I'm currently reading (and trying to understand) Capo Ferro's "Gran Simulacran" (in English, I don't read 17th century Italian well). I keep thinking, over and over, that just a few of these old moves, coupled with modern technique, could disconcert opponents...and now Don says someone beat me to the idea!

Well, it's still a good one. And being an American I'm not wedded to either the French or Italian schools -- "E Pluribus Unum" is our motto! (For me, this translates to "Whatever works....")

Don, I have both Italian and French grip epees -- but no pistol grips (except on pistols, where they belong).

One of the club's 13 year olds dropped into my office yesterday afternoon and I showed him both the "auto crash" and "tigger bouncing" videos. His comments were that a) "If that's all it takes to get a fencing scholarship I'm going to have an easy time of it" and b) "Don't they run out of energy awful fast?"

When I took foil, lo those years ago, one of the guys in the other section had a disconcerting way of screaming while he jumped into the air and rotated himself (on the long axis!) 180 degrees. When he landed he make the touch. This worked okay until he fenced the instructor. He did his favorite more, and when he was in the air and his back to the instructor the instructor whapped him across the seat of the pants with his foil. The chap added about four feet to his jump height without even touching the floor and never did that little maneuver again.

About the young lady in the slingshot: I think that everyone involved was already brain damaged. Gad, when I think of the concussion and contracoup injuries that's the only conclusion I can come up with!