Hello again online MSU fencing community.

There's good news and bad news. The good news is new fencers now have profiles in the members section of the page! The bad news is that your webmaster hasn't yet finished going through the photos of new fencers to place with their names, so placeholder images have been used instead while I resize and upload all of the photos.

Also, tournament results aren't publicly available on the site yet. But I assure you it's being worked on and will be up to date in the coming days. In the meantime, I have a long overdue appointment with a bed in my apartment. Thanks for reading

-Will Bonner

Hello again online MSU fencing community!

Apologies again for the huge delay in updates; A variety of school, illness, fencing and jury duty related activities have contributed to keeping me away from my duties as webmaster. But worry not! For a massive update is in the works, including tournament results and updated fencer profiles. Look for the update by this coming Sunday at the latest.

In the meantime, we of the Michigan State University would like to sincerely thank all of the parents, coaches, veteran fencers and students that have put forth the tremendous effort and commitment that made the start of our competitive season so successful. In particular, we'd also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our new corporate sponsor, SundBerg Ferar for recently coming out and generously supporting our team.

Truly, you've all given us a lot to be thankful for, and we hope you have a safe and blessed holiday. Go Green

-Will Bonner

Hello again online MSU fencing community! Sorry, it's been far too long since I've provided you with an update.

Most importantly is the news that the date of our first tournament has been shifted. The tournament held at Chicago will now be the weekend after Ohio State, November 21st. So sorry if you'd made or avoided plans to make that weekend.

We're also going to be hosting some inhouse tournaments; the annual Green and White tournaments. These are meant to provide a means for squad captains to help decide who gets to travel to the first tournament. Specifics of dates will be decided by weapon captains over the course of this week, so if you are interested in traveling with us make every effort to attend practices this week, or contact your weapon captain if you cannot.

Of course, there are many other factors besides performance at the Green and White that get weighed into travel consideration, and membership on the travel squad can be changed at any time at the discretion of the weapon captain. Keep in mind that the team has mandated a minimum 2 practice per week for travel eligibility, as well as a record of your dues for the semester paid. Individual squads may vary slightly as to the practice requirement; again, ask your squad captain if you're concerned about your ability to make the necessary practices.

We'll be doing equipment orders soon too. If you're a newbie looking to get a full starting kit or a returner in need of some replacement equipment, we'll be filing a group order and getting some manner of discount due to the size of the order. Keep in mind that there are some equipment requirements if you wish to participate in any fencing tournament with the team or on your own. Specific questions about brands, quantities and necessities should once again be directed to squad captains

That'll do it for todays update. But check in again soon! The next task for your webmaster is to update the squad rosters with pictures and profiles. Similarly, if you're interested in appearing on the website make an effort to get to practice some time this week for us to make your profile! Thanks for reading

-Will Bonner

Hello again MSU Fencers!
We've got something close to a tournament schedule for the year. Times and specific building locations for most are still TBA, but you can mark the dates at any rate

That said, here's the tournament dates:
9/26 - MSU USFA individual tournament
11/15 - Ohio State Duals
11/21 - University of Chicago Duals
12/6 - Wayne State Individuals
1/17 - University of Detroit Mercy Duals
2/6-7 - Notre Dame Duals
2/20-21 - Big Ten Duals, Northwestern
3/6-7 Midwestern Fencing Conference Championships, Notre Dame
4/10-11 USA Club Fencing Championships, Swarthmore (PA) 

For the collegiate tournaments, travel spots will be determined by squad captains on the week of the tournament on a tournament by tournament basis. So if you're interested in traveling with us to tournaments, plan on practicing hard throughout the entire season. If you put forth the effort, it will be noticed.

Thanks to everyone that's been showing up to practice, and a special thanks to those that read these updates. You guys are the best! See you at practice

-Will Bonner

Hello again online MSU Fencing community.

We've seen the conclusion of the first week of MSU classes this fall and with it the beginning of what looks to be one of the strongest seasons for MSU fencing ever.

Following up from a tremendously successful Sparticipation effort by the team came an absolutely enormous turnout for both of our practices this week. Most of our practice time was spent learning or reviewing the fundamentals of fencing footwork, getting to know one another with name games and breaking the ice with freeze tag. All in all, a good week to be a part of the team.

Also, for those that don't know: THERE IS NO FENCING PRACTICE THIS MONDAY as we will be observing Labor Day. Practices will resume at their normal time and location (8PM-10PM in the basement of IM West) from this Tuesday Sept 8th and will continue till Thursday the 10th. After that, we will resume the Monday thru Thursday practice schedule that we will stick to until the end of the competitive season, unless otherwise noted.



Before I sign off, I'd like to offer a note of thanks and encouragement to all those new to fencing that have come out to check out the club. We really do appreciate your interest in the sport and the initiative you've put forth in attending our practices, and hope that you continue to do so.

I also ask on behalf of the rest of the team; regardless of how tired, bored or discouraged you may feel from these first few practice sessions that focus heavily on footwork and conditioning, please stick with us for at least another few weeks as we begin to incorporate drills with weapons into our practices.

While bladework is one of the primary draws to the sport of fencing, it is absolutely critical as a matter of competence and safety that you internalize these basic principals of footwork and form before we put a sword in your hands. Traditional fencing schools in Italy and France require new students to spend months practicing footwork patterns before they are allowed to train with weapons, and these countries have been dominant in the sport for decades.


So please bear with us. Shuffling up and down the floor of the IM basement may not seem like the swashbuckling affair you'd envisioned of fencing, but I can guarantee you this much: Put forth a good honest effort with us and you'll learn the fundamentals of a sport that has been practiced the world over for hundreds of years, that has practitioners of all ages and backgrounds.


Thanks again for your time and interest in the MSU fencing program. Hope to see you at practice.

-Will Bonner
Webmaster

Greetings again, online MSU Fencing Community.

I've been given a lot of pertinent info to pass on to you with important upcoming MSU Fencing events, such as Sparticipation, our first practice and our first USFA tournament!


First things first: Sparticipation. Every year at the onset of the school year clubs turn out teams of people to look for newcomers, and the Fencing club is no exception. This coming Tuesday on September 1st from 5-8 we will have a booth out on Munn Field offering information, conversation and fencing demonstrations for all interested parties.

For newcomers it's a terrific opportunity to meet some fencers, ask questions, watch demos and even touch real fencing weapons, though you'll have to come to practice if you want to learn how to use them. For returning fencers it's a terrific opportunity to meet newcomers, answer questions, preform demos and even let newcomers touch fencing weapons, if they ask nicely and don't appear crazy. Notice a pattern here?

And while Sparticipation is completely optional for people that want to join the fencing team, it isn't for those that wish to remain on it. We can't drive to your house and force you to attend but as anyone on the team knows, events like Sparticipation are extremely important to the future of the team and require a good turnout of veterans to be a success. So if you're a returner interested in traveling this year, you'd better bring your butt to Munn on Tuesday or a darn good excuse for not showing up (i.e. abducted by aliens).



If you miss Sparticipation, hopefully you can make it to our first practice. I've been told that our first practice will be on September 2nd, in the basement of IM West where we usually practice from 8 PM to 10 PM, a half an hour earlier than our schedule was last year.

General practice information:

No prior experience with fencing is necessary, nor is experience with any other kind of sport. Similarly, we do not expect you to bring anything with you besides some gym clothes, a willingness to work and a readiness to learn. Much of the first few weeks of practice will be basic athletic conditioning and fencing technique such as proper footwork, en guard stance and attacks and defenses. This is critical for developing not only the technique necessary to fence competitively but also to avoid injury from poor form or poor conditioning. As such these early practices are just as critical for veterans as they are for newcomers and everyone on the team is expected to attend all practices circumstances permit them to.

Directions:

The IM West building can be found on an interactive campus map here. Or, you can look East across the street from Munn Field where we will be for Sparticipation and see the place. Once inside the front doors just head to the basement from the main stairwell on the East side of the building, or ask IM West or a fencer heading to practice where to go as both ought to know where to go. If you want to get a look at where you're going, you can look at the shots of the Turf Arena near the bottom of the page listed here.



Lastly, our first USFA Tournament will be hosted a good while from now, on September 26th in East Lansing with mixed open events in all weapons going on at various points throughout the day. If you're new to fencing you don't need to stress yourself out about this, but for any and all interested in getting back into competitive shape this is an excellent tournament to work out the kinks and maybe even earn some new USFA ratings. Details and pre-registration are available here.

That should leave all the bases covered for now. Quite a long post, if I do say so myself! But there's a lot to be said as we get ever closer to kicking off a new season of Spartan Fencing. Hope to see everyone at Sparticipation and practice in a week.

-Will Bonner

Hello world! And welcome to the Michigan State Fencing Club website!

The purpose of this update is firstly to commemorate the official passing of the webmaster torch from MSU alum and legendary sabreur Ryan Wagoner to yours truly. He's left me with a truly great example of web design to take care of, and I hope to pick up where he left off in taking it up another notch over the next year. By the same token, please don't hesitate to notify me if you've found something I've unknowingly broken in the process of tinkering with the site.

As my second order of business, I've updated the roster and information listed under our Contact list. If you have any questions regarding the club that you can't find answers to elsewhere on the site, feel free to drop any of us a line.

Also, look for an update soon equipped with the details of how our MSU fencers did at summer nationals.

That should just about cover it for now. But stay tuned for more news in the coming days and weeks as we get closer to the onset of another competitive fencing season at Michigan State. Go Green!

-Will Bonner

MSU Fencing Webmaster

Spring is here, and among all the other things it means, it means elections for the MSU Fencing Club. With nine(!) outgoing seniors, a virtually entirely new leadership group is being put in place. This year's elections were held at the annual club banquet on April 19th.

And the Winners Are:
President: Shaina Selbig
Vice President: Alexis Duffey
Sectretary: Katie Friederichs
Treasurer: Jordan Boniface
Recruiter: Erin vonKronenberger
Webmaster: Will Bonner
Historian: Chris Walsh

Men's Captain: Ryan Majewski
Women's Captain: Meg Holt

Congratulations to all the winners. The club will continue to perform at a high level under your leadership.

As a personal note, I will be with you until the end of the summer, and at that point will be handing over the reins to the awesomely alliterative Webmaster Will. It's been an honor and incredible joy to fence for four years and to forge this internet identity for the club.

-Ryan Wagoner
(almost former) MSU Webmaster

The Michigan State Fencing Club competed in the USA Club Fencing Championships over the weekend, hosted by the University of Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Dells Center. Inside this giant air-dome, 32 schools competed for the highest honor in club fencing: a National Championship.

On Saturday, the teams began with a qualifying round, which seeded them for the team competition Sunday, as well as determining the top fencers, who would make it to the individual championships. The individual championships consisted of two rounds of pool play, with the top 4 from each of two pools advancing out of the first round, and the final results of the second round determining the final rankings in the top 8. The club offers hearty congratulations to Will Bonner (B strip men's Foil), Erin MacCourtney (B strip women's Epee), Ryan Majewski (B strip men's Sabre), Jake Rathbun (C strip men's Foil), and Ryan Wagoner (A strip men's Sabre), for making the individual events. Ryan Majewski and Erin MacCourtney both graduated to the top 8. Erin finished 7th in country while Ryan improved from 8th place after round one to finish in 3rd place and claim the Bronze Medal.

On Sunday, the teams competed in a bracket style tournament. Men's Foil lost a tough second round match and finished 14th overall. Men's Epee fell to Clemson in the first round, but clawed back to win the rest of its matches, finishing 17th. Men's Saber rode the 2nd seed into the quarterfinals, where they lost a tough match with underseeded Florida. However, the sabre squad finished strong with two more wins to take 5th place overall.

The women's team fared even better. The foilists won their first round match, but fell to Illinois in the second round. Undeterred, the foilists scrapped their way to an 11th place finish. Women's Sabre began Sunday seeded eighth. After knocking of the 9 seed, Virginia, MSU came up huge against the #1 seed, Smith College, winning their way into the top 4. They finished 4th overall. Women's Epee started the day with a tense matchup with Swarthmore, but after that scare cruised into the semi-finals. After losing to eventual Champion Florida, women's epee rocked Clemson in the last round to finish 3rd overall.

In the three weapon women's event, MSU finished third. This strong showing also led to the team finishing 4th overall in the six-weapon combined scoring. For the last several years, the MSU team has averaged at 10th place finish in the six-weapon event, and 4th is the highest placing ever by the MSU club.

Congratulations to everyone involved, thank you to everyone who practiced with us, and we hope to see this success continue next year and beyond.

Go Green!

After the stellar performance by the MSU Fencing team at Conference championships, there is one more pinnacle of athletic excellence left: Club Fencing Championships. Over 30 club teams from around the country are descending on Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin this weekend to determine a champion.

I realize there are several Important Athletic events going on this weekend, but spare a moment, and think of the Spartans who wield blades, traveling north to compete against the mongrel hordes of lesser nations...I mean best fencers that the rest of the country has.

Go Green! Let's bring home two National Championships this weekend!

The Michigan State University Fencing Club will be hosting a USFA C and Under event this weekend, on March 21st.

We're hosting mixed events in all three weapons. Foil will begin at 9:00 am, Sabre will begin at 10:30 am, and Epee will begin at 12:00 noon. These events will be held in IM Circle, not in the usual location at IM West. IM Circle is just across the river from IM West, and it is suggested that you park in the IM West parking lot.

For further information and to preregister for the event, visit askFred.net.