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Post by schlager7 on Feb 20, 2009 9:58:59 GMT -6
Today is the birthday of Charles Harold Van Buskirk
Harold Van Buskirk 20 February 1893 October 1980
1924 US Olympic Fencing Team 1927 US National Epee Champion 1927 US National Outdoor Sabre Champion 1928 US Olympic Fencing Team 1932 US Olympic Fencing Team (US Sabre Team 4th place) 1936-1939 President AFLA 1944 President AFLA 1944 Moves to Houston Texas.
Coached fencing at Rice University up to the late 1950s. Rice is 3x SW Conference Fencing Champions. Major influence on creation/developement of the Gulf Coast Division and the Southwest Section.
Wife Elizabeth was US Women's Foil Champion, 1930
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Post by schlager7 on Feb 20, 2009 11:52:30 GMT -6
Here is raw, unedited footage of a 1926 fencing exhibition between military fencers from the US and the UK. Lt. Harold Van Buskirk can be seen demonstrating sabre parries/guards at about the 2:30 mark.
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Post by Aldo N on Feb 20, 2009 23:18:26 GMT -6
That was a great clip, much longer than most I've seen from only half that far back. I could swear at least one epee fencer was posting his French grip... and there I thought that was a new idea when when did it in the late 50s.
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Post by lynmalone on Feb 22, 2009 17:10:33 GMT -6
Harold Van Buskirk was my grandfather. Seeing thise images of him fencing are just wonderful. I'd love to know where I can find other images or information.
Lyn Van Buskirk Malone
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Post by Dan Gorman on Feb 23, 2009 9:16:58 GMT -6
Hey, I'm one of the people involved in running the Van Buskirk Memorial at Rice on Mar 28-29. Could you send me an email?
dan@sallemauro.com
Dan
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Post by schlager7 on Feb 23, 2009 10:00:50 GMT -6
Lyn: For images, I also run a local fencing history website. I have currently pulled the images off in order to revise it this coming weekend. Send me an email to john@trojanowski.com and I'll let you know when the few pix I have of Harold Van Buskirk are back up (likely Sunday). John
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Post by Fred Sklar on Feb 23, 2009 11:30:53 GMT -6
As a pupl of Mr. Van's Rice fencing teams from 1953 to 1956, it was great seeing him and remembering how many times he would start off a lesson with the sabre parries.
Fred Sklar Rice 1956 Captain of Rices's SWC fencing championship team 1956
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Post by archangel on Feb 25, 2009 18:21:09 GMT -6
That was amazing. Very cool!
And on a side note: Its good to see that epee hasn't changed in 84 years.
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Post by schlager7 on Mar 22, 2009 10:27:31 GMT -6
It was a bit of a trick finding this, but I got this just in time for the 2009 Harold Van Buskirk Memorial. What follows is footage dated July of 1939 and marked as being shot in San Francisco. All narration is in Italian. It is labelled as footage (once translated) of the Amateur Fencers League of America.
In the first shots (and the still), the director of that first bout is Harold Van Buskirk. Two of the male fencers featured are Norman Lewis and Ed (?) Gargano. One of the females is noted to be Helene Mayer.
If the date is right, it was filmed only 4-5 years before Van Buskirk moved to Houston.
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Post by fox on Mar 22, 2009 12:10:06 GMT -6
I noted both the female fencers favored Italian grip foils.
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Post by Aldo N on Mar 22, 2009 20:01:47 GMT -6
That was a fun film clip. Seeing the director and side judges of the pre-electric foil era was fun.
Looking up through the glass at the fencers was probably pretty inspired in its day.
When I started fencing, oh some (mumble-mumble) years ago, Italian grips were not at all rare. Orthopedic grips were to oddities then. I knew a number of women who used them.
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