Gav and Sean look back on the 2017/18 season and pick out their highlights and star performers. We have some sad news with the passing of several fencing greats in recent weeks. We also look forward to the upcoming season and what will bring a smile to our faces. Gav promises to watch more sabre and makes a confession about his worship of Max. Sean gambles on his knowledge of women's epee and continues to be enthused by women's sabre. We talk about our plans for the coming season. With tanks to ...
Sep 24, 2018•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 36
Finally! Sorry for the delay Gav moved house, Sean moonlighted as a sports commentator! Our duo look back at the 2018 World Championships from Wuxi, China. We have various grumbles but agree the World Championships were a magnificent event. We cover all the action and offer our usual forthright opinions about who was great, who wasn't and who is the Coolest Fencer on the Planet. We also talk about our plans for next season. All the playlists for the World Championships are on Fencing Vision (alo...
Sep 05, 2018•2 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 35
In this episode Sean's interviews more of Great Britain's leading foilists. Kate and Alex Beardmore are the sister and brother team that propelled Kate to the top of the British women's foil rankings. Kate has ambitions to reach the very top of international level. We approve! Richard Kruse probably doesn't need an introduction. He is a serial winner of world class events and has been the spearhead of British fencing's recent success. What a guy! Find out what makes him tick....
Jul 18, 2018•58 min•Season 2Ep. 34
The dust has settled on the season, the fencers have fought and now it's time for Sean and Gav to sit down and scry what might happen in the World Championships in Wuxi, China. We cast the runes, Gav investigates the gribbly bits of Epee, Sean tries his hand at a bit of Sabre divination. Where the stars in alignment? We'll only know once the World Championships are over...
Jul 13, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 33
It's a bit quiet with season's end and run-up to the Wuxi World Championships. A few weeks ago Sean sent himself to London to visit the Leon Paul Fencing Centre to speak with our lovely sponsors and a few fencers. Ben Paul is one of the Director's of Leon Paul and part of the Paul family. Jon Willis was British Fencing's top Mens Epeeist for many years and won Heidenheim. He currently manages the Leon Paul Fencing centre (which is pretty swish).
Jul 06, 2018•58 min•Ep. 32
We wrap up the regular season with the action from Madrid* men's sabre World Cup in Madrid, Grand Prix epee from Cali in Colombia and the women's sabre World Cup in Tunis. Gav gets all excited about a new Korean epeeist, another fencer gets added to Sean's list of favourite female sabreurs (if you're not on the list, are you even a female sabreur?). Gav confesses he has been watching sabre this season** but has waited until the end of the season to announce this fact. We delve into the murky wor...
Jun 16, 2018•2 hr 52 min•Season 2Ep. 31
We talk about the Moscow Sabre Grand Prix - Queen Velikaya returns and we find out who scares Sean. Gav's been watching the SNCF Reseau men's epee from Paris. Oldies dominate the podium and Sean doesn't feel encouraged to watch the team event. And finally we look at the Shanghai Foil Grand Prix with mixed feelings of joy and inevitability. Gav's previously hitherto unknown obsession with Quavers* becomes apparent... Video links below: Moscow Sabre Grand Prix Mens Sabre Womens Sabre SNCF Reseau P...
May 28, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 30
It's episode 29 Sean and Gav discuss names. Specifically Hungarian names.... it seems we get the wrong. To help us all YouTuber CyrusofChaos has produced this helpful video *. Continuing with this theme Gav noticed that French, french grip epee, fencer Laurence Epee. We think she is the most approriately named athlete in the sport. We're struggling to find anyone better - can you? Sean catches up with Georgina Usher and this time it's all about her career. Some interesting insights both into the...
May 15, 2018•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 29
Welcome to Episode 28. Sean and Gav have a ton of results to get through in this episode. First off thanks to our sponsors over at Leon Paul. This is our first episode with our new recording equipment. You patreons keep everything running too. If you want to join in the fun, follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 This episode's big discussion is about the Junior & Cadet World Championships. This year they took place in Verona Italy. On the senior circuit our last big compet...
Apr 27, 2018
Full house in this episode as Gav & Sean catch up on the latest action in all three weapons! We've had some good news. Leon Paul will sponsor us again this year so we're looking at attending a few more events. We're excited and hope you are too! Leon Paul aren't the only cool people out there there's also our patrons. Be cool like them and follow this link: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 The Fencing action in this episode: Athens Sabre World Cup: Individual SF and finals: https://www...
Apr 01, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 27
Rejoice! Episode 26 is finally here. Sean and Gav are back after the excitement of Paris with a ton of World Cup action. We interview fellow podcaster Kate Sierra (Of The Sabre Coach Kate Podcast ). From the CIP we reflect on Garozzo making friends with the locals while USA juggernaut marches on. In Womens Foil Deriglazova hands out a thumping (and we mean a thumping) and to our joy Volpi seals a win! In Mens Sabre Dershwitz may or may not have been magnificent. Gav’s Japanese epee love affair g...
Feb 21, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 26
We were in Paris for last weekend our yearly trip the Paris Challenge International de Paris. For us the action started on Friday morning when Sean was on site for initial the phases of the tournament. He also managed to sit down with Enzo Lefort, Alex Massialas and Ben Paul from Leon Paul. After surviving Parisian traffic, Gav trundled into town with his photo gear that evening. As usual the CIP was a great tournament with lots of drama throughout the day. We managed to sit down after the major...
Jan 24, 2018•43 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Welcome to Episode 24. It's all go in fencing with the Grand Prix season fully under way. But first a little news. If you are at all aware of the latest sporting news you might have heard that Russia has been banned from the upcoming Winter Olympic games. Following the announcement the FIE President has released a letter to the IOC expressing his indignation. We have a chat about that. Russia's Winter Ban: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/42242007 The FIE's letter to the IOC: https://ww...
Dec 23, 2017•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Welcome to Episode 23. We discuss Ibtihaj Muhammad's new barbie (great news) and Gav mentions a book of stories for young girls. Sean has another suggestion for the "boring epee" problem. And we pick our first Coolest Fencer on the Planet! We catch up with all of the results. Footage was hard to find his time around, more on that in the podcas, resuls from: Mens Sabre from Algiers: Individual finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyvFFUjJJ4o Team Finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ9AZrQ...
Dec 03, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 23
It feels like an age since we last recorded but here we are, it's a new fencing season and a new episode to go with it. We apologise for the delay, there's been some unavoidable production delays. Sean and Gav have a lot to go over: Women's Epee action in Tallin, Women's Foil action, Berne Mens Epee and Women's Sabre from Orleans (featuring chocolate). Gav makes an admission... +++News News News+++ We hear some news in births section of the sport (congrats all!) and Sean and Gav discuss celebrit...
Nov 17, 2017•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 22
It's been ann amazing year. If you'd asked us at the start we wouldn't have predicted that we'd have amazing patrons , an amazing sponsor in Leon Paul and have an amazing time time at the World Championships. That's a lot of amazing. No one could predict that Sean would become Sabre's number 1 fan, Gav would sing the praises of Womens Foil or that both of our podcasters would still be here almost a year later with much left to say. And that's what this episode is all about. We take a look back a...
Sep 05, 2017•1 hr 10 min
Sean and Gav are back from Leipzig and have to watch the team events on youtube. Listen to them discuss what the highs and lows of the team events. Sean asks Gav a question: there is much consternation. This is the last episode of this first season. We hope you enjoyed it. Please let us know what you think. As ever we are grateful to the fine people at www.leonpaul.com for sponsoring us. A special shout-out to our Patrons. Without your support and involvement this podcast wouldn't be possible. B...
Aug 06, 2017•54 min
Our final day from piste-side at the Leipzig World Championships. Unfortunately Gav has had to return to Scotland and that means you're only hearing from Sean today. Today's events were the Mens Foil and Womens Epee. It's been an eventful day. Describing the Epee as a "standard epee tournament" was even more understated than usual. And shocks, shocks everywhere, in the Foil. Links: Our lovely sponsors: https://www.leonpaul.com/ Become a supporter of The Fencing Podcast on Patreon: https://www.pa...
Jul 23, 2017•19 min
Day two of Sean and Gav’s jaunt to Germany for the World Championships. And we're both happy. Gav gets to watch epee all day while Sean gets his first taste of live world class women’s sabre since his conversion. The Leipzig Arena remains hot and humid and a late night of editing episode 17 means both Sean and Gav are struggling a bit. Thankfully the quality of fencing was enough to lift us from our stupor (although this had largely worn off by the time we recorded the episode). We discuss a day...
Jul 22, 2017•51 min
It's fair to say that we had a horrible trip to Leipzig. Through delays and transfers a journey should have taken a few hours ballooned out into 14. Nevertheless we got to Leipzig although we missed our first day. So here's our part 1, from Germany. Today's delights are Women's Foil and Men's Sabre. There's been quite a few upsets and shocks. Sean bumped into Max Heinzer and Ben Paul and snatched quick interviews with both. You can watch all of the streams on the FIE Fencing Channel on Youtube. ...
Jul 22, 2017•48 min
This week is the final few days before this year's World Championships in Leipzig ! Sean and Gav are a wee bit excited. Keep an eye on the FIE Video Channel: we expect a lot of great content . But first, success! We've won the Viveca Abrahams Memorial Innovation Award at the British Fencing awards, we'd like to thank all of you out there who supported us over the last year. Many thanks to our Patrons and sponsor's Leon Paul ! Also a shout out to our sinificant others for letting us fill our hous...
Jul 16, 2017•1 hr 30 min
As we near the end of this first season we want to beginwith a shout-out to our Patrons, without you this show would not be possible: Thanks to all of you from Sean and Gav. If you would like to join in the fun, you can find out how here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4988869 Also a massive goes to Leon Paul not only do they make great kit but they have also enabled us to attend the World championships AND improve our sound quality. Pints at the bar for them in Germany! We're now focused on the...
Jul 10, 2017•50 min
Quite a lengthy episode this time around. There's tons to get through as the season winds down in preparation for the World Championships. Finance has been an issue for Fencing for a very long time but it seems Fencing's main backer, Alisher Usmanov has solved that. One day, while on Twitter, Gav stumbed across a link to coaching advice from Italian coach Cipressa. He clicked it thinking it would be a simple piece about the man and his methods... But he'd actually wandered into the Athlete Hub. ...
Jun 14, 2017
Sean and Gav have some good news - it's a baby! And they wonder what you coul do with all of Usmanovs money, Usmanov would like to buy Arsenal with it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39981841 The new issue of the FIE video magazine is out with a great discussion on Hughues Obry, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kth64EymhgU&list=PLdNA_ybrJjflSLflb98xGiCEEaZI7tC4F&index=3 Then there's some discussion of recent senior events. The duo celebrate and lament the FFE's use of D...
May 28, 2017•51 min
Episode 12: The senior fencers are back in action with the women's foilists in Tauberbischofsheim, Germany, the men's foilists in St Petersburg, Russia and, apparently, the women's epeeists in Rio de Janiereo, Brazil. Gav has some big news. Sean struggles with some podcasting basics. We interview Brazilian Olympic hero Guilherme Toldo. And there's a social media storm to discuss. Our Coolest Fencer on the Planet collects his most prestigious accolade in a glittering career. FIE Results: http://f...
May 17, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Episode 11: A jumbo recap from the Junior and Cadet Worlds This episode has been brought to you by our new sponsor Leon Paul. Welcome aboard guys we couldn't have made this episode without you! Find Leon Paul here: www.leonpaul.com Gav loves the X-Change masks and we've been using their new wireless at the club (it's pretty reliable) Sean and Gav watched the the Junior and Cadet World championships and want to talk to you about it. We really like hearing from the fencers at these large events an...
Apr 23, 2017•56 min
Welcome to Episode 10! Our first milestone, Gav thought we should throw a party but that somehow slipped off the agenda. Maybe next time though as we share our excellent news - we are now sponsored by Leon Paul UK! So we bought some new kit (which we're getting used to) and booked flights to Leipzig to bring you all the action from the upcoming World Championships! In the news: Yangzhou Women's Sabre World Cup results. Individual http://fie.org/competitions/2017/151/results/rank Team http://fie....
Apr 11, 2017•1 hr 13 min
The only recent senior action happened in the Long Beach Foil Grand Prix. Our duo discuss the highlights. James Davis and Marcus Mepstead send in their thoughts following the tournament. Video from the event can be found here: https://youtu.be/bXlzMDXh_QM We look forward to the upcoming Cadet and Junior World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Gav hopes it isn't held in a car-park and fails his Bulgarian history exam. The podcasters throw the runes and divine who might be worth looking for at t...
Mar 29, 2017•1 hr 4 min
In our latest show we: Discuss coaching moves: We wonder, why we only ever hear about Foil coaches, occasionally Sabre coaches and almost never about what's happening in the world of Epee? Why is that? If anyone has any thoughts, let us know. Bring you up to date with results. Not many this time around but we're surprised by Epee. Gav tries to control his glee. Vancouver men’s epee World Cup https://www.viasport.ca/events/live-stream-2017-peter-bakonyi-fencing-world-cup Athens women’s sabre Worl...
Mar 13, 2017•1 hr 27 min
Sean admits that he's becomea bit of a fan of New Sabre, that is Sabre with the new 3m on-guard popularly referred to as the "Russian Box of Death". The Russians proposed the change but who gave it it's more popular name and why? Sean speaks to Frances Chow and finds out. Permalink
Feb 25, 2017•30 min
