European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wordsmith Pablo Gonzalez sights Down an unfinished Blade to make sure it has been ground evenly on both sides. Olivido swordsman Oscar Kolombatovic inspects a pattern for an etched  i x m  a sword is More Beautiful than any woman by Vince Crawley staff writer a Story about Oscar Kolombatovic would begin with an overture. His Peculiar business card says he is a fencing master and a combat choreographer which Means that he used to stage sword fights at the metropolitan opera House in new York. He says he fought a few real duels in his younger Days and he also taught fencing at West Point. He was in Paris before the War Calls Jose Ferrer a Joe Quot and has traded insults with the King of Spain. He Speaks five languages fluently and two others passably and he has a signed poster of Pavarotti on his bathroom door. He still has a sword presented to him by the King of Yugoslavia when he was 7, if you met this Man in a subway or Burger King you would sense that he is famous. But he is not. Outside his exclusive world of operatic swordsmanship the name Kolombatovic is just another Tongue twister. Most people Call him Oscar. A yugoslavian by birth he says he comes from a an old family of cutthroats and  his Grandfather fought in the first Balkan War. His Uncle was one of the top fencers in Yugoslavia. His father ran the opera House in split on the Adriatic coast. The Book he s writing is called murder and mayhem at the met. He worked there from 1949 until his son adopted that Peculiar business card in 1962. He came to Spain looking for swords and stayed to make them. His office he says is just Down the Block from the Best Coffee House in Madrid. A Man who spent his life in the theater he acts As though the spotlight were always on him even in the Dingy fluorescence of his windowless office. He projects his words gestures and emotions so that they could be understood clearly in the Back Row. The spotlight flickers Only once then grows intense like a surgery lamp on an open wound As Oscar mentions fleetingly that he fought in a War. It is a line he has not rehearsed a Story he does t Tell and it sounds like a missed note in the orchestra. Then the House lights balance again the overture resumes and Oscar goes on talking about swords and duels courtly manners the ringing of Fine steel and Days Long gone by. He s Apt to say anything a a i always say a sword is More Beautiful than any woman because it does t lose its shape Over the  a Quot Placido Domingo the Singer they had him dressed in this White Patent leather scabbard which is expensive As hell. And it looks like plastic. I almost threw  a Quot musketeers were not people who went around the streets of Paris fighting duels. They used  a a kids started training for War at 7 and started going to War at 14. People today talk about Romeo and Juliet As if they were delinquents. Well Back then a girl was an old maid at 17 and died at 35 if she was  a a there s no style left in new York. New York prior to world War ii and up to 20 years ago was Paradise. It was  a Quot Hollywood is comprised of sex truck Drivers and Telephone operators who became stars because they had Beautiful bodies. And their idea of a Good meal is fresh lobster and a Steak on the same  a a i was Reading a greek tragedy and Sophocles spoke of a thessalonians trick in which the fighter kept his Back foot still and threw himself at the opponents. This was 600 years before Christ yet every historian will Tell you the lunge was invented in 1630.&Quot a a the spaniards the English and most of the Slavics Are great infantry soldiers the. Guys who can stand there and take shelling then on command get up and  a a they did t put your head on the Block except in England. On the continent you Knelt in prayer and the executioner swung laterally. If the executioner did a Butcher Job people used to get aroused and Lynch  Quot spaniards laugh with you. The French laugh at  a Quot fencing is a Lousy Spectator sport. It s too fast. Like basketball. All you do is watch a Ball go through a hoop. People Don t really know boxing but they see blood and hitting and go to it in droves. But fencing even fencers Don t watch it. And there s no Money in it. Who would pay to see it but it s great to participate in. Here i am pushing 70 and i could still give some Young fellow a hard time. For a few  a Quot women Are stupid. Otherwise they would t marry a Man to begin with. The first time  the vote who did they vote for  a Quot i told my kids that i would leave them nothing but  8 stripes Magazine March 1, 1990