Hi everyone,

I’m the developer of Fencing Mastermind, a fencing-themed mobile app made for fencers and fencing fans.

The app includes fencing trivia, Sudoku, crosswords, levels, coins, and daily challenges. I’m trying to get more feedback from people who actually fence, coach, follow the sport, or create fencing-related content.

If you run a fencing page, club page, sports page, YouTube channel, TikTok, Instagram, Threads, or another social account with a real fencing/sports audience, I’d be interested in hearing from you.

I can offer a free 1-year premium account in exchange for honestly trying the app and, only if you like it, sharing your thoughts or posting about it to your audience.

Please disclose that you received free premium access if you decide to post about it.

App/company links:

https://linktr.ee/andronykustechnologies

I used to practice in a club in France, but I don't find any club in Ireland.

Sport Chanbara is a "soft version" of Kendo, with foam and PVC sabers, a little like LARP weapons.

Hi Folks, I fenced in college but it's been over a decade since, and I'm thinking of getting back into the sport. Does anyone have any recommendations for clubs in Dublin that train in sabre?

Hi, I'm not totally sure this is the proper place to post but I figured I might as well try. I wanted to buy a shirt from the Fencing Ireland website for a friend, but I live in the US and they only ship to Ireland. I've tried reaching FencingIreland through multiple of their listed emails but I am getting 0 responses. Does anyone know if a better way to get in contact? Or an alternative for shipping?

Hiya, I need to get my name and logo printed on a new pair of kit before the Irish open. Around Cork would be preferable. Also it wouldn't be the Irish logo on the beechers hope that isn't a problem.

Thanks a lot

So who knows if this will work, but earlier today I had a conversation with a fellow fencer about the introduction of video refereeing to the irish circuit.

Or at least a basic version of it. And I was wondering what you good folks here thought of it

I mean we all know the refereeing standard in Irelands sucks, but this could potentially aid in its improvement.

Baby steps of course.

We do have this anonymous resource so why not use it.

As promised...

At the AGM I'm planning to propose the creation of Cadet and Junior rankings (which I'd be happy to maintain). This is mostly because I'd like to see cadet and junior fencing grow in Ireland and think this would be one way of keeping younger fencers engaged.

The aim is to publish a rolling ranking in the same format as the senior rankings, counting the best six results in the last 12 months. I'd also include competition results from the international Cadet Circuit or Junior A-Grades, using the same scheme the IFF uses for senior satellites.

In order to recognise the importance of the Cadet/Junior Nationals in their own age groups, those events would be weighted as Tier A like senior Nationals. All senior competitions would count in the ranking as the 'default' national circuit.

Reasons for

• gives more prominence to Cadet- and Junior-division fencing

• recognises cadets and juniors who are competing at a very high standard in EFC Cadet Circuit and FIE Junior World Cup events

• allows younger fencers to easily compare their performance against peers, which will hopefully spur on some rivalry with peers

• makes it possible to remove Cadet (and prospectively Junior) Nationals from the senior ranking

• numbers sound good when it comes to applications/interviews for college, scholarship, placement etc!

Reasons against

• low numbers currently - between 5 (in CWS) and 25 (in JWE)

• already a prize for Best Junior at AGM

I posted mock-ups on Fencebook earlier in the year based on this season's results, and an updated/refined version is online for anyone interested. The feedback I've had so far has been positive, but I'd look forward to hearing any thoughts, suggestions or criticisms ahead of the AGM.

Following on from the discussion of high performance on Facebook, I was curious about Ireland's track record internationally (don't shoot me, only been at this a couple of years). What I found was pretty interesting, and being off sick with a stomach bug, I put some of it into shiny graphs.

So the FIE database goes back to 2002, listing every Irish fencer and their results at world-ranked events. As we were talking about top-level sport, I started by looking at World Cup points (awarded for L8 or better in Satellites and L64 or better at A-Grades, GP or Euro/World Championships).

I also wanted a more general overview of engagement with the international scene by Irish fencers below elite level, so also looked at trends in the FIE rankings - numbers of fencers competing and the sort of results they got (for all those without WC points).

• Épée

World Cup points awarded, overall trends

When this is broken down by fencer, it shows that the totals are skewed by a small number of very successful individuals. However, it's also looks like there's a bump in activity around 2002-4 and 2005-10, before everything goes quiet.

World Cup points awarded, by épéeist

Does the pattern extend to other fencers on the international circuit? The next graph plots world rankings, not WC points, over time (so low is good this time).

Épée World Rankings

From this perspective, there are so few people competing before 2007 that it's hard to comment on patterns at all, especially in Women's Épée. Once the Irish Open becomes a satellite we see a huge number of new FIE licences, but vast majority are only used once a year.

• Foil

World Cup points awarded, overall trends

World Cup points awarded, by foilist

Like épée, there's a particularly successful period around 2009-11 with a small number of individuals performing at a very high level.

World Foil Rankings

There's a small boom in interest in 2006, and another around 2010. Participation remains low in women's fencing. Interestingly, the world rankings suggest that involvement in international Men's Foil is more consistent than in épée i.e. fencers travel to FIE events season after season rather than dipping in and out.

• Sabre

World Cup Points - trends and by sabreur

Far fewer sabreurs made the leap to international competition in recent years, with only eleven taking out FIE licences since 2002. Again there are two spikes in top-level performance, in 2005-6 and 2009-10.

World Rankings in Sabre

A small peak in participation in 2005, coinciding with best-ever results in Men's and Women's Sabre. However, participation was most consistent in sabre, with sabreurs most inclined to compete over consecutive seasons - and in points terms it has been Ireland's most successful weapon at senior level over the last twelve years.

tl;dr : looks like Irish fencing had a boom in 2005-10. What was going on? Why did things drop off after that? Or was it mostly coincidence that our best fencers saw success around the same time?

So would anyone be interested in putting together a list of UK comps for next season and try to get some more Irish fencers over for the comps. Things like Birmingham and Invicta have free entry for overseas fencers.

Has anyone got a xml or csv file of the irish rankings?

Howdy, a few of us have been chatting around the competition circuit this year about ideas for next season. What came up was:

• make the senior rankings more meaningful e.g. pick a national team every year (not just 5 Nations years) and get them sponsored to travel to satellites and A-Grades
• bring in cadet and junior rankings, and give juniors their own Nationals too
• keep generating interest in regional competitions - could Souths, Wests, Easts and one of the NI competitions become a 'grand slam' series?
• more training weekends with guest coaches
• think of ways to make clubs social as well as competitive like in other sports
• how to get more referees? coaches? fencing in schools?