As a young man, Biebel joined his best friend in a Wauwatosa Recreation Department fencing class and began to absorb the qualities it taught him.

"First is awareness," he says. "You have to be aware of physical distance, what the other person’s tactics are and what you’re doing technically. It’s a complicated game. It’s a three-dimensional puzzle you play with your body."

Biebel started to fence "pretty much constantly" and hasn’t stopped since, teaching the principles of the sport at area colleges, fencing schools and at the recreation department where he first fell in love with it. Eventually, he opened his own school, Milwaukee Sport Fencing Academy, 247 S. Water St.

Last summer, 56-year-old Biebel took first place in the National Men’s Veteran Foil Fencing Championship in San Jose, Calif., a feat he’s accomplished for four of the last five years. That victory earned him a spot on the 2008 U.S. Veterans World Championship Fencing Team and the chance to compete for the world title in Limoges, France, in October. He was considered a favorite in the 50- to 59-year-old category.

Everything that could have gone wrong did, Biebel says, "but it didn’t affect my fencing." His luggage was lost, along with his customized fencing gear. Biebel practiced with equipment borrowed from a Japanese fencer until his luggage turned up the day of the tourney.

Biebel watched an upstart 50-year-old, Austrian Robert Blaschka, "destroy" all of his opponents. When Biebel, a master of tactics, raised his foil against Blaschka, he managed to pull ahead 3-0. But when the final score was tallied, Biebel was down 10-7. Blaschka, Biebel quickly adds, "is in a class by himself."

Not that Biebel is at all embarrassed by earning his No. 2 ranking in the world. It just makes him want it more. Like Rocky, the self-proclaimed "Joe Fencer" immediately picked himself up and started training for next year’s world championships to be held in Moscow. He’s likely to meet Blaschka again. "I started running today," he says, "and drinking eggs."