Good Luck to John Donchig!!!

-For his years of service and dedication to USC Fencing, we all want to wish John Donchig good luck as he prepares to start at UCSF. A USC Fencer through and through and a great assistant coach, John will be missed by all of us.

USC Fencers Compete in Summer Nationals in Austin, Texas

-Congratulations to Laura Johnson and John Donchig who competed in the Divison II and III Sabre and Foil competitions respectively at this year's Summer Nationals on June 28th and 29th. Both fencers admirably represented USC on the piste, and Laura also had the privelege of serving on the bout committee for the week-long tournament.

USC Fencer Competes in All-Cals Tournament

-Congratulations to Adam Johnson who came in 4th Place in the Advanced Foil Competition at this year's All-Cals Tournament at UC Santa Barbara. The event consisted of an open foil, sabre, epee and a novice foil competition. Click here for photos.

USC Fencers Compete in Pacific Coast Championships

-Congratulations to Laura Johnson who came in 5th place in the Individual Women's Sabre event, and Jens Stephan whose team came in 9th in the Men's Team Epee Event at the 2003 PCC's in Las Vegas. Click here for photos.

USC Trojans Sweep UCLA Invitational Tournament

-On Bruin territory, USC Fencing swept the UCLA Invitational on May 3rd capturing 1st place in Foil, Epee, and Sabre. The event, with its mixed-team format, was the last of the 2002-2003 year and showed clearly USC's increasing dominance in the sport of fencing. Click here to see photos.

Congratulations to Yann and Jens!

-On April 27th, 2003, Yann Staelens earned his C'03 in Epee at Chaminade's Man in the Iron Mask Tournament. Jens took first place in the Open Epee, third place in the One-Touch Epee, and third place in the Open Foil. Yann took third in the Open Epee, and first place in the Open Foil. Congrats! Click here for photos

Epee Coach and USC Fencing Alum Jeff Alulis tours as Lead Singer for Punk Rock Group, "Dead Kennedys"

-Congratulations to Jeff for his rise to the top of the punk scene, starting with his award winning documentary of the group "Bouncing Souls" and culminating with this latest addition to his resumé, becoming the lead singer of the celebrated band, the Dead Kennedys. Click photo to enlarge, click here to see more pics, and click here to go to Jeff's website.

USC Posts Strong Results to Close Intercollegiate Season

-Coming in 3rd Place in Men's Overall, and 4th Place in Women's Overall, USC challenged the competition at the last tournament of the year at UCI on Febrary 22nd. Our triumphant Men's Epee Squad retained the first place trophy for the second year in a row, Men's Foil pulled off an exciting upset to win third place, and every other squad retained the dominant positions they held last year. Click here for photos. Click here for complete 2003-2004 results

USC Fencing Webmaster wins award, writes about self in 3rd person

-You love me, you really love me... Congratulations to our faithful webmaster, who received a USC Peer Achievement Award for his work on this website as well as compiling a history of this 77-year-old club! (that's called tooting one's own horn)

Congratulations to new RCC President, Virginia Hankins

-Current USC Fencing Club President and Sabre Fencer, Virginia Hankins has been elected to run the Recreational Club Council for next year. Congrats, Virginia! And a big thank you to our beloved RCC President for the last 3 years, Laura Johnson.

USC Fencers take on NCAA Schools

-UC Santa Barbara was the stage for another sucessful tournament for USC Fencing on February 8th. Among other achievements, USC debuted its new Women's Epee Squad, our first in years. All of the teams fenced well, upholding Trojan standards. Click here for photos

USC Hosts Annual Linkmeyer Invitational Tournament

-On February 1st, USC hosted the 9th Annual Linkmeyer Inviational Tournament, named in honor of Fred Linkmeyer, a Trojan fencer who competed for us in the early 30's. This year, several USC fencers took high places: Jens Stephan took 1st in Epee earning his A'03, Eric Kelly took 1st in Sabre earning his C'03 and Joey Greenfield took 2nd in Sabre earning his D'03. Over 100 entrants from as far away as Arizona competed in the three weapon open, the largest tournament USC has ever hosted. The final word on the tournament: Hope to see you all next year. For more results and photos from the event click here

USC Fencers Compete in North American Cup in San Diego

-Congratulations to USC Fencers, Yann Staelens, Jens Stephan and Spencer Kassimir who competed in the NAC in San Diego, California in Division 1 Men's Foil, Division 1 Men's Epee, and Junior Men's Epee, respectively. For photos, click here

USC Fencers Compete in 2003 Duel in the Desert

-Congratulations to USC Fencers Laura Johnson and Jens Stephan who competed in the 2003 Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jens placed 12th in Men's Epee, and Laura placed 13th in Women's Sabre. For photos, click here

Congratulations to John Donchig on earning his E!

-On January 26th, 2003, John Donchig earned his E'03 at an Orange Coast Open Foil Event. Congrats, John!

Meet members of USC Fencing at the Activity Fair!

-On Wednesday, August 27th from 11-2 pm, USC Fencing will be represented at the USC Activity Fair on Trousdale. Come and learn more about fencing and intercollegiate competition. Or just drop by to say hi (and buy a t-shirt!). Hope to see you there.

USC Fencing organizes "educational" trip to Medieval Times

-Members of the USC Fencing Club enjoyed a night of jousting, swordplay, and general revelry at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament on December 6th. Already we have seen a marked improvement in sword-wielding skills and the ability to challenge your enemy to a duel! Click here for photos

-The USC Fencing Club would like to congratulate Parker Jenkins, our RCC advisor and friend on his move to EOP. We look forward to working with him on many community service projects. We also want to give a big welcome to our new advisor, Kate Huberty!

USC posts stong finish in Collegiate Tournament at UCLA

-USC Fencing performed well at the November 17th tournament against IFCSC Club Teams claiming strong finishes in all three weapons. The Trojans swept the Bruins in all 3 weapons, providing a prologue to the excellent football game later that week. Click here for photos from the tournament

USC Fencing greets alumni, prospective fencers at Homecoming

-In association with USC Recreational Sports, the Fencing Club was proud to take part in Homecoming Festivities. Among the people we greeted was USC Fencing Alumnus Lawrence Vivian, seen at right in this 1950 Yearbook Photo, and Daniel Eisner, far right, brimming with fencing potential. Click here for more photos

Olympic Silver-Medalist, Huifeng Wang, visits USC Fencing Practice

-USC Fencing was proud to welcome Huifeng Wang, Chinese Silver-Medalist in Women's Foil in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, to our practice on November 4th. Mrs. Wang, accompanied by her friend (and translator) Sandy Liu, discussed her fencing career and then several members of the USC Fencing Club were honored with the opportunity to fence with Mrs. Wang. For more photos as well as movie clips of Mrs. Wang fencing with USC fencers, click here

USC Fencing Team challenges NCAA Teams at 1st team tournament of the season

-USC Fencing got off to a good start at the first tournament of the season on November 2nd at Caltech. Among the triumphs, our Men's Epee Squad came out victorious against every NCAA squad. Click here for photos from the tournament

-The USC Fencing Club displayed the sport of fencing for USC students on October 25th, spreading interest and encouraging people learn to learn this great sport. To see photos from the demo as well as a time-lapse movie of the event, click here

1922 "Robin Hood" continues to entertain 80 years later

-Members of the USC Fencing Club celebrated one of the great swashbuckler movies October 17th, with a trip to see the re-release of the Douglas Fairbanks classic at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre. To see photos from the trip, click here

NEW T-SHIRT DESIGNS!!

-click here to view the new t-shirt

-the new shirts are $15 each and can be purchased at the regular fencing practices, the USC Activity Fair, Homecoming, etc.

Fencing Email Problem Discovered - On October 15th, we learned that our email service has, for the last several months, been automatically deleting messages sent to fencing@usc.edu. If you have sent us an email over the past few months and have not received a reply, please email us again as we have fixed the problem. Even if you sent us some information and did not need a reply, please send your emails again. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Join USC Fencing for a Trip to Medieval Times

-By popular demand the USC Fencing Club is pleased to annouce a night of
jousting, swordplay, and general revelry at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament! Friday, December 6th, we will be heading out to Buena Park for some good old-fashoned medieval fun. For more info on the trip, click here

And Now For Something Completely Different

-The USC Fencing Club loves to note the growing popularity of the sport of fencing. Never has this been more evident (or more bizarre) than in Madonna's cameo as a fencing instructor in the latest James Bond movie, "Die Another Day." To check out Madonna's blade-swinging music video for the movie theme, click here

Egyptian Theatre to Re-release 1922 "Robin Hood"

-On Thursday, October 17th, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will re-release the 1922 Douglas Fairbanks classic, Robin Hood, as part of its 80th Anniversary Celebration. Because of USC Fencing's connection to this film, in that Henry Uyttenhove (the first coach of the USC Fencing Team) choreographed the swordplay, there will be no practice on Thursday and we will be organizing a field trip to go and see the movie - Click here for details

-Time to buckle your swash--the art of sword is back. This fall alone, Madonna demonstrated fencing as Die Another Day's instructor, Verity; Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton displayed some en-garde-inspired wand wizardry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; and October's French sword-fighting film On Guard was a critical hit. Next summer Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp * get to the point in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Princess Diaries producer Debra Martin Chase plans to bring the story of African/Asian-American Olympic fencing medallist Peter Westbrook to the big screen. Celebrities aren't the only ones taking a stab. The US Fencing Association reports a 53 percent increase in membership since 1997, and recreational fencing is on the rise at schools like L.A's Westside Fencing Center, where Viggo Mortenson and Patricia Arquette have also parried some blows. "If you meet a villain face-to-face with sword in hand, it takes the most courage," says Great Britain's former Olympic fencing coach Bob Anderson, who trained the casts of Die Another Day, Pirates, and 1998's Mask of Zorro, as well as two of the Star Wars flicks, about the appeal of steel against steel. "it's the ultimate weapon in the fight between good and evil."
* (And sexy Orlando Bloom, Bailey would like to add)

Job Opportunity for Fencers!

-click here for more info - Thanks to John for the link

USC Fencers make a great showing at September 29th Open

-Yann Staelens, Laura Johnson, and Jens Stephan displayed their skills at the Open Tournament in Pasadena on the 29th. Congratulations to Yann who came in 2nd in the Open Foil and received his B02, Laura who tied for 3rd in the Open Sabre, and Jens who came in 8th in the Open Epee.

USC Fencing Club Gives Back to Community

-From May 13th - May 24th, members of the USC Fencing Club worked with the Amateur Athletic Foundation's "Learn and Play" Program to teach the Olympic sport of fencing to elementary school children in South Los Angeles. Held at Compton Community College, the children were able to participate in a variety of sports.

It is estimated that, over the course of the two week program, over 2,000 children were taught the basics of fencing. This year's "Learn and Play" Program broke the record for the largest youth Olympic sports training activity ever organized.

To see more photos from the event, click here.

Trojan Fencer Dara Purvis wins Truman Award

-Dara Purvis, a member of the USC Fencing Club, was one of 77 students nationwide to win the Truman Scholarship awarded to students who display an outstanding committment to public service as well as academic achievement. For a full text article, click here.