So, here we are again with the 2nd Edition of Reprise under my editorial control and, dare I say it, I'm getting the hang of this lark! The biggest problem I've found is getting enough articles to put together into a magazine; if you don't let me know what's happening out there I can't write about it. Whatever you're doing, drop me a line to let me know. Even if you only write on the back of a matchbox I can pad it out to fit a whole centre spread ... waffle is my middle name! Please note though that my E-mail address has changed (to something more appropriate for a fencer!). I was hoping to have the Match Reports from the Command Secs for the Command Championships, but they failed to materialise unfortunately. I do have reports on the Juniors, several civvy comps and the latest gossip from my Secret Squirrel roving reporter! Have you seen us trendies out there with our lovely RAFFU tracksuits? Jealous? Well, no longer because included in this edition is the order form for your very own ... fill it in now, before you forget! By the time you receive this the Seniors should be about to descend on us, with the all important team selection for the Inter Services. Not to mention the individual qualification though... top 12 in a weapon and you're off to Aldershot. It's going to make a pleasant change this year NOT to have to drive for umpteen hours to get to the competition ... Aldershot's half an hour down the road from me. I'm trying to persuade the wife to offer the hospitality of our abode to the team this year. Maybe a party is in order???? I'm sure we can twist her arm!

Juniors 1999 (From a Match Report provided by C/T Mal Collins, RAF Benson)

Before we begin to report on this years events, it's only fair to finish off reporting on last years. To that end, here's the full story on what happened 29 - 31 October when the Juniors were held at RAF Cosford.

Mens Junior Sabre
With only eight entries for the sabre the group was split into two pools of four, with two rounds fenced without elimination, leaving a final DE of eight. Fg Off Mark Deakin came out as top seed with Cpl Graeme Cant No.2. All went to plan and in the semi-finals Mark faced Cpl Phil McNulty and had a good bout with hits being traded evenly until Mark found confidence and ran out the winner 15-11. Graeme meanwhile had a less demanding bout, beating the less experienced Flt Lt Adrian Bettridge 15-6. The final was perhaps quicker than Mark expected, with Graeme's experience showing as he took the Junior Sabre title 15-6.

1st Cpl Graeme Cant RAF Waddington
2nd Fg Off Mark Deakin RAF Buchan
3rd= Flt Lt Adrian Bettridge RAF Wittering
3rd= Cpl Phil McNulty RAF Oakhanger

Mens Junior Foil
A larger entry of 14 provided more scope for the foilists, and again two rounds of fencing without elimination were held before an incomplete DE of 16. Early indications showed that Mark Deakin and Graeme Cant would again be contesting the top places, joined by Sgt Mal Mather and Flt Lt Pete MacKenzie-Brown, but it was Cpl Phil McNulty who took top seed after winning all his bouts and Cpl Dave Long who took No.2 spot to get an all important bye for the first round of DE. The quarter-finals provided a memorable fight between Mal Mather and Pete M-B, with neither gaining more than a one hit lead until at 13 all Pete took the two required hits to win. However, in his semi-final fight with Phil McNulty Pete couldn't repeat his form and lost to Phil 15-3. The other semi-final between Mark Deakin and Graeme Cant showed Graeme had more stamina and on 15-10. The final began slowly with neither fencer wanting to give away hits, but slowly Phil began to move ahead of Graeme with some excellent examples of first-counter attacks and won 15-11 to become 1999 RAFFU Junior Foil Champion.

1st Cpl Phil McNulty RAF Oakhanger
2nd Cpl Graeme Cant RAF Waddington
3rd= Fg Off Mark Deakin RAF Buchan
3rd= Flt Lt Pete MacKenzie-Brown RAF Valley

Mens Junior Epee
The now familiar format of two seeding rounds into an incomplete DE faced the 13 entrants for the epee competition, with early favourites Mal Mather and Pete MacKenzie Brown being joined by Cpl Ben Smith. Indeed, after the two seeding rounds all three were undefeated and only six hits separated them on indicators, Ben taking top spot, Pete No.2, with Mal and Graeme Cant filling the remaining first four places. In the quarter-finals Mal Mather had an epic fight with Graeme Cant. With both fencers showing great skill and ability and trading hit for hit, sadly only one fencer could continue and Graeme gained the last hit of the bout 15-14. However, in the semi-final Graeme couldn't reproduce his form and lost to Pete MacKenzie Brown 15-8, whilst in the other semi-final Ben Smith beat an ever improving Flt Lt Martin Balshaw 15-11. The final proved to be an exciting end to the individual Mens events, with both fencers closely matched. Pete MacKenzie-Brown appeared to be gaining an advantage at the start of the final period and was several hits ahead but Ben, aided by a menacing coach, staged a comeback and provided a thrilling finish taking the Junior Epee title 15-13.

1st Cpl Ben Smith RAF Waddington
2nd Flt Lt Pete MacKenzie-Brown RAF Valley
3rd= Flt Lt Martin Balshaw RAF Lyneham
3rd= Cpl Graeme Cant RAF Waddington

Mens Champion at Arms
The results of this years junior events meant that several candidates entered the epee competition with all to play for, but as Phil McNulty and Pete MacKenzie-Brown found the going tough Graeme Cant's first, second and third place provided him with points to spare to become 1999 RAFFU Junior Champion-at-Arms and winner of the Birch Shield.

1st Cpl Graeme Cant RAF Waddington 21 points
2nd Flt Lt Pete MacKenzie-Brown RAF Valley 15 points
3rd Cpl Phil McNulty RAF Oakhanger 14 points

Ladies Junior Foil
With only two entrants for the foil competition the winner was SAC Lisa Taylor of RAF Ayios Nikolaos, with SAC Susie Cowden of RAF Lyneham 2nd. Ladies Junior Sabre
Three fencers took part in a poule unique for the sabre title, with SAC Susie Cowden runner-up and Lisa Taylor once again taking top honours.

Ladies Junior Epee
The epee competition fielded four ladies and once again a poule unique was employed. This time Lisa Taylor had to settle for 2nd place with two wins, as SAC Sharon Booth from RAF Brize Norton won all her fights to become Ladies Junior epee champion.

Ladies Champion-at-Arms
With two wins and a second place the ladies Champion-at-Arms for 1999 is SAC Lisa Taylor of RAF Ayios Nikolaos.

Inter-unit 3 Man team event
Teams from Brize Norton, Cosford, Lyneham, Valley and Waddington contested the Inter-unit 3 man event. Brize Norton, Lyneham and Valley each produced one match victory leaving Cosford and Waddington to fight it out. As Waddington's experience in competitions clearly showed they held off the challenge of Cosford to finish winners of the Inter-unit Senior trophy, with Cosford's spirited challenge securing them the Inter-unit Junior title.

No competition is possible without prior planning and effort, and once again all the fencers and organisers benefited from Sgt Ashley Newing's meticulous administration. Cpl Phil McNulty and his team set up the equipment beforehand and Phil's efforts as Armourer were much in demand, and my thanks also to all those who assisted with presiding, scoring etc.

Too Much Turkey (by Cpl Phil McNulty)

You know what it's like. The last RAF fencing competition was in October. Christmas has come and gone and you've completely stuffed yourself with turkey, Xmas pud and mince pies. To cap it all, you've had an extra long holiday because of the Millennium celebrations. Needless to say, you've let yourself go. Piled on a few pounds. Gained some bounce around the mid-section. Basically just turned into a porker!

That's the condition I found myself in when I decided to enter the Aldershot Open foil competition on 15 January. I've entered this competition the previous two years and it's a nice standard to gently ease back into the whole "physical exercise" thing! At least, it used to be! Run by the Army, there was a major difference this year with the fact that Leon Paul now provide the AFU with all their equipment. So, what did Leon Paul do to make things more interesting this year? Only go and offer £500 worth of Leon Paul vouchers to the winner! Needless to say the standard of entrants jumped rather dramatically! Surprisingly, I was also the only RAF fencer. And so it was I found myself struggling as the competition began. At the last RAF competition I'd relied on a good defence ... allowing my opponents to attack before carrying out swift parries and ripostes. I found to my horror however that the excesses of the festive period had taken their toll and my super-fast reflexes had slowed down to match those of a tortoise! To make matters worse though, when I realised that this tactic wasn't going to work I began to attack ... only to find that my attacks appeared to be carried out in slow motion for the benefit of the spectators! I dropped my first two fights but as the morning progressed I slowly began to improve, which was heartening, and even managed a couple of victories. Unfortunately the damage had been done early on and I had an extremely poor seeding of 41st.

As I entered the DE, I was up against a fencer I'd met in my first round poule, I was confident as this had been one of my few "good" fights of the morning, only losing narrowly 5-4. Unfortunately for me, I also narrowly lost in the DE 15-12, dropping out of the competition without making the L32.

As the first competition of the year, I couldn't be too disappointed with the result, and at least I knew just how much work I needed to do before the Commands!

Dates For The Diary

The following page contains all the events for which travel authority has been granted between Apr 00 and Sep 00. Please ensure you notify the Match Secretary, Flt Lt Lynette Bolton of your intention to participate in the events, and also pass on your results to her afterwards. That way we can ensure the Sports Board continue to grant us the authority in future.

York Open	York	27 May
Met Police Epee & Men's Epee Open	Hendon	10 June
Watford Sabre	Watford	17 June
Inter-Services Squad Training	RAF Cosford	17/18 June (provisional)
British National Championships	RAF Cosford	1/2 July
Inter-Services Team & Individual	Aldershot	9-14 July
Norfolk Open	Norwich	15 July
1 Hit Epee/Shropshire Open	RAF Cosford/Telford	23/24 September
Spalding Challenge	Spalding	17 September

Prior notification is a requirement and the Match Sec should be informed at least 2 weeks before the competition where possible.

News From The Underground

Have you ever noticed how some people just have a knack for finding out all the latest gossip, long before you do? I'm quite fortunate in my post as Editor to have a direct e-mail connection to one such person. You can almost guarantee that if I've received an e-mail from them then it'll contain some snippet of news or gossip. Therefore, for her services to this magazine I'm awarding my mole her very own column to contain all the news she's passed on to me. If you read it here, then it's come from my roving reporter, Ashley Newing.

First things first then, congratulations go out to Carol Ackroyd, our Treasurer who was promoted to Sqn Ldr on 10 Apr. Also to Lynette Bolton, Match Secretary, on her recent promotion to Flt Lt. Best wishes to both of you from the RAF Women's Fencing Squad. Congratulations also to Adrian Bettridge, also promoted to Sqn Ldr (and after just receiving his MBE ... good year for Adrian then!).

As I mentioned earlier, Ashley is off to the Falklands this year. If you've been there then you know what it's like. All blueys, gossip, fencing progress reports and results will be gratefully received. Ashley does a lot to make everything at our competitions run smoothly, so let's all make her time down there bearable and drop her a few lines.

Sabre At Slough (by Cpl Phil McNulty)

1999 had been an interesting year for my fencing. I'd continued to go to my local club at Aldershot where I'd received coaching on my foil. The year had ended on a high note with my victory in the foil at the Juniors, but I'd been disappointed that I hadn't won the Master-at-Arms competition. I remember a conversation I had with Angus a few years ago, in which he stated that one had to find the balance that was right for you if you didn't want to concentrate on just one weapon. Find the time to put the practice in with all 3 weapons. I decided that 2000 was going to be the year where I did just that. I'd had a tendency to only do the other weapons at RAF competitions, preferring to stick with foil at civilian level ... perhaps this was because I at least knew with foil that I wouldn't be totally humiliated? Who can say! So, with this in mind, I decided that I'd give the sabre a try at the Slough Open this year.

For the 2nd year running, the Slough Open was being held at Bracknell Sports Centre, and so I made my leisurely way there for the check-in, at which point I found I was the only RAF fencer there. The organisation for this event seemed to run a little bit smoother than it had in the foil event the year before and there was a minimal amount of waiting for the competition to begin. As the competition began I realised why I normally concentrated on foil ... I actually knew what I was doing with one of them in my hands! This sabre thing had me completely baffled and mystified as I dropped my first two fights. I also realised that I still had a lot of work to do to bring my fitness levels back up as the young cadets I had in my poule made me huff and puff like a geriatric (And this was AFTER I'd given up smoking!). Finally though the cobwebs began to clear and I realised where I'd been going wrong ... I wasn't shouting loudly enough after each hit, so the referee couldn't award me the hits! With this in mind, I began to scream as loudly as my opponents, contesting each point on sheer volume alone ... and it worked! The first surprise of the day was that I suddenly found I'd begun to fence in the style of a sabreur, instead of as a foilist, with the result that I began to win.

By the time the first round poule was completed I was quietly happy with my performance so far.The second surprise of the day then presented itself as the seedings came down from on high ... I wasn't last! In fact, I was seeded 25th. There was then what seemed an interminable wait whilst the DE began. An incomplete 64 meant that I had a bye into the L32, which only meant that I had to sit around for even longer. By the time my DE match began I'd had far too much time to realise that my nicotine patch just wasn't working as well as it should be, and boy could I use a cigarette! If I'd still been smoking I would have been quite happy with the speed of my match, as my opponent quickly thrashed me 15-1, teaching me that perhaps I wasn't really fencing as a sabreur after all! I could now spend the rest of the day smoking as much as I wanted ... if I had any cigarettes of course, which I didn't, cos I'd given up, so I didn't need any anyway, honest!!!!

So, it had been an interesting and enjoyable experience, finishing 25th, and it was heartening to see that I didn't have to stick with my old faithful foil in order to win any bouts at civilian level. Now I just needed to improve so I could win a few more!

Do You Have What It Takes? (by Cpl Phil McNulty)

Here's a question for you ... do you have what it takes to repair and check your weapons? Believe it or not, the answer should be "Yes". You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a nuclear technician. Ashley sent in a very informative and useful guide to weapon fault finding that was included in the January edition of REPRISE. With that article, you have the necessary KNOWLEDGE with which to determine what the fault on your weapon is. This article will now tell you what items and tools should appear in every fencers toolbox... which will give you the MEANS to repair your fault, or merely to carry out your own weapon checks:

Test Box Possibly THE most important thing. You won't always be able to hook up to a piste to test your weapon. And with the state of some of the weapons out there (Steve Jackman take note!) it's an idea to test the night before.

Jewellers/Watchmakers Screwdriver set Obviously, with small grub screws, you need small screwdrivers! Hacksaw Believe it or not, one day you will have to buy a new blade. And you will find that the tang is too long. So you'll want to chop a bit off. Just don't take off too much like I did with my very first attempt!

Scotchbrite The vast majority of problems occur because of rust. This is by far the easiest way to remove the offending ferrous oxide and restore your weapon to pristine condition. Angle grinders aren't recommended or legal.

Pliers & Adjustable Spanner Necessary when tightening up/removing a barrel. Or for making Steve Jackman buy a round.

Grub Screws No matter how careful you are when you take your tip out, you'll ALWAYS drop at least one screw. And find the smallest piece of mosquito dung more easily than finding the screw! Also make sure you use the right size ... foil screws ARE smaller than epee ones!

Tips and Springs When you've forced an epee grub screw into the hole to hold your foil tip in place, don't be surprised when your tip flies out mid-fight. Or vice-versa. Just face it, you WILL lose tips and springs. Buy your own because the Armourer's will cost an arm and a leg. And the Armourer will give you a lecture about reading the articles that go into REPRISE about fixing your own weapons!

Test Weight There's nothing more satisfying than watching people panic when the Armourer states "Weapon checks will be carried out from the beginning of the day". That's because I've got my own weight. And I can set mine up before the competition... and then decide to test everyone else's to make them panic!

Re-wires & Superglue The wiring on your blade will eventually break. Whether this is at the tip, the handle or somewhere in the middle depends entirely upon fate. Whatever happens, you will need to re-wire the weapon. You will ask the Armourer to do it for you. He will laugh in your face. You will need to use superglue. You will stick your fingers together. These are indisputable facts. Eventually the Armourer will do it for you. The Armourer will stick his fingers together. You will laugh in the Armourer's face. Revenge is sweet.

Tape You know that your foil will fail at least one weapon check. This means that you will have to take all your tape off. It would be an idea to make sure you have some to replace it with. Alternatively, you can leave your foil un-insulated. I'll quite happily fence you then. (For those that don't know, an incorrectly insulated foil can result in hits not registering!)

This has been a slightly tongue in cheek look at the world of weapon preparation and repair. Although I've painted Armourers as hideous and horrible monsters, they are actually there to help you. All we ask is that you also help yourself. You wouldn't be doing too much wrong if you start by investing in a small toolbox. And possibly the above to put in it?

A Lovely Day In Surrey (From a Match Report by Flt Lt Lynette Bolton, Match Sec)

The RAF Fencing Union took part in the Surrey Challenge 2000 held at Epsom College on 2 April 00. This event is normally held in February but was changed to April due to venue difficulties. Sharon Booth flying in from Nepal meant a full complement for the RAF (Nice when that happens! Ed). Eight teams turned out in all, who were of a very high standard and, with excellent organisation from Surrey County Fencing Club, the event got under way immediately without the ubiquitous early morning wait, although some had encountered this in the search for a car parking space! The bouts were conducted relay-fashion; first team to twenty points in each round. Fencing was of a high standard and with Dave Jerry on hand to give immediate remedial coaching, the event was extremely useful to those who hadn't brandished their swords for a while. Whilst overall RAF wins were in single numbers, each round ended with some very close fights with many fencers catching up by many points in a single bout. The sabreurs had two very strong wins against the Vets and Essex.

Overall, the RAF finished sixth. This, however, did not represent the impressive fencing shown by our fencers. The competition served as excellent pre-Winton Cup training and the Surrey County Fencing Union inform me that the event date will probably remain in April for future years.

The teams were: Men's Foil C/T Aubrey Ingle & Cpl Jon Sowerby Men's Sabre (Mr) Angus Cameron & Sqn Ldr Steve Jackman Men's Epee Cpl Phil McNulty & Cpl Dave Long Ladies Foil Flt Lt Ann Gibson & SAC Sharon Booth Ladies Epee Flt Lt Lynette Bolton & Sgt Ashley Newing

A Tale Of Two Fencers (by Cpl Dave Long, Juniors Rep)

The day began like any other Sunday morning, too early with a two young(ish) man team speeding across the Hampshire countryside from their respective bases to do battle with opponents from far and near. These men were myself, Cpl Dave Long. and Cpl Phil McNulty. Their arrival was greeted with some bemused stares and sniggers from their foes. "As we've never been to this competition before we'll just have to kick some butt to gain respect", quipped Phil. "Yeah, we'll soon put those smiles on the other side of those faces." replied Dave. Not put off by the flagrant wearing of GB tracksuits by some of the opposition, our intrepid heroes set about getting ready for combat, resolute that they would not lose any match without giving a good account of themselves. The initial seeding round began, and our fencers found themselves on adjacent pistes, where they could give support and keep track of each others progress. Things did not start well as both fencers lost their first three fights. Dave was taught the lesson that standing still is not a good idea in foil. "I'm just not a morning person" was heard to be mumbled from his general direction. Then things began to change for our intrepid heroes as Dave took his first victory. On the piste next door Phil had also woken up and was showing his adversaries that wearing and using expensive Leon Paul regalia did not qualify them for an automatic victory as he went on to win his remaining fights. After a team chat where Phil extolled the virtue of actually moving the feet while fencing, Dave was heard to retort "It all sounds very radical, but I'll give it a go!"

And so it was into the second seeding round our two intrepid sportsmen steadfastly went, and they were determined to take a few more scalps before the day was done. Phil carried on where he had left off, and even took the liberty to educate one rather less disciplined young fencer that if his light did not come on then he could not score, and that no amount of screaming and throwing his teddy out of the cot would alter this fact. (Ed's note: Can I just say in my defence that:

1. He was getting on my nerves with his constant arguing with the referee.

2. He kept insisting on testing against me, even though he kept missing.

3. I noticed that the more upset he got, the worse he fenced ... a weakness to be exploited!

And at least I didn't reduce him to tears like the fencer who eventually knocked him out of the competition. I'm not the ogre Dave's painting me to be ... honest!) Dave on the other hand, though fencing well, was still managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a style all of his own. Especially when faced against a rather youthful adversary from Sussex House (complete with his sideline coaching staff). "They may have won the battle, but they haven't won the war" he said with contempt while leaving the piste.

As the seeding rounds drew to a close the team of McNulty and Long were seeded an impressive 13th (well done Phil) and a moderate 32nd place respectively. Now came the Direct Elimination. Dave was drawn against his earlier nemesis from Sussex House (once more with his coaching staff on hand at the side of the piste, a fact which the referee did nothing to stop), and ensured his passage into the last 32 by promptly proceeding to batter (literally!) his opponent into submission, showing no mercy. It's amazing what effect an attempted flick hit with a non-flexible blade dealt with force can cause! Your opponent whimpers, and Dave's opponent whimpered a lot! Phil on the other hand fenced with more style and technique than his fellow team mate and ensured that he too went through to the next round. Full of the joys of fencing Dave now faced the number one seed. Unfortunately the top player was in no mood to be charitable and swept Mr Long aside 15 points to 3. Which, for Dave, considering the standard of a lot of the others was quite a respectable achievement. Phil was by now fencing on top of his game, but came up against a surprise opponent who he had beaten convincingly in the earlier seeding rounds. After a relatively easy victory in the seeding round, Phil now faced an opponent who was carrying out flick attempts to back and shoulder with apparent ease and it was soon his turn to be beaten. Someone worthy of the 13th seeding position did not do this without a fight but eventually dropped out 15 points to 7, dropping to 18th overall, a very respectable position. As I am sure you are all aware, flick hits in foil are very hard to defend against, and that keeping good distance between you and your protagonist were the lessons learned by Dave and Phil.

They went out on a limb to a competition, had a good laugh, battled well and deservedly managed to get intot he last 32 of a very hard competition. Just think, next time it could be you!

Final Announcements

In the next edition, look forward to a report on the Commands (if the STC and PTC secs get them done), a full accounting of how the RAF contingent fared at the Clara Rayner tournament, the Winton Cup story and much more. Many thanks to all those who contributed to this edition. Keep your stuff coming in and you too can see your name in print. I'll even put letters after your name. And if you catch me on a good day those letters might even make up words! See you at the Seniors!!!