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Thursday, April 11, 2013

A to Z: Judge and Jury and Joker's Wild?

 A to Z is an awesome blog fest in April, started by Arlee Bird and hosted by a rocking team of people.
 
My A to Z Theme is fencing and swordplay.
 
  • Judges: additional officials who assist the referee in detecting illegal or invalid actions, such as floor judges or hand judges.
  • Jury: the 4 officials who watch for hits in a dry fencing bout.

  • Originally, in fencing, the referee was called either the Director or the President of the Jury. The director/referee controls the action of the bout, making sure that it stays safe, and that points are judged correctly. In a "dry" fencing bout, the four judges make up the "jury" with two each watching the target area of one of the opponents to judge whether or not there are any hits. The referee watches all the action, but also has to focus on the flow of the overall action to judge right of way, make sure that everything stays safe, and keep track of other rules.

    A good referee and jury will follow the fencers up and down the strip, keeping in line with the action to see all of it as correctly as possible.

    What the heck is a dry fencing bout? A fencing bout that is done without electrical scoring aids to help keep track of hits . . .note that hits don't necessarily equal points . . . that depends on right of way . . . and I'll get there with "R," I promise.

    Something Special . . .  Michael Di Gesu introduced Champion in the Darkness for his Joker's Wild Day! Thank you Michael!!!! All of Michael's introductions rock, and I'm super excited to have my novel featured there.

    14 comments:

    1. I saw Michael's post already - he did do something special for you!
      With such quick action, I imagine it takes a lot of people to catch everything.

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    2. I think it would be really hard to be a judge or jury for fencing simply because of how fast it moves, but I guess that is the case with more sports.

      Heading over to Michael's now, his posts are always so wonderful!

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    3. Alex - Thanks! Michael rocks!!!
      And yes it helps to have extra eyes on the action.

      Julie - yes, it is. Although I think the referees and judges kind of train up to the job just like fencers. Most fencers practice at refereeing in club bouts during practice sessions, and the people that enjoy that and are good at it go on to be the refs.

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    4. I think it would be hard for me to be a judge or a juror; I would be so concerned to get it all right!

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    5. jaybird - yes, I remember feeling that way the first few times I did it at club events, but then it became more fun and exciting!

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    6. I truly thought that all touches counted. Probably that's why I never understood the score.
      Now off to see Michael.

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    7. I never knew fencing could be so complicated. I just thought it was 2 people tossing swords around at each other--like my boy does when he's pretending to be a Jedi Knight or Lord of the Rings 'something.'

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    8. Al - all touches don't count because it depends on who started the action (right of way) - it's kind of a way of saying that under real life circumstances, a fencer wouldn't throw themselves onto their opponent's sword just to get a touch.

      Charissa - it has rules for a reason . . . because the fencing association is trying to keep it as "real" as it can be, despite being a sport. And kids playing Jedi usually don't actually try to hit each other. I got in trouble with a couple of my friends' kids because I tried to teach them how to really fight with a light saber and I included hitting . . . oops. Kids usually prefer to bash each other's swords and not each other, and then pretend to get hit and die dramatically.

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    9. It would be strange to see a whole jury moving up and down the strip, but I agree that it makes sense that they follow along as not to miss anything.

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    10. Christine - LOL, I started picturing guys in robes running up and down the strip. They do move up and down with the fencers not to miss anything.

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    11. Awesome intro for your book over at Michael's!

      I wish I knew ANYTHING about swordplay, since there are swords in my new book! :)

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    12. Congrats on the feature at Michael's His intros rock.

      Never knew there was a judge and jury involved in fencing. I guess it takes some skill to follow all the action that goes on.

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    13. Laura - Thanks! Michael did an awesome job! I didn't actually use much of my knowledge anyway, and knowing what an excellent writer you are - your new book is going to be awesome!

      Nick - Thanks! And yes, his intros definitely rock! It does take some skill, but the referees work into it, just like with any sport.

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    14. I've always had a feeling there was a lot to fencing but didn't realize it was so much more.

      And LOVED your intro at Michael's blog!!

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    Thanks for taking time to share your awesomeness!