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Post by schlager7 on Oct 26, 2004 23:14:47 GMT -6
As a lot of you know, I've a bent for history. I even have a rough, work-in-progress website on a history of fencing in what is now known as the Gulf Coast Division.
(Do a Google search for "Campeche Steel.")
Among other things, I've ransacked the A&M Yearbooks for the names of those who fenced "more than 10 years ago." One reply I got was from Alvin Goodstein who fenced for the Texas A&M Colle Fencing Club.
Among the anecdotes he told was of a Professor Tata (from Italy) who fancied himself quiet the expert in the epee. Apparently he was less than courteous in his comments on Aggie epee.
Alvin ("Epee was MY weapon.") expressed his displeasure. Words were exchanged and arrangements were made. It was not exactly a fencing match and not exactly a duel. They used what we would now call dry epees, with rubber tips. Of course, they wore no jackets, plastons nor T-shirts. As Alvin puts it, "I kicked his ass."
I do not know exactly WHEN this occurred, except that it was while Alvin fenced at Texas A&M: sometime from 1934 to 1939!
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Post by Prudence on May 31, 2006 20:53:17 GMT -6
Ahh, maybe the guys should do that again for old time sake. Sounds like highly entertaining Epee to me!
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Post by kd5mdk on May 31, 2006 22:01:28 GMT -6
Sounds like "get you club shut down" foolishness to me, but what would I know about safety, I fence sabre.
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Post by vraptor on Jun 2, 2006 16:53:44 GMT -6
Welll...
There was this little incident a few years back where one of the Corps twits chased the rival cheerleading squad with a sabre at a football game. A real sabre, by the way.
How many Aggies does it take to embarrass a University?
So there does seem to be a history of sharp pointy things being used on a regular basis in College Station. However, this (sort of) duel is a new one on me.
Should this go in "Frank Encounters"?
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Post by kd5mdk on Jun 2, 2006 18:38:37 GMT -6
I have the notion it was mentioned there, but I suspect there have been several encounters between fencers on campuses in this century, and I may be remembering a different one.
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Post by Prudence on Jun 2, 2006 21:58:00 GMT -6
one of the Corps twits chased the rival cheerleading squad with a sabre at a football game. A real sabre, by the way. Of course it was a REAL sabre.. only non-regs (not a Corps "twit") would be pansy enough to use a feux pas sword. Hey you know what else, they use real rifles too! *gasps* .. besides I think they should chase ALL the cheerleaders from opposing teams during half-time.. at least it would be more entertaining then watching their bands play. BECAUSE THE AGGIE BAND IS LIKE NO OTHER, WHOOP!
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Post by kd5mdk on Jun 2, 2006 22:01:05 GMT -6
Even drugged I figure our totem-cow could take on an Aggie with a riftle.
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Post by Prudence on Jun 2, 2006 22:07:28 GMT -6
Oh really, with a "riftle"... ya don't say! Hey I might be an Aggie, but at least I know how to spell the word rifle correctly.
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Post by vraptor on Jun 3, 2006 1:16:50 GMT -6
Hey you know what else, they use real rifles too! *gasps* Hmmm. Aggies with guns. Well, I won't freak out over that notion, disturbing is it might be, because the Aggies also have a NUCLEAR REACTOR. I know. I've seen it. Cherenkov radiation has such a lovely blue glow. BECAUSE THE AGGIE BAND IS LIKE NO OTHER, WHOOP Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
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Post by spelling bee on Jun 3, 2006 9:02:38 GMT -6
Oh really, with a "riftle"... ya don't say! Hey I might be an Aggie, but at least I know how to spell the word rifle correctly. you may know how to spell rifle correctly but your attempts in Spanish and French come rather short muchos gracias??? feux pas???and many more
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Post by kd5mdk on Jun 3, 2006 10:01:27 GMT -6
They're certainly not very much like the Mob.
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Post by jazz007 on Jun 3, 2006 17:59:19 GMT -6
They're certainly not very much like the Mob. It's a good thing. You see, I figure it like this - the intelligence of the world can be represented by a constant. The population of the world can be represented by an exponential function. The aggies make up the difference, and the world can only take so many aggies.
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Post by jazz007 on Jun 5, 2006 20:11:52 GMT -6
Whoa! That's uncalled for - you criticised someone else's spelling, he criticised yours, and you yourself just owned up to the fact that you mispelled something in a lanuge you're familiar with. Something about glass houses... or maybe it's he who is without sin... or something. Basically, you have too many balls, and I'd thank you to watch your language and your tone. A friendly firefight, even a friendly flamewar, is not necessarily cause to kick up like that. Slightly closer to topic, I think the first duel I fenced was actually against kd5mdk!! We were duelling the honor of my PC versus his Apple computer. I lost. Badly. The moral of the story? Rookies shouldn't challenge. Ever. Not even if they think the guy is cute
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Post by Prudence on Jun 8, 2006 0:24:28 GMT -6
Whoever this person was he/she wasn't apart of the conversation originally. I don't mind poking fun at spelling and making jokes about eachothers universities, but I draw the line when someone is saying things just to hurt my feelings. The fact that they didn't want to be known only makes it worse. You want to talk trash about me? Well, then how about I bring it up a notch and challenge whoever you are to a duel... punk.
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Post by Kelly Fergason on Jan 29, 2007 13:48:07 GMT -6
Its the nature of the internet that i'm posting this 3 years after the original post....
I was at A&M from 82-92, so might be able to answer any specific question you have concerning things there. I held various officer positions there, and also was secretary of the division and section in 89-90-91.
I still find it annoying that moving to Houston in 92 actually caused me to have less time, and I stopped fencing around then. Oh well.
Kelly Fergason
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Post by schlager7 on Jan 29, 2007 14:35:07 GMT -6
Its the nature of the internet that i'm posting this 3 years after the original post.... Kelly Fergason I'm just amazed this forum has lasted this long. Please feel free to drop me an email: john@trojanowski.comI actually have quite a few questions from the time you were active. If you are curious, see the link in my signature and feel free to browse that site to see what I already have from different time periods.
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Post by LongBlade on Jan 29, 2007 20:25:46 GMT -6
Its the nature of the internet that i'm posting this 3 years after the original post.... Kelly Fergason John posted: I'm not! This forum is the end all and be all for Texas fencing. Even outside the Gulf Coast! Thanks, John! ;D
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Post by katyblades on Jan 29, 2007 22:10:39 GMT -6
Kelly, Send me a message and tell me how you are doing. I heard that Allan Curry showed up at a club in Dallas, but I may be wrong. It sounded like Allan because he could talk them out of touches. Come by and fence with my kids, they are getting pretty good. I have the old lunge machine, (I am sure you remember that), and also my own lunge machine for recovery drills that is my own invention. It will kill a normal person. I have a growing group, and my club is hosting a tournament and you can see many of my 13+ fencers. What you don't see is the number of 12 and under fencers I have. askfred.net/Events/whoIsComing.php?tournament_id=3246I heard recently that Mike Jones lives in Seattle, Wa. My email is katyblades@sbcglobal.net. Augie P.S. You can always just draw the ability to change the rules of the game like we used to do in those all night battles.
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Post by kfergason on Jan 31, 2007 10:04:51 GMT -6
Hey August!
I've been watching your website for the past couple of years. I'm looking for the time to get back into it (I am so outta shape). Now that my 5-year old is, well, 5, I think I can get some more time. If nothing else, to have fun.
Curiously, I just transferred to a new position here at Shell, and am one block away from Salle Mauro. Not that I have time to go there either...
I don't live too far away, just off Barker Cypress, closer to 290 though.
I'll see if I can drop by next weekend to see things and chat. I'll bring Frankie, she'll find it amusing.
Kelly
ps. would be interesting to see all the guys... Alan, Russell, Mike Marchbanks....
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Post by Dan Gorman on Jan 31, 2007 14:01:35 GMT -6
Salle Mauro has some pretty flexible scheduling for adults looking to get back into fencing. We share a coach with the Aggies these days too. Dan
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Post by atcurry on Feb 6, 2007 14:22:08 GMT -6
Kelly and August:
Shame on you for talking about me behind my back! Its true--after a hiatus of almost 20 years, I decided to start fencing again as of last July.
It can be done, Kelly. And you would like the 'lectric saber.
I spoke with Russell--probably 3-4 years ago, he was living in the north Houston area I think. Also exchanged a few e-mails with Brad Myers in 2005--he is in Boston.
Talk to you guys later,
Allan
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Post by schlager7 on Feb 6, 2007 15:00:01 GMT -6
At this rate I may need to create a board just for A&M alumni fencers Kind of a fencing version of classmates.com
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Post by DavidSierra on Feb 6, 2007 15:23:52 GMT -6
Another Aggie alumnus here - from a bit later though.
Allan, you're in Dallas, and you fence sabre? What club are you with? I've a sabre club over in North Richland Hills, on the Tarrant County side of the Metroplex...
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Post by katyblades on Feb 6, 2007 23:01:44 GMT -6
John,
You are talking about several guys I recruited into fencing. I remember when Nancy S. broke her favorite lefty foil by trying to drive it through Allan's s body, and we put the club pistols into a bag and when she asked to borrow one we loaned her a French grip. We did not want to see Allan hurt any more, since she was about 4' 8" and aiming slightly above his thigh and below his belly.
I remember when Brad Myers earned his "C", which was the lowest classification you could earn at that time. I also remember when Russell tore his knee at the first DeGaull when I won the three weapon and the epee which was the final event. I used very subtle tactics in recruiting those days I learned from Longblade and Oscar, I recruited cute girls and my male group tripled in no time at all. It also made the Dixie Chicken trips more fun, or the midnight movies after fencing when we saw "Escape from NY".
Kelly, you would like electric saber. You would also like it better that we have real directors in the area. There is Alexi, that directed the finals of the Olympics and has raised the level quite a bit. I had a guy that was giving lessons in my club that was a 2000 Olympian, and I had one 12 year old that was a little jaded because he had lessons from a Polish 2000 Olympian, US 2000 Olympian and 1999 number one junior in the world, and the Ukrainian Olympic coach. He thought he knew everything and did not listen to any of them.
Now when your timing is right you can one-light your opponents, and do not need to one-light quite as often as you did in the past. There are also the Vet tournaments for over 40/50 or 60 that after you fence you can sit down and drink a beer with them.
Now we just need Mike Jones, Curtis and some more of the gang sign up.
Guys there were three Vet 40 foil fencers from the Aggie club in 82' that were ranked in the top 15 in the country several years ago. I have let all my national rankings slide, and look to get active in a couple of years because I am building up some good youth. John Varney was one, and Chris Barnes was the other.
See you soon.
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Post by Kelly Fergason on Feb 7, 2007 15:35:34 GMT -6
I just found Norm Hecht in Colorado. He still fences occasionally. I also found Brad Myers last year, had been looking for him for a while.
I"ve been looking for Curtis for years, but haven't found anything.
My friend Dave Lin, who didn't fence very much, still somewhat keeps track of Diana McKinney and Melissa Evans.
I will be by Saturday morning, just to visit for a few.
Kelly
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