Fencing info

Media

   Six-time Olympic fencer Peter Westbrook is profiled by CNN in the television

special People Count: Passing the Torch. The one-hour show airs Saturday,

January 27 at 10:00 pm Eastern Time and repeats at 10:00 pm Pacific Time.

Filmed over four years, the story also follows the triumphs and defeats of 

Peter's students Akhi Spencer-El and Kamara James.

Israeli fencers parry games snub

Politics broke in to the sporting competition An Israeli fencing team has defied attempts to stop it competing in an international contest in Jordan. The two-member team arrived in Aqaba despite being urged by Jordanian organisers not to enter the contest, amid fears of an Arab boycott. Jordanian officials refused to fly the Israeli flag, so one of the fencers clambered up the flag pole in front of spectators and hoisted it himself. The Palestinian team withdrew from the competition in protest. The Jordanian Fencing Federation's decision to not invite the Israelis to the World Cup tournament triggered a political row. Israel's foreign ministry protested and Jordanian Government officials pressed the federation into letting the Israelis compete. "We tried to offer our apologies but they insisted on taking part and international rules say they have the right," said federation president Khalid Attiyat. Peace and protest When fencers Tomer Or and Ayelet Ohayon arrived at the venue in the Jordanian port, Jordanian officials refused to fly the Israeli flag - so one of the Israelis raised the flag himself. Our flag is flying in Jordan, amidst all the Arab flags Dr Vladimir Shklar, Israeli fencing coach "It was pretty scary, standing before all those armed Jordanian policemen," Dr Vladimir Shklar, head of the Israeli fencing delegation told the Jerusalem Post newspaper. "But we did it. Our flag is flying in Jordan, amidst all the Arab flags." Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994, but there has been a rise in anger among Jordan's mainly Palestinian population towards Israel in recent years. The four-man Palestinian team quit the contest in protest at Israel's participation. Other contenders, including Israel's foes Iran and Lebanon, may also follow suit.

Fencing's 'million moves' require lots of screaming 
International junior event has language all its own 

To compete in the Junior World Cup Fencing Tournament, you need great feet, hands and eyes.

Lungs help, too.

Despite its outward elegance and decorum, this sport can be as loud as a hog-calling contest.

There's the clack of steel blades and the squeak of sneakers. No surprise there. But every few seconds, primal cries erupt from the young fencers. An "ooff" here and an "eeeyah!" there.

These cries practically rattled the chandeliers in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House East on the opening day of the tournament for fencers aged 20 and under.

An international competition should attract folks speaking strange tongues. But this one features people speaking — yelling, actually — in a language they seem to be making up, born of agony and ecstasy.

"Wohowo!" Nicholas Chinman whooped after scoring against Denis Tolkatchkov of Russia.

"Oonnnne! Yesssss!" yelled New Yorker Ben Bratton after scoring his first point against Canadian Jean-Pierre Seguin.

No slouch himself in this department, Seguin occasionally erupted with a "Wehwehweh!"

Benjamin Ungar, who won the epee championship yesterday, enriched the proceedings with the following shouts of celebration after key points:

"WhasaYOUUU!"

"Wah-ah-SO!"

"Ohoho-oh, AH!"

Nick Testerman, who fell 15-14 to Ungar in the epee final, favored a robust "Yoowow!" every so often.

"We scream and stuff," said Mariel Zagunis, an 18-year-old from Portland, Ore., who is bound for the University of Notre Dame. "When I get into a bout with a really hard opponent, I really scream."

She didn't scream so much yesterday, perhaps an indicator of her dominance. In the sabre final, she downed Caitlin Thompson, a vocal virtuoso, 15-11 in nine minutes.

The screams often were accompanied by clenched fists and, in particularly dramatic moments, masks ripped off to reveal faces contorted into operatic expressions. One blonde competitor lost the point that ended her bout and her day. She ripped off her mask and emitted a four-letter word. A look of profound horror crept over her face as she tried to gulp back in the offending word before it reached the audience, which suppressed nervous laughter.

It wasn't all sound and fury beside the souvenir stands selling $30 sword-wielding teddy bears and $8 key chains. The gallery included fretful parents and philosophical coaches.

Brenda Pryor of South Euclid, Ohio, clasped her hands in a prayerful pose as she watched her 16-year-old son, Jason, a musician and honor student — and sword fighter.

"Oh, gosh," she asked the air, "how do I get through this?"

After his opening victory, Jason explained his fascination with fencing: "I've always had an obsession with the sword. There's a lot of sword-fighting in the books I read."

He explained his attraction to epee competition: "Essentially the rule was stab 'em."

Not that fencing is so violent. Bratton, a St. John's University freshman who defeated Pryor 15-6 in yesterday's round of 32, sounded like an evangelist for the sport.

"I know a lot of people that fencing got them out of trouble, got them on the right path," he said. "They started fencing, and their grades went up."

Pryor's coach, Bill Reith, described fencing this way: "It's physical chess at lightning speed."

Ohio State coach Vladimir Nazlymov brought 10 of his fencers to the event. He continued the comparison to chess.

"Like in chess, there are a million moves," said Nazlymov, who won three gold medals fencing for the Soviet Union. "You can be Olympic champion many times, but you (still) think, `I don't know enough.'"

Yes. It's a lot like chess. Except for all those primal screams.