Epic Fail : Another Parenthesis

Sorry for this second parenthesis…

On April, I went in Vietnam from April 10th to 25th!

From Hanoi to Saigon, through Ha Long Bay, Sapa, Hoi An, Hué,… A really nice trip!

Our trip begin in Hanoi, the capital. It was very disorientating. So many people, incomprehensible and acting in a way we were not used to.

After two days of adaptation, it was really funy!

Leaving Hanoi, we get to Ha Long Bay. A really beautyfull place…but in a few years it will no longer. Residents and tourists pollute the bay without retained!

Then, we get to Sapa, in the North, in the Mountain, by train…nine hours in a train, sleeping on wooden, without toilets… It was quite hard!

But Sapa is a very beautifull place! An extract :

Then we get to Hué and Hoi An.

To finish, we stay in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) 3 days.

But we had time to visit the Mekong Delta!

If you want to view all the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/113335788829625322257/Vietnam

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Parenthesis

Hi!

Today is an exception. From February 21st to 27, I was in Madrid…for work!

I’d to go to Madrid to help COBAYA team!

COBAYA is a neutronic computer code integrated in SALOME, the plateform I’m working on (http://www.salome-platform.org/).

So I’ve to work in english, to live in english, to think in english…to breath in english for a week! A good way to test myself. And it was a success! The work was done, everything was good explain and understood.

And I’d have time to visit Madrid on Friday and try Tapas Bar, an important part of Madrid’s life.

I saw severals monuments, places, tapas… Examples :

Plaza Mayor

Tapas

A funny thing was this one :

We can’t see on this picture but on the door was written : “Tapas y belgica”; tapas from Belgium! haha, Since when tapas are a Belgian specialty???

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CIP 2k10

On january, the 30th and 31th, took place the CIP (Challenge International de Paris).

It’s the most important world competition for men’s foil!

These last years, best fencer was french, deutch, few chinese,… But this year, what a surprise!

Old Continents fencer where worst than ever! Results speaks enough :

1 Chinese

2 Japanese

3 Chinese and Russian

5 Japanese

6 Polish

7 Chinese

8 USA

9 German

And the first italian is 14th, and there is no french in the top 15!!!

Previous year the podium was like french, german and italian at the 5 first positions. It’s a big defeat for these three federations!

I think the main cause of this failure is psychological. French are well known underestimate their oponents. And I think that German and Italian had the same feeling before the CIP.

But even if there was no french in finals, it was great assaults (in fencing we say assault, not game).  If you want to take a look,the event was covered by Orange-sport channel : http://orange-sport.orange.fr/vod/cnosf/escrime-challenge-international-de-paris-340.html

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Last But Not Least : Stage Fencing!

Stage fencing is the fencing that you see in the theater and movies. The fencing of d’Artagnan, Lagardère or Jedis. It is based on the techniques of the old fencing.

With this type of fencing we are fighting a partner, not an adversary: we must avoid touching while the public believe that we touch. Everything must be game because there are no special protection as in reality.

You don’t use same weapons: instead of a foil, an épée or a Sabre, we generally use a Rapière and a Main Gauche.

Except for the Jedis who use laser swords, but they have their own training camp!

Don’t Forget Your Protection!

Not to injure, fencers wear special clothes.

The jacket protect the upper body, arms included.

The glove protect your armed hand.

The bodywire allows the light illuminates when you touch.

The Epée, or Foil or Sabre. The weapons you use to attack or defend.

The breeches are a kind of trousers. It protect your legs allowing you to move quickly.

The Mask protect your head.

The cover protects the top of your body on the side of your arm.

And all this equipment allow to practice fencing without risk! (FIE hopes so!)

Chose Your Weapon…

There are three weapons. many choice for just one sport!

The first one is the Foil.

You can touch only the trunk : the chest, the shoulders and the neck.

It’s a thrusting weapon, you touch only with the tip of the foil.

 

Second one is épée.

It’s also a thrusting weapon. You can touch every where, including shoes and mask.

 

The last one is Sabre.

You can touch with every part of the sabre : the blade and the tip.

The valid area is the upper body, mask and arm included but not hands.

 

In contrast to the épée, Sabre and foil are right-of-way weapon. It’s not because you touch that you got the point. If both opponents touch, only one is a priority and get the point.

Short History of Fencing

This is the epic poet Homer who is behind the first description of single combat : the homoplachie.

Initially, this ancestor of fencing is the art of combat with a heavy weapon. The organizers of the first Olympic Games included this discipline in their programs. From the 5th century BC. J.-C., fencing was highly valued by the Greeks. Competitions were organized.

Because of Roman conquest, fencing was misleading. The Olympics Games turned into circus games.

The sport resurfaced in the Middle Ages. The knights fought with heavy swords and their survival depends largely on their strength.

The fifteenth century brought the beginnings of modern fencing. Spain had the first true fencers, and the first two fencing manuals were published at the end of fifteenth century.

The 16th century also brought a large increase in the popularity of dueling. More noblemen at during this period were killed in dueling than in war.

During the 17th century several major changes occurred in fencing. The foil, was developed in France as a lighter training weapon for dueling. Right-of-way, a set of rules which made the game a series of alternating attacks and defense, became generally accepted. With right-of-way, duelists were unlikely to impale each other, as they did not both attack at the same time. This made fencing safer and reduced the number of casualties to dueling.

In the 18th century the heavier weapon called the épée became the popular weapon for dueling. The sabre, became the national weapon of Hungary, and while the Italians helped develop the sport immensely, the Hungarians stayed the true masters of the sabre. 1780 brought an extremely important development to fencing. The French fencing master La Boessiere invented the fencing mask.

Fencing joins the Olympics in 1896. First, there was only men’s Sabre and foil. Men’s épée and women joins during the 20th century. The last one was women’s épée in 1996.

There are 3 weapons: foil, épée ans Sabre. Each one has it own rules but the same goal : you should touch your opponent before he touches you! You can use your weapons to attack or defend yourself.

Richard Kruse’s guide to fencing

Fencing!

As  I said in my first post, I’m a Fencer. So I’ve decided to only speak about fencing until now.

Pending further post about fencing, a short video : A Tribute to Fencing

On this video, you can see the three Fencing’s weapons : Foil, Sabre and Epée. And many different way to touch your opponent.

In next post, I’ll introduce you the Epée.

See you later, Space Cowboys!

Some reading…

Hi!

Today, I’ve decided to give you some reading!

The first blog is in French : http://smsescrime.canalblog.com/. I’m obliged to give you this one because it’s my fencing club! The best club ever!It’s really interesting, on this blog you can follow the club’s life. Mr. Godillot, the founder of the club is really happy to read week after week what append at our club. Just as old members. We also have a group on facebook to allow our member to communicate easily.

A second blog I want you to read is the French Fencing Federation’s blog : http://www.escrime-ffe.fr/SITE_FFE/blog/ I like this blog because it’s a good way to follow French fencers. They write articles, link video about fencing and last but not least, Philippe Fadeau, the main writer, is one of our fencers!

See you later, Space Cowboys!

Desert Island Disc

..but with music, it’s not so desert! If I would have to choose one book and 8 songs before leaving civilisation, even if the island isn’t desert, it will be hard!

Reading and listening music are great part of my free time. I like taking a book, putting a CD, sitting in a very very comfortable chair with a beer or a glass milk. Even more when weather is fine!

For the book, I think I’ll take….To hard to choose just one! I’m a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien books, not only The Lord of The Ring (not his best in my mind), but also The Silmarion, Bilbo The Hobbit,…I found Tolkien’s work so interesting! He created a world, inspired by all the fairy tales he read when he was young.  But René Barjavel’s book are really interesting, as “Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit”, written by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, that I’m reading.  Barjavel story are a mixture of fantasy, romance, anticipation, … and It don’t finish always well for the protagonist! About Louis-Ferdinand Céline, I don’t like the man. But after reading this book, you understand why he became like that. It’s not an autobiography Ferdinand Bardamu is mostly inspired by his own experience. It’s another  look on the war and the colonialism, wich is really interesting.

Maybe the luxury will be my library, or a Hammer. You always need a hammer, even if you don’t know!

About the songs now, it’s the same problem, but I can choose 8 songs!

• La Mauvaise Réputation, Brassens

• Le Port d’Amsterdam, Brel

• Respire, Mickey 3D

• Les Etoiles Filantes, Cowboys Fringuants

• Chanson Pour Pierrot, Renaud

• Sailor & Widow, Keren Ann

• Ca, C’est Vraiment Toi, Téléphone

• Coiffeur d’Oiseaux, Dionysos

It remains so much songs…