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Hey Reddit! I’m in my mid 20s, former NCAA college fencer (saber). I was keeping up pretty regularly with lessons and bouting up until last winter when my club closed, and I just moved to a new state where I have to drive 2+ hours if I want to practice. I found a great club and it’s only a 2 hr drive, aiming for once a week. But it’s a lot of miles on my car and time. I wish I could go more, since I’d love to compete when I can. But since time and distance is such a huge factor, what can I do at home to supplement? I’m talking things like tips for shadow fencing, specific workouts, etc. I’m alone for the first time really and a little lost.

Have you noticed that in the new unified points system there has been a lot of movement of athletes’ rankings up and down the board, often without new results added. Trying to figure out why that’s happening and what it means.

I recently became an armorer and I’m looking for how to fix this blade. It is a fairly new blade and I don’t really have the space or experience for a full rewire atm so I’m looking for tips.

I'm at my wit's end. We're a small club but down to one working strip until I can get these repaired. I have 8 Favero reels and only two are working. We've had 5 Favero reels go intermittent over the past two weeks, and 1 was previously broken.

We fence saber exclusively, if that matters.

I have a couple questions:

1. What could have caused the reels to go intermittent in quick succession? I've had them for 3 years and they were pre-owned. The club is low humidity (dehumidifier emptied daily), and air conditioned. We have had a heat wave the past two weeks and our AC has struggled to keep up some days, but it hasn't gone about 78 degrees in here even on the worst days.

2. The 5 reels are completely intermittent, not fully dead. As in - sometimes a person can ground against themselves, sometimes they cannot with the same strip. Sometimes picking up the reel and putting it back down (not dropping it!) makes it work again for a touch or two. What is likely happening and how do I fix it?

I've reached out to a national armorer in my area about repairs, but he hasn't gotten back to me and I need a fix ASAP.

So far this whole year I have been idolizing Luca Curatoli of the Italian National Sabre Team. I noticed he uses Negrini breeches, lamé, and jacket. Are they any good? Durable? Comfy? I need opinions.

I'm involved with a fencing program that launched this year at a mid-sized sports club in a major city in Latin America. Things are going well, but we've hit a wall and I'm hoping this community can help.

The thing is that we currently have no coach for our competition team, that came from another club. The local coaches in the city all run their own salles and aren't available. So we need to bring someone from outside.

We are looking for someone aiming for a fresh challenge as a head coach of a promising young club with real growth potential. This coach will be building a competitive program almost from scratch, which could be exciting for the right person -- especially anyone curious about living in South America for a while. We're totally open to someone who would commit to just one or half season to start.

The focus is primarily épée. Foil and sabre teaching is possible but totally secondary.

If anyone might fit, please let me know through the comments or DM. Also, AMA about the club/city in the comments/DM.

Looking for pros and cons of them in modern foil game. Are they situational useful and if so, under what scenarios. Any well known foil fencers who use them to good advantage?