Interesting

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

I posted in the weekend thread about meeting my cousin, who is in the area as a referee at the Wheelchair Fencing World Cup, held nearby. I went to see him Friday night, reconnect and have dinner. His mom Polly, and my mom, Margaret were sisters. He grew up outside of Boston, I grew up here and there, mostly Northern VA but we always vacationed near Boston every August. A family reunion was held every year, on a Saturday in mid-August. My dad had a brother and a sister. Our family of six, added five and nine to the collection. Mom's brother and two sisters, added four, seven, and four. Just family was 38 people. As time progresses and you added spouses, kids, and hangers on we had 80 to 120 people at the reunion. Because we know people, my cousin Mark, would buy lobsters right off someone's boat, usually about $1.25 each (market price). We also had corn (pronounced conn), clam chowdah, and a gallon jug of pina coladas in the freezer. Anyway, Paul and I catch up. He's been in the fencing community for about 30 years. He knows everyone and everyone knows him. I get a crash course in wheelchair fencing. There are hundreds of people here from the states, Great Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Iraq, Hungary, and many others that I cannot recall. The Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and China groups are not here for obvious reasons, but usually they would participate. The competitors are in one of three categories, A, B and C. The A class are the most mobile. They can stand for short periods and may appear to be able-bodied but they have limitations. B class include partial plegics or quadriplegics with the ability to control their torsos. The C class are similar but they do not have the ability to control the abdominals.  Then there are the weapon categories. Epee, Foil, or saber. Epee and foil are pointy weapons, and sabre is more slashing. Points are scored electronically by sensors on the weapons and grounded or non-grounded jackets and skirts. The referees's job is to call out fouls or infractions. The first offense is a yellow card or a warning. the second and subsequent offenses are red cards and award a point to the opponent for each offense. Offenses include movement before the referee calls "allez", air between the competitor and their chair (both butt cheeks have left the seat of the wheelchair). One butt cheek must remain in contact with the wheelchair. It's the rules. Most competitors have two chairs, one for getting around, and a competition chair. The competition chairs are secured to platforms with set distances to ensure that no one hold an advantage. It is a laborious process for three, five point matches, that progress up to 15 point matches as one rises through the competition. At first, the matches are round-robin but progress to elimination very quickly. The tournament runs until Tuesday. I requested Tuesday off from work as several people that I've met want to see the sights in Washington but don't know how to get around. I will play tour guide on Tuesday to a group that I'm not sure the size of yet. My early impression is that this is a global community of people bound with common interests. They may be competitors on the floor, but they are friends off of it and there is much respect and admiration. Nice to see.

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

This is the National Conference Center where the event is held, This used to be the Xerox facility once upon a time.

[Airehead ★]

I find this very interesting. Fencing is popular in Rochester but I do not know of a group of chair users that fence.