America's Finest Fencing Equipment ~ i \ FOR SUPER SERVICE George Santelli, Inc. 465 South Dean Street, Englewood, New Jersey 07631 (201) 871·3105 Fnited States Fencing Association, 1984-86 President Lewis W. Siegel Executive Vice-President Carl Borack Vice President George G. Masin Vice President Colleen Olney Secretary Fred G. Rhodes, D.D.S. Treasurer William J. Latzko Counsel Stephen B. Sobel Official Publication of the United States Fencing Association, Inc. November/December 1985 Dedicated to the memory of CONTENTS Volume 37, Number 2 JOSE R. deCAPRILES, 1912-1969 MIGUEL A. deCAPRILES, 1906-1981 Editorial .... ..... 4 My Maestro, Part II by Justin Tausig . ...... · ... 5 Editor: Mary T. Huddleson The World Championships by Samuel D. Cheris ........... Art Director: Diane King 1985 .... 7 Business Manager: Anne Whiting A Note on Point Control by William M. Gaugler ............. .... 9 Sports Festival, 1985 by Scott Knies . ....................... ... 10 AMERICAN FENCING magazine (ISSN How to Lose a Bout Without Getting Hit by George Kolombatovich . ....... 10 002-8436) is published bi-monthly by the A Report on the National Coaches Clinic by Laurie Katz . ...... ....... II United States Fencing Association, Inc. 1750 A Fencer's Ballad by Eric Reed.. .. .... .... .......... · .. 13 East Boulder Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Subscription for non-members of the A Left-handed American Dream, by Dave Baldridge .. 14 U.S.F.A. is $12.00 in the U.S. and $18.00 The QE 2, by Mitchell Gross . ............ · .. 15 elsewhere. Single copies $2.00. Members of the Qualifying to the 1986 JO Championships by Carla-Mae Richards ... 16 P.S.F.A. subscribe through their dues. Address 1986 JO Championships Information. · .. 18 )Ill correspondence concerning membership to Entry Form, 1986 JO Championships. · .. 19 the U.S.F.A. office in Colorado Springs, CO. Second class postage paid at Colorado Springs, Fencing Women's Epee in France by Klinger and Adrian · .. 21 CO and additional mailing offices. Officers' Corner: Expansion of Nat'l Championships, From the Secretary .. ..... 22 Board HiLights ............ ................. ... 23 Opinions expressed in signed articles do not Bulletin Board ..... 24 necessarily reflect the view of American Fenc­ Results: World University Games, National Sports Festival, Mexico 5 Armas, ing or the U.S.F.A. Alabama Festival, Bay State Games .. .25-26 Editorial and advertising offices: 2201 Bywood STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP Drive, Oakland, CA 94602. Contributors please MANAGEMENT & CJRCUlA TION note: Articles, results of competitions, photos Date of Filing: 17 September, 1985 and cartoons are cordially solicited. Title of PubUcation: American Fencing Manuscripts should be typewritten, double Frequency of Issue: Bi-monthly Location of Known omce of Publication: 1750 East Boulder Sl., Colorado spaced, on one side of the paper only. Photos Springs, CO 80909 should preferably be black and white and with location of Headquarters: 1750 East Boulder 51., Colorado Springs, CO 80909 a complete caption. Unsolicited manuscripts Publlsber: United States Fencing Association, 1750 East Boulder SI., Colorado Springs, CO 80909 cannot be returned unless submitted with a Editor: Mary T. Huddleson, 2201 Bywood Drive, Oakland, CA 94602 stamped, self addressed envelope. No Owuer: United States Fencing Assoc., 1750 East Boulder St., Colorado Springs, anonymous articles accepted. CO 80909 Known Bondholders, Mortgages. etc.: N .A. Actual No. of Average No. of Copies DEADLINE FOR ISSUE Copies Each Single Issue Issue During Published Issue date Closing date Mailing Preceding Nearest to for copy date 12 Months FlUng Date JAN/FEB NOV 26 JAN Total No. Copies Printed 7,280 8,000 Paid Circulation MAR/APR JAN 28 MAR Mail Subscriptions 6,669 7,510 Total Circulation 6.669 7.510 Free Distribution 500 400 Total Distribution 7,169 7,910 POSTMASTER: Send all returns and Copies Not Distributed III 90 On The Cover changes of address to: U .S.F .A., 1750 East Returns from News Agents Total 7,280 8,000 Moll\' Sulliyan. /985 Nil/ionol Women's Boulder Street, Colorado Springs, CO Fui( Champion, 1985 National U-/9 l certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete: Anne 80909. A, Whiting, Business Manager. Champion. --Pho((} hv Hal Wells. -----------------------------------------------------------------3 GIORGIO SANTELLI fection, warmth, and admiration we have all felt for 1897-1985 Giorgio Santelli, one of the most beloved maestros in the history of United States fencing. Last December we received a manuscript from an This fencing season (September 1985 to June 1986) old pupil of Maestro Giorgio Santelli, Dr. Joel S. Ar­ our members will receive only five issues of cher. A biography of the Maestro, it was written by a AMERICAN FENCING instead of six. But, before Justin Tausig and it took us several months to track you start jumping up and down in protest, you should down any information on the author. We still do not know that you will also receive four Naticnal have the full story on this young man, but we receiv­ Newsletters with more detailed and timely information ed an oblique OK to go ahead and publish, so we from our national office. Beginning in September took the plunge and the first part of his article ap­ 1986, our Policy Committee has scheduled a return to peared in our last issue. six bi-monthly issues of AMERICAN FENCING per As we go to press with this issue, we have received year, as well as four National Newsletters. This deci­ the overwhelmingly sad news that Giorgio Santelli sion should help solve one of the perennial problems passed away on October 8th, 1985. lurking in the background of the content of our It is only fitting that we continue with Part II of publication: how much space to devote to the nuts­ "My Maestro," by Justin Tausig, a young fencer and-bolts details of purely organizational concern. So, who wrote this biography at the age of 13 and never readers take heart, as you flip, sighing, through some intended it as an obituary. We publish it, nonetheless. of the pages contained in this issue: we hope to have We doubt whether anyone can better express the af- more lively articles in the future. Quality fencing wear and equipment at competitive prices ·, Uhlmann LJj Fecht-Sport " .. FRANCE-LAMES® 40 North First St. iTh San Jose, Ca. 95113 Fen ing Post (408)298·5858 4- My Maestro Part 1/, by iustill D. Tausig In 1924, the New York Athletic Club was looking for a fencing master, so they wrote Italo Santelli. He felt that he was too old to leave Budapest and sug­ gested his son, Giorgio. As times were hard in Hungary, he left for the U.S.A. When Giorgio came to America there were maybe sixty fencers in N. Y. and six in Boston. Thirty years later there were 22,000 fencers. Giorgio literally brought fencing to America. He started supplying fencing equipment the first year he was here. People kept on asking him where they could get fencing equipment. Since no one made good fencing materials, he began his business. Santelli's imported equipment inexpensively from Europe and sold it lower than their only competitor, Castello. Each weapon was assembled and balanced by Giorgio himself; he still does it today. He calls it "loading them with touches" in his catalog. " ... a wonderful man, and one of the kindest and best. He always staged fights for me at the Civic (Repertory Theatre) in such plays as 'Romeo and Giorgio Santelli, U.S. Olympic Fencing Coach: Amsterdam 1928, Juliet,' 'Twelfth Night,' and 'Peter Pan.' He has a Los Angeles 1932, Berlin 1936, London 1948, Helsinki 1952. great sense of the dramatic and knows how to make a \juel that is actually quite simple seem breathlessly ex­ that perfect fencers do exist, exhibiting the outstan­ iciting. He has become practically indispensable to the ding qualities that most fencers wish they had. When New York Theatre; whenever a 'fight' is called speaking of his life, he says, for. .. " (from Eva LeGallienne, With A Quiet Heart, Viking Press, N.Y. 1933, p. 48). Eva LeGallienne "Maybe I was nervous the day before a competition but once I was on the strip, I was one of his finest students; she insisted that all the forgot to be nervous. I didn't care if I win actors and actresses in her company take fencing. A basic "Giorgio" day was often eighteen to twenty or lose. I cared to fence well. That was hours long. It normally started with lessons like Eva's maybe the secret of my success. I lost at seven a.m., then business matters until the after­ many times during a competition, a bout, noon when he resumed teaching. Later in the evening, but in the long run the guy who beat me he would travel for miles just to give an exhibition at got beaten by other people and was YMCA s, other fencing clubs, and colleges and eliminated, and I kept going. I just enjoyed fencing. I didn't try to beat the b'Jesus out universities. In the sixty years that he has been here, it was estimated by J.R. Tishman (May, 1984) that he of him, unless he was an unpleasant creature.' , taught between eight and ten thousand pupils. If you trace back the studies of the fencers in America, you In most cases the people who are attracted to fenc­ will find it all leads to Giorgio. For five consecutive ing today are intellectuals, who are fascinated by times, he was the head coach for the U.S. Olympic speed, control, and skill, rather than sheer strength fencing teams. and brute force. Giorgio's 1948 bronze medal sabre After twenty-five years at the NYAC, he left. His team included four doctors and Ph.D.