EDITORIAL
Well!!! What a busy and hectic time it’s been out there. I can’t remember a time when I saw so many RAF fencers out on the civvy circuit ... and long may it continue is what I say! In between all those competitions I’ve even found the time to get to work on this, the 2nd edition of Reprise for 2002. As always, my sincere thanks go out to all those people who went to the effort of sending in articles. It
makes my job so much easier. Those of you who have yet to put pen to paper ... boo ... hiss ... shame on you!
So what joys and delights does this issue hold for you?
As promised, I’ll be telling you how to rewire a foil (Zzzzzzz) and we have the results of the Command Championships. Our Match Sec has been busy too, securing us funding from the Sports Board for all those travel claims we so desperately need ... the new list of competitions with travel authority is inside. Is that all???? Of course not!!! Did you think an Editor as fussy as I am would let such a measly offering suffice? We’ve also got a potted history of Spence’s infamous past as we sadly say goodbye to him on his retirement from the Service. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say he will be missed.
Also inside I’ve compiled a little fencing word search for you and I’ve also got reports on RAF performance at those all important Open competitions. Oh, and if you are thinking of going to the International Air Tattoo this year, look out for the magazine produced by the Sports Board. We fencers have a mention in there!!! Until the next time, enjoy! I’m off for a well-earned rest!
NEWS FROM THE UNDERGROUND
It’s been a while since this column last appeared and I was beginning to think that my mole was losing her touch. The floods of gossip arriving on my desk had dried up. Juicy titbits no longer appeared in my email. All hope of hearing anything savoury were fading fast ... then I received an email full of juicy stuff ... thanks Ashley ... you’re an absolute star!!!
Unfortunately, it’s bad news first.
Steph Keenan was involved in a car accident whilst in Poland and suffered major injuries, including a broken pelvis. Best wishes and regards from everyone at RAFFU and get well soon please Steph ... we need your bubbly smile at our competitions!
On the up side ... congratulations to Dave Long on his engagement to Kristina. A romantic proposal on the riverbank in Prague ... who would have thought Dave was that smooth? You’ll soon be chained to that kitchen like me Dave!! (Only joking Mrs Ed, please don’t hit me!)
In the words of Ashley, the next good news was the most unbelievable ... Rob Desforges being promoted to Cpl? That can’t possibly be right! Only kidding Rob ... congratulations on a long overdue promotion. Ashley would also like to pass on her deepest sympathy to 216 Sqn on the arrival of Cpl Desforges! (Again, just kidding Rob!)
I was also going to use one of the photos I saw of a certain “Skippy” Hosking receiving his Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Unfortunately, Skippy was hiding at the back! Congratulations on the award though Skippy ... and good luck with you IOT selection too!
That was pretty much it on the gossip front ... but Ashley was able to provide me with a comprehensive potted history of our favourite coaches life in fencing, Cpl Ian Spencer, or as we imaginatively refer to him ... Spence!
So, sit back, relax and read on ... as we uncover the mysteries that turn a normal human being into ... a fencing coach!!!
1978 Pendleton 6th Form College Began Fencing with Prof Geoff Hawkesworth.
1980 RAF Swinderby Joined the RAF and discovered drinking.
1986 RAF Halton Rediscovered fencing during FT Course and learnt new drinking habits from Bob Haynes and John Crouch.
1987 RAF Coningsby Took first Coaching Course.
1988 RAF Coningsby Station Team and individuals. Started to win medals at RAFFU events.
1988 RAF Coningsby Selected as a member of a RAFFU Squad that toured USA and Canada.
1989 Aldershot Qualified as a basic 3 weapon coach.
1989 RAF Coningsby Voted onto RAFFU committee as RAF Coach.
1989 Royal Tournament Selected for Combined Services Championships.
1990 Manchester Officiated at the Commonwealth Fencing Federation Championships with Dave Jerry and Mal Collins.
1990 RAF Laarbruch Ran the RAFG Championships with Flt Lt George Liston and Fg Off Ann Gibson.
1991 Venlo Began training with the Dutch National Coach.
1992 RAF Bruggen Hosted RAFG v RN v BAOR v RAF Home Commands Match.
1993 RAF Gutersloh Last RAFG v BAOR match at Sennelager (possibly the worst lager in the world!)
1993 RAF St Athan Began fencing on the civilian circuit.
1993 RAF St Athan Selected to represent RAF at Inter Service Team Match.
1994 Birmingham Centre of Excellence Qualified as Intermediate 3 weapon coach.
1994 RAF St Athan Achieved a national ranking at British Sabre Championships.
1994 RAF St Athan Selected for RAFFU Tour to USA and Canada.
1995 RAF Cosford Hosted the British National Epee Championships.
1996 Belgium Attended Air Forces Central Europe Fencing Championships.
1997 Birmingham Centre of Excellence Began coaching with the West Midlands Squad.
1998 Birmingham Centre of Excellence Qualified as an Advanced Foil Coach.
1999 Loughborough Combined Services Team managed not to come last at the Winton Cup.
2000 ASPT Aldershot RAFFU wipes the board at the Combined Services Team and Individual Championships.
2000 RAF Cosford Hosted the first ever National 3 Weapon Championships.
2001 HMS Temeraire RAF Squad wins an unprecedented 7 times (Women’s) and 6 times (Men’s) Inter Services Team Match. Injured as member of sabre team.
LIFE IS FULL OF LESSONS
As I said in my introduction, there have been quite a few RAF fencers at recent Open competitions; an encouraging sign. It’s been stated many times, but can never be overstated, that participation in these events is THE way to guarantee an improvement in the standard of our fencing. Valuable lessons can be learned from these competitions, and as I have been to quite a few
Opens myself, I thought I’d share some of those lessons with you.
Saturday 2 Feb saw the start of the Slough Open and myself and Dave Long entered the sabre event to find ourselves up against some very stiff competition. After just one seeding round during which both Dave and I struggled, it was onto the DE. With a seeding of 28th I found myself in a match which I should have easily won. However, as I found myself growing increasingly more irritated by what I saw as poor refereeing decisions my standard of fencing slipped, and it was with some relief that I went into the last 32 15-13. Dave also struggled in his first round of DE against a higher seed, but eventually scraped through 15-14. It was in the last 32 that we both met our match as we were both dispatched relatively easily, but still a last 32 finish wasn’t too bad.
Lessons learned: Don’t get annoyed or frustrated when refereeing decisions go against you. YOU have to make sure that the referee sees what you are doing. If you do an action and it is not given your way, then perhaps the referee didn’t see it. Play to the ref, not to the crowd!! Oh, one other lesson ... if you’ve got a favourite sabre, then you can guarantee the blade will break, eh Dave?!
The next day brought the men’s foil and epee. Both Dave and I had entered the foil and it was good to see George Liston, Andy Alcock and Gary Brailsford all there to try their hands in the epee. As in previous years the foil competition was extremely large, with well over 100 fencers entered; so with 100 fencers to choose from why did I end up with the British Champion in my poule? I had achieved a very good result at the Aldershot Open, and as such had high expectations. As Dave’s first Open of the year he was hoping to give himself a good start on the ranking ladder. I fenced abysmally; admittedly I had some very good fencers in my poule but it was annoying to know that I wasn’t fencing at the standard I know I can, losing every fight in my poule. Dave meanwhile was faring very much better, fencing well and winning 2 fights. Sure enough, though, the seedings reflected my dismal performance and it was no surprise as I then crashed out of the competition in the first round of DE. Dave also found the going tough in the DE and in what was obviously a move to help ease my suffering joined me in the ranks of the eliminated. All in all a bad day for the foilists.
Lessons learned: Doing well at one competition is unfortunately no guarantee of a good result at the next one. DON’T let this dissuade you though! At the level most of us fence, it’s the EXPERIENCE that counts, not the result.
After a weekend’s break from the civilian scene to compete at the Commands, (followed by a weekend break to appease my wife after all this time spent fencing), the next event was the Hampshire Open on Saturday 26 Feb. Gary Brailsford made the trek down whilst myself and Dave Long made the short trip across to Fareham to compete in the foil. The entry was quite small but a good standard of fencing was evident; and after a poor performance in the first round I managed to recover a reasonable 15th seeding after the second poule. Dave meanwhile was nursing a hand injury and as such could only manage 22nd. Dave then withdrew from the competition giving his opponent a bye into the last 16 while Gary had a blinder to get a seeding of 14th, only to let all the hard work go to waste in the first round of the DE! Speaking of hard work; I was comfortably ahead in my first round DE match 10-5 ... then scraped through to the last 16 by the skin of my teeth 15-14! Happy with a top 16 performance I was then totally outclassed by my next opponent as I lost 15-5 to finish a creditable 14th.
Lessons learned: This one’s easy. NEVER relax in a fight. All it takes is a small lapse in concentration and you can find yourself at 14-14 and facing elimination. Other lesson learned ... hey, a really bad result at one competition isn’t going to stop you fencing well at the next one! Don’t dwell on bad results. And don’t let a good seeding go to waste ... keep fighting!!
The next event on the calendar was the Clara Rayner in Nottingham on Saturday 2 Mar. Both myself and Gary Brailsford were entered in the foil and the day started well for me, winning 4 of 6 fights in the first round poule. Gary unfortunately did not fare so well but managed to recover slightly in the 2nd round poule to secure a 36th seeding. I mirrored my first round result with 4 victories to end up with a seeding of 18th. With 51 fencers it was straight into an incomplete 64, at which point Gary realised that a parry followed by a riposte would have been a good tool to bring with him that day as he crashed out in the first round DE. I comfortably moved into the last 32 to set up a match against the No.14 seed, a match which I was comfortably ahead in right up until the last 3 minutes. With the score tied at 12-12 after 9 minutes of fencing, it was a relief to scrape through with a scrappy parry-riposte in the extra minute. This then set up a match against the No.2 seed, who quickly set up a 4 point lead with some flick hits to shoulder. As the match went on I dragged myself back into it, fencing some of the best foil I’ve fenced in several years, but that initial lead was the deciding factor as I went out 15-10.
Lessons learned: If your favourite move is working well and you get a comfortable lead in a match ... great. However, if your opponent figures out what you are doing and learns to counter it, best you change tactics pretty sharpish! DO NOT wait until the scores are even again before trying something different! Flick hits; love them or hate them, they are a factor in the game ... and they can be fought against. Distance and timing are the keys, especially if you find it hard to pick up that blade on the way in.
The next day brought the John Warburn epee, and joining myself and Gary was Andy Alcock. The day started well for me winning my first 2 fights; unfortunately these were to prove the high points of my day! Gary also struggled winning just one fight while Andy managed to win 3. The second seeding round saw Andy win all 5 of his matches, giving him an impressive 10th seeding, whilst I lost all my fights and Gary won just one, with us being seeded 50th and 54th respectively. Struggling with a leg injury Gary then lost his first round DE match with Andy comfortably sailing into the last 32. In my DE match it was a case of giving my opponent too much respect; after 6 minutes of very tentative (and boring to watch) fencing he was ahead 11-5. Going into the final 3 minutes with nothing to do but go for it I scored hit after hit, narrowly losing the match 15-12 in the end and giving my opponent heart failure on the way! Andy meanwhile went from strength to strength, winning his next three matches comfortably before losing in the quarter-finals to finish a very creditable 6th.
Lessons learned: NEVER give your opponent too much respect! Have confidence in your own abilities instead of worrying about your opponents. ANY fencer, on any given day, is beatable; just go out there and do it!!
So, as you can see it’s been a busy old time on the civilian circuit. And as you can see it’s not all been plain sailing and good news. But what’s important is that I’ve learned something from each experience ... and that’s the key word when you get out to those civvy comps ... EXPERIENCE.
EXPERIENCE is what makes a better fencer, LEARNING from mistakes and using those lessons learned to your advantage next time. As you can see I’ve learned quite a few things ... and I hope that my lessons are of some help to you!!
Now it’s your turn to get out there ... make me proud!!!!!!!
DATES FOR THE DIARY
The following are competitions, either Service or Civilian, for which travel authority has been granted. All personnel wishing to participate in any event are to inform the Match Sec, Sgt Mark Gumley, prior to the competition on 95721 x7482.
Should the Match Sec not be informed, then personnel are technically not on duty and will not be covered by the RAF should anything go awry, nor can they claim duty mileage. Where possible, notification should be given to the Match Sec at least 2 weeks prior to the event. On completion of the event results are to be passed to the Match Sec for onward notification to the Sports Board.
Met Police Cup (Team) Hendon 9 Jun
Watford Sabre Watford 15 Jun
Preparation match for
Inter Services Squad RAF Cosford 15,16 Jun
Inter Services Team
and Individual RAF Cosford 24 – 28 Jun
British National Championships RAF Cosford 13,14 Jul
Norfolk Open Norwich 20 Jul
1 Hit Epee/Shropshire Open RAF Cosford/
Telford 21/22 Sep
Spalding Challenge Spalding Sep TBC
Quadrangular Competition TBD TBD
Editor’s Note: Remember that every year the John Warburn Memorial Trophy is awarded to the RAF fencer who achieves the best results at competitions throughout the year …Service and civilian. Therefore it is in your best interests not only to compete in as many competitions as you can, but also to notify your results to the Match Sec. Good luck out there!
COMMAND CHAMPIONSHIPS 2002
By Cpl Phil McNulty
The Command Championships were held in February up at Cosford and as always the standard of fencing was extremely high in both Commands. As will become patently clear, I have a vested interest in the PTC results, so lets do them first!!!
PTC Command
The event started with the men’s foil, and after 2 seeding rounds Officer Cadet Graeme Hart, RAF College Cranwell was seeded No.1 with myself seeded No.2. As the direct elimination rounds began there were no surprises as the expected seeds went through. This teed up a comfortable semi-final win for Graeme against Sqn Ldr Andy Wallis, Yeoviltown while I sailed past Flt Lt Andy Cooke, RAF Brampton. The final was a close event, with both fencers showing some excellent skills, but Graeme’s recent success on the civilian circuit, making the last 32 at the Slough Open, held him in good stead as he drew out to win the match 15-10 to become PTC foil champion.
The next event was the men’s sabre, and this time it was my turn to come out as the No.1 seed, winning every match in the seeding rounds. After faltering slightly against Cpl Simon Richards, RAF Brampton, I then made my way through to the final. In the other half of the draw, Andy Cooke found himself up against lower seed Graeme Hart, but it was Graeme who sneaked through 15-14 in what was a nail-biting match to set-up a rematch of the foil final. It was to prove “almost but not quite” for me as once again I lost the final 15-10 and Graeme added the PTC sabre title to his weekend.
Going into the 2nd day of competition Graeme was in the lead by 2 points in the race for the Master-at-Arms title with everything resting on the men’s epee. Fortunes were mixed in the seeding rounds as Graeme started well, only to lose his way in the 2nd round. I meanwhile started badly only to rediscover my form in the 2nd round to jump from No.4 seed up to the No.2 slot. In the quarter-finals I was then thrown a lifeline for the Master-at-Arms title as Simon Richards knocked Graeme out of the competition before losing in the semi-final to Officer Cadet Graeme Orme. With my place in the semi-final secure, the calculations were done and the realisation dawned that to win the title only 1st or 2nd place would do for me. Thus the semi- final match against Wg Cdr Dave Orme, Graeme’s father and RAF Coach, was the title deciding match.
We both fenced very well, with Dave’s obvious experience showing through and, matching each other hit for hit, I was glad when I narrowly drew out a lead to take the victory 15-11, securing my place in the final. Unfortunately the trend of the weekend continued, as I then lost my 3rd final of the competition to Graeme Orme 15-9!
With three 2nd places though, it was enough to take the PTC Master-at-Arms title.
OK, that’s enough about me … what about someone else!!
STC Command
The competition started with the sabre and after the initial seeding round Cpl Shaun Taylor, RAF Lossiemouth, Sgt Mark Gumley, RAF Coningsby and Flt Lt Tim Hamilton, RAF Benson were all vying for the top spot. All 3 then sailed comfortably through the first knockout rounds. Shaun then battled hard against Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock, RAF High Wycombe to go into the final 15-12, whilst Tim and Mark met in the other semi-final. Mark just edged the win over Tim to set up a final match against Shaun, which after some spirited fencing on both sides Mark won 15-8 to take the STC Sabre title.
The next event was the foil, and once again Tim Hamilton was seeded highly in fourth place. In a testament to the standard of fencing on display, only 5 points separated 1st and 4th seeds. Without dropping any fights in the seeding round, Cpl Rob Desforges and SAC Sharon Booth, both RAF Brize Norton, topped the seedings, and both comfortably moved through the knockout stages to reach the semi-finals. Tim faltered though and found himself losing in the quarter-final to Cpl Dave Long, RAF Odiham. The first semi-final between Dave and Sharon was a very tactical match, with both fencers exchanging hits tit for tat, and it was to be the clock that decided the match as time ran out, Dave going through 12-11. Meanwhile, Rob and Gary were having their own battle in the other semi-final but it was Gary who edged through 15-13 to set up a final against Dave. The final was another closely fought match, but with tiredness setting in after a long days fencing it was scrappy at times, and it was with some relief that Gary finally took the win 15-13 to take the STC Foil title.
After a nights rest, the next day brought the epee competition but after a poor first round current Master-at-Arms leader Tim Hamilton found himself down in 13th place. SAC Paul “Skippy” Hosking, RAF Wittering and Andy Alcock found themselves leading the way at the top of the seedings, both easily making their way through the first knockout round. Tim found himself up against the No.4 seed, FS Ashley Newing, RAF St Mawgan and fenced extremely well to give the first upset of the day, knocking out the higher seed15-7. This then set up a quarter-final match against No.5 seed Shaun Taylor, and again Tim beat the odds to take the win 15-13, moving into a semi-final match against Andy. Unfortunately for Tim he couldn’t quite make it three in a row as Andy despatched him 15-9. Skippy meanwhile narrowly beat Gary Brailsford 15-14 in the quarter-finals to set up a match against Sharon Booth. The clock once again decided the winner as Skippy went through to a final match against Andy 14-13. With some excellent fencing on display it was a shame there had to be a loser, but Skippy then took the STC Epee title 15-13.
With 16 points awarded from Tim’s two 3rd places and a 5th place towards the Master-at-Arms competition, it was to prove to be just enough to give him the title ahead of Andy Alcock on 14 points.
All that was left was the Inter Command Team competition ... and STC were particularly sporting. Due to the lack of personnel in the PTC ranks, STC agreed to fence with teams of 2 instead of the usual 3; a decision which they may now be regretting!
In the sabre, Mark Gumley and Shaun Taylor demolished Andy Cooke and Simon Richards to give STC the win 4-0.
In the epee, father and son Dave and Graeme Orme made short work of Skippy Hosking and Andy Alcock to give PTC the weapon win 3-1.
The deciding match therefore lay with the foil, and it was to prove to be a conclusive victory for myself and Graeme Hart as we beat Dave Long and Gary Brailsford 4-0 to take the foil weapon win and secure the Inter-Command title for PTC.
All in all it was a very successful weekend, and thanks go out to everyone who helped with the setting up and running of the event. Gary Brailsford and Rob Desforges’ efforts as Armourers were appreciated, whilst the Command Secs did a great job of making sure that the medals and trophies were nice and shiny!!! Thanks to everyone who helped clear up too, especially those who helped carry that concrete buddha (just ask Pete McK-B where he was when you see him!!)
HOW DO I DO THAT?
by Phil McNulty
I’ve only gone and done it, haven’t I? Gone and promised to tell you how to rewire a foil?
Don’t you just hate it when you make promises and then find that you have a conscience after all and that you’re going to have to spend loads of your own time following through?
Ah well ... c’est la vie as they say ... which I think translates as “You’ve made your bed now lie in it!” I guess I have no choice then ... I’m going to have to divulge some more Armouring secrets!!! How am I supposed to retain my mystical image as an all-knowing, guru-like expert if I keep passing on all my useful little snippets? Now some of the “older” (sorry, more experienced is what I meant to say!) fencers out there might have their own ways of doing this. I’m not saying that this is the ONLY way, or indeed the BEST way to rewire a foil. But this is the way that I have found works for me. It’s up to you whether you use it or not!
Anyway, enough of my babble; what tools do we need to rewire our trusty foil blade then?
A big knife … Uncle Stanley’s finest will suffice. Why the knife? Well, unfortunately when your old blade came through the post it looked like it had been dipped in a vat of glue … and before you can rewire the first thing you need to do is strip out all that gunk from the wire channel. Take it from someone who failed miserably at their first ever rewire attempt because they didn’t do this!
Pliers & Spanner ... When you’re clearing all that gunk out of the channel, you’re also going to have to remove the barrel. Why? Well, your foil rewire comes complete with a little plastic cup; and you need to remove this from your barrel before you can fit the new wire in! (At this point if you think I’m teaching you to suck eggs, I’m sorry. You’d be surprised how many people I’ve seen complain that they couldn’t get the wire into the new barrel ... and then find on inspection that the old cup was still in there!)
Watchmakers Screwdrivers ... You will need to disassemble and rebuild your tip during the rewiring process. So you need a little screwdriver to get your grub screws out.
Patented Blade Bending Device ® ... You will need to bend the blade when you rewire it. And amazingly I still get asked by people why you need to do this! Quite simply, if you don’t bend the blade, then the first time it flexes there will be no slack in the wire and it will snap, wasting all that time and effort you put in!
You also need the blade to stay bent whilst the glue sets ... without your fingers sticking to the blade preferably. Thus we have the invention of the blade bending device. In my tool box, this consists of a length of string about 27 inches long (69 cm to the metric fraternity) with a socket (from a standard socket set) tied on at each end. Please note, the socket you use must be big enough to accept the tang or barrel of the blade, but not so big that they can slip out. My blade bender uses a 11/32 socket and a 3/8 socket ... just right for a foil barrel.
OK, you now have all the tools you need to carry out your rewire. And with the instructions that follow, a trained monkey could do the job (well, maybe not a trained monkey ... but I have had some success in teaching Rock Apes! Just kidding, before anyone from the RAF Regt decides to give ME a lesson!)
So, first things first, you need to strip down the old blade. Holding the blade tightly in the pliers, use the adjustable spanner to remove the barrel.
Once the barrel is removed, dismantle the tip (making sure not to lose those pesky grub screws!) and push a screwdriver up the base of the barrel to remove the remains of the old plastic cup. Your barrel should now be clear and ready for use.
Most of the time, the old wire is glued in tighter than a tight thing in Tightown on a particularly tight day. One method I’ve found useful is to pinch the wire between your pliers. Then slowly wind the wire round the pliers as you go ... this maintains pressure on the wire and takes most of the glue with it. If the wire snaps at any time, use the Stanley knife blade to get it started again, then continue wrapping round the pliers. Once the wire is fully removed, use the blade to scrape out all the old glue from the channel on the foil blade. The more time and effort you put into stripping the blade, the easier your job will be when it comes to rewiring.
At this point reassemble the tip completely.
“But I need to fit the wire into the barrel!” I hear you say, quite correctly.
Whilst you do still need to fit the wire into the barrel, you also need to screw the barrel back onto the blade. By assembling the tip completely before you do this you ensure that the risk of the barrel becoming distorted is reduced. Not only that, but if you screw the barrel on without it being complete, it has been known for the barrels to split due to over-tightening.
So, the next step is to screw the barrel back onto the blade using the pliers and spanner as before, but DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN! Over-tightening can also cause the thread on the blade to strip and weaken, ruining the blade.
We now have a blade with the tip attached. Strip the tip again.
We’re now ready to feed the rewire into the barrel. When you buy your rewire, it will be coiled up. Uncoil it and straighten it as best you can, before feeding the end inside the barrel. If you have cleaned the barrel and blade correctly, the wire should be able to feed into the wire channel on the blade. Pull the wire through until the plastic cup holding the contact sits inside the barrel.
Now reassemble the tip again.
Why? As I said in the last article, tips come in 2 different sizes. And as such, you need to use the correct rewire for the tip you are using. Assembling the tip at this point makes sure that you CAN assemble it! There’s nothing worse than pulling a German rewire as far down a French barrel as you can, gluing the wire in, then finding out that you can’t assemble the tip because the plastic cup hasn’t gone far enough into the barrel!
So, we’re now almost ready to glue, but before we do we need to bend the blade. Making sure that the wire is fed into the channel just below the barrel, attach the blade bending device to the tip, then bend the blade until the other end can be attached to the tang.
If you’re blade bending device is the same measurements as mine, this guarantees a sufficient amount of bend in the blade. You should now have what looks like a bow.
Feed the wire into the channel on the blade, maintaining tension all the way down the blade.
You are now ready for the glue. But what glue should you use? In the old days, we used to use Araldite, mainly for it’s strength. These days though, with the advent of quick-flow Superglue we tend to use that.
Starting at the barrel, let the glue free-flow down the channel until the entire length has been covered. Use an old cloth to wipe up any excess.
Obviously, give the glue time to set ... 10 – 15 minutes is more than adequate ... before removing the bending device from the blade. You are now ready to reassemble your weapon.
The only other Armouring tip I can give you at this point is with regards to connecting the wire to the bayonet socket on the foil. In the past I used to burn off the insulation from the wire. I’ve since discovered though that this can actually weaken the wire leading to breaks at the socket. As a result I now use the edge of a Stanley knife blade to gently scrape off the insulation.
So there you have it. You now know how to rewire your foil. And thanks to the last issue, you know how to determine where faults are on your foil. I guess that means that I can move onto epees next time then!
WORD SEARCH
There are times when I get REALLY upset! Like now, for instance. A page short for this edition, and nothing springs to mind on what I can do to fill it!!!
Hang on though, what about a little word search? That shouldn’t be too difficult to come up with. The table is over the page ... and all these words are within it somewhere. They can be found either horizontally, vertically or diagonally, backwards or forwards.
RAPIER BODYWIRE HIT FEINT REPRISE TARGET POINT
BLADE FLECHE DISENGAGE PARRY ATTACK GUARD RIPOSTE
FOOTWORK CHAMPION PREPARATION EPEE SABRE TIMING BALANCE
COMPOUND TRAINING INDIRECT BIND REFEREE BREECHES FOILIST
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R |
P |
R |
E |
P |
A |
R |
A |
T |
I |
O |
N |
M |
E |
S |
R |
T |
E |
P |
E |
M |
U |
U |
R |
P |
F |
A |
I |
H |
T |
G |
S |
E |
E |
P |
P |
O |
G |
A |
0 |
P |
L |
T |
C |
N |
O |
S |
R |
E |
I |
I |
A |
D |
P |
S |
Q |
A |
E |
E |
I |
C |
E |
G |
H |
J |
O |
E |
S |
P |
T |
R |
B |
G |
E |
E |
L |
T |
S |
K |
V |
N |
I |
G |
E |
E |
S |
T |
H |
R |
F |
R |
P |
A |
R |
R |
E |
F |
E |
R |
E |
E |
K |
J |
B |
FINAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Keep those articles coming in ... it’s always great to get stuff to put in, especially as it means I don’t have to go to the time and effort of having to get creative and write anything!
And definitely finally ... I’ve just received confirmation that I’m getting my promotion to Sgt (who says hard work doesn’t pay?) with effect from 22nd July, and a posting to ... you’ve guessed it ... back to RAF Oakhanger!! What do you have to do to escape????