with Professor Tata, who professed some proficiency with the duelling sword, or epee. Goodstein was also versed in its use, "Epee is my weapon." According to Goodstein, Tata made a point of suggesting a "blood duel" (a duel to first blood.) A time and place was set.
They did not, however fence with sharpened epees. "We didn’t take the buttons off." They did, however, strip to the waist.
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nemo
Blademaster
mobilis in mobili
Posts: 729
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Post by nemo on Dec 24, 2005 13:01:54 GMT -6
I'm amazed at how many unsafe fencers the Gulf Coast has produced over the years. I, of course, will not mention anything about some friends and I attaching push pins onto the ends of dry epees...
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Post by fox on Jan 5, 2006 7:21:53 GMT -6
Bet you worked on your distance, at least, dintja? I wonder if any of the newer, younger crop of sabre and epee fencers have done anything so... ill advised? (While I stay silent about my own youth )
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Post by kd5mdk on Jan 26, 2006 5:41:55 GMT -6
Not yet. I did stop a drunken lesson at a UT party, though. If there'd been two masks I might have merely watched for foolishness.
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Post by schlager7 on Feb 23, 2006 12:05:06 GMT -6
I did note, today, on Fencing Net the following remark from one who signs on as Mauler:
I have also been known to engage in many a night's "t-shirt Sabre" involving shot of vodka for every time you get hit... and continue the game until our forearms cease to function.
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Post by kd5mdk on Feb 24, 2006 17:08:03 GMT -6
I'd be concerned if I met him when he was earning/picking that name.
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Post by Arnold Mercado on Mar 8, 2009 8:16:59 GMT -6
This isn't exactly a duel, but this is board is the closest I've got for this story. This is from my local history project, Campeche Steel (231 pages and still growing), the section covering 1957. I still hurt just thinking about it! Robert Shelton recalled, “When we were young, a number of us aficionados of sabre had a game we played, separate from foil and epee and quite un-sanctioned. Although we fenced the other weapons, some of us had a particular fondness for the military weapon. The game was simple. You fenced without a shirt or jacket. Some called this “guts sabre.” Unfortunately, this occurred back in the old days prior to ladies fencing sabre. The object was to inflict a certain amount of pain on your opponent without giving too much blood for the cause yourself. Unlike schlager, where no mask is worn, we kept the mask (we weren’t complete fools) and took our wounds where only we knew about them. This activity also aided one in learning to parry!”Prior to Bob's time at U of H, I believe in 1948-1950, some of the guys in the fencing club dubbed themselves as the "Levi club". Since we worked out at night, after most of us left they'd strip to the waist, put on masks, go to the four corners of the gym and turn the lights off. They would move about in the dark and if they heard movement they'd slash with their sabre. If they hit someone there was a scream followed by slashing, laughing and the sound of feet scurrying to get get away from retaliation. I never joined the guys and I don't know how long this lasted. One of them, Gordon Blouin married my cousin, joined the navy and had a long career before he retired.
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Post by schlager7 on Mar 8, 2009 10:12:57 GMT -6
Arnold, I fixed your post as you requested. Also, I have moved this thread from the "Frank Encounters" board (dueling) to our "War Stories" board, since it has morphed into more what that board was for, anyway.
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Post by Prudence on Mar 8, 2009 11:41:31 GMT -6
Not yet. I did stop a drunken lesson at a UT party, though. If there'd been two masks I might have merely watched for foolishness. haha.. yeah, drunken fencing is the best... ah, not that I'VE ever done such a thing.
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Post by John Lusby on Mar 30, 2009 17:42:18 GMT -6
I remember watching one of these spontaneously erupt at a SWT Fencing Society party by the pool at the Treehouse Apartments back in the '70s.
Being an epee fencer, I could only shake my head at those drunken Sabre idiots. hey, you may have been in my era. Do you remember me or any of the UT crowd? Hello?
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Post by John Lusby on Mar 30, 2009 17:46:57 GMT -6
Not yet. I did stop a drunken lesson at a UT party, though. If there'd been two masks I might have merely watched for foolishness. Hey, what year was that, and where was the party. I resemble that.
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theluz
Scribe
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Posts: 26
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Post by theluz on Mar 30, 2009 17:56:43 GMT -6
there is an Urban Legend (or possibly a true ) story about a winter fencing tournament at a bar in Silverton, CO. Silverton is snowed in and generally unassesible in the winter. The tournament was fenced (possibly electrical, I don't know) and self handicapping. The person who GAVE a touch had to take a drink. It all worked out even. If it's not true, it should be.
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Post by beausabreur on Feb 8, 2011 0:25:28 GMT -6
there is an Urban Legend (or possibly a true ) story about a winter fencing tournament at a bar in Silverton, CO. Silverton is snowed in and generally unassesible in the winter. The tournament was fenced (possibly electrical, I don't know) and self handicapping. The person who GAVE a touch had to take a drink. It all worked out even. If it's not true, it should be. Not an urban legend. I was 6th in the winter of 76-77, 2nd in 77-78 (if I remember correctly), and 1st in 79-80. The official drink was red beer, but you didn't have to take a drink every time a touch was scored. The tournament was electrical and was fenced in several venues, including the bar of the Grand Imperial Hotel. Bouts were directed by whoever was handy; none were self-scored. Not only was it the only tournament I've ever fenced where drinking was allowed, it was round robin--you fenced everybody who showed. Silverton is only inaccessible for brief periods during the winter. They get the road plowed pretty quickly. Those were some of the best times of my life--a not-uneventful six decades--and I wouldn't trade the memories for another six.
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