Quote of the week

"Do nothing useless"

Miyamoto Musashi - Founder of Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu

Miyamoto Musashi - Master Swordsman of Samurai Japan

You may well ask yourself, "What's a Japanese Samurai doing on this blog"? Well, Miyamoto Musashi is a bit of a role model of mine. he lived during the late 16th and early 17th century in Japan and was a famous shugyosha, or wandering duellist of the Samurai class. What makes Musashi interesting is that it is said he was undefeated in more than 60 duels, which were mostly to the death. His incredible skill extended not only to swordsmanship but to sculpture, calligraphy and ink painting. For more details on his colorful life follow this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi
The most enduring thing about Musashi was that he recorded his thoughts and philsophy on fighting with the sword shortly before his death in a record called "The Book of Five Rings" which you can still find in most bookshops today either in the business or martial arts section. Whilst a lot of this book deals with techniques appropriate to the long swords of Samurai Japan, a lot of Musashi's thoughts and attitudes bear great resemblance to those of the elite athletes of today. In the chapter entitled "The Fire Scroll" Musashi records some of the techniques he employed throughout his successful career as an exponent of the sword. Some of these techniques are physical but many are all about mental attitude and approach. For instance Musashi discusses "Becoming New" when your mental approach to a fight has bogged down or you find yourself in a stalemate. He advocates clearing your mind and becoming as new in order to defeat your opponent. Advice straight from modern sports psychology text books! In other sections he discusses using fear, uncertainty or confusion to unsettle your opponent in order to gain victory. He also advocates looking at your own fights as a third person, or outside observer (a classic technique taught to business negotiators) to gain a clearer view of what is happening. These are thoughts originating in the 16th century that have great relevance to today's athletes and especially to fencers as they are attuned to the martial disciplines. I don't intend to quote all Musashi's writings here but I do refer to some of his attitudes and philosophy in my lessons as I believe that they are still relevant to the modern fencer today. If you want to know more, don't take my word for it, check out the book!

Quote of the Week

"How can you think and hit at the same time"?
Yogi Berra - New York Yankees

Clarity Of Mind - or How Reversible Fridge Doors Can Be Bad For Your Mental Health.....

Someone once told me that the most effective weapon a fighter can employ is his brain. I would take this a step further and suggest it is the mind rather than the brain. The mind can determine whether you approach a situation calmly or in a state of agitated tension, where the latter is more likely to lead to mistakes and frustration. An example of this was vividly demonstrated to me last week whilst coaching. Usually I allow myself some time to prepare a lesson before commencing a class as I believe that my students deserve the best I can give them. Last week I'd had a pretty hectic day at work and upon returning home discovered that we'd had our new fridge-freezer delivered. In order to get it set up we decided to reverse the doors to suit our kitchen before I went to fencing. So with my Wife holding the freezer tipped up I commenced the 'simple' operation described in the instruction manual. Nearly an hour later the 'simple' job had turned into a frustrating (near infuriating) battle between man and appliance; the instructions were poor, the components hard to fit, I was working in a cramped space and I was running late. Eventually we discovered a part that had not been mentioned in the manual and at last had fridge doors that were no longer in danger of falling off. I quickly got changed and rushed off to the Salle, desperately trying to formulate a coherent lesson in my mind. Unfortunately my mind was still exceptionally agitated and by the time I got to the Salle I only had a brief chance to stretch and glance at my notes before taking the lesson. I wasn't particularly happy with the resulting lesson on the parry of prime and close in fencing, feeling that it lacked coherence but things steadily got worse. My students were keen to continue their award work and I agreed to go through the rest of the syllabus with them, however my mounting frustration at my poor performance as a Coach culminated in forgetting where I was in the lesson and then having a complete mental blank when demonstrating a fairly simple technique! Luckily my students thought this was quite amusing (probably putting it down to my advancing years) but one did make the comment "So much for an empty mind then?!" This comment really struck home and proved a good learning point for me. I take pride in being a pretty calm minded person but this goes to show that even if one understands a principle one still needs to work hard to apply it!

The Japanese have various terms that describe the quality of mind or spirit (Shin). The most commonly referred to in relation to martial arts are Zanshin and Mushin. I have seen Zanshin translated as 'aware mind', 'focussed mind', 'stable mind' or 'abiding mind'. The general essence of this term is that the mind remains undisturbed by events and abides in calm awareness of the situation. It also seems to mean a mind that is able to assimilate details that others don't see due to being undisturbed by emotions and preconceptions. So when my student mentioned the fact that I was off balance he was directly commenting on my lack of Zanshin. The state of Mushin is subtly different. Mushin or No-mind refers to action without intent, a purely reflexive response to a situation developed through extensive training. We all experience the odd flash of Mushin where we do something without thinking but the advanced athlete actively trains this into their way of fencing, reflexively responding to an attack or threat from their opponent without having to wait for their brain to tell their muscles to do it. Yagyu Munenori refers to the mind that doesn't abide on anything and just reacts from a state of no thought. Needless to say, this isn't a state that is reached easily in this modern world.

A reasonable example of these mental states is shown in the movie "The Last Samurai", one of my favourite films. Bear with me, I accept that the film isn't totally great - Tom Cruise teaching the Japanese how to be Japanese is a bit rich - but there are some interesting hints of greater depth besides the superbly choreographed fight scenes. In particular, the scene where Cruise's character finds himself unarmed against three enemies but defeats them is a reasonable example of No-mind. Cruise's character launches into a spontaneous blitz of moves and then only at the end does his mind replay what he has just done, allowing him to absorb the encounter at greater length. Also of some interest is the scene where he is sparring with the demanding sword master (an interesting coaching role-model) and gets beaten every time. His Samurai friend tells him "Too many mind" - in other words Cruise is worrying about and being influenced by external events too much - and he is able to clear his thoughts and manages to draw the next bout with his instructor. Obviously the practice and application of Mushin and Zanshin do no come quite as spontaneously as suggested in the film! It does make a good point in a simple way though.

The fencer can benefit from at least an awareness of the concepts detailed here. With any sport, a lot of the secret of success is to develop the right mental framework from which to operate in. If you let external circumstances or your opponent distract you, there is more chance of defeat. A large part of any sporting activity is dependant on the mind set of the athlete. Negativity, agitation, anger and apprehension all play a part in undermining the chances of success. Even a fridge door can be a effective enemy to the clear mind!

Quote of the week

Haven't had much time to post anything lately but I hope to rectify that soon.
For the time being here's the quote of the week....

"I'm glad that this has taken me so long; 'cos it's the journey that's made me so strong"

Snow Patrol "Smarter Primate"

Shoden (Basics) 3

Etiquette
Fencing is still a traditional sport and many of it's eccentricities derive from behaviour of a more gentile age. It is customary for fencers to salute their opponent and the president before a fight and to shake hands after the last hit has been struck. It is still (mostly) considered impolite to berate the president, take off one's mask or display outward irritation during a fight. A polite enquiry as to the President's thought processes is permissible if a fencer is unsure of the wisdom of a particular decision. Luckily, fencing has yet to descend to the levels of the 'professional' footballer when it comes to respect for opponents or officials and it is the duty of every fencer to make sure it does not so deteriorate. Unfortunately in the more competitive arena some of the old etiquette is becoming outmoded and it is up to the individual to decide how to reflect the traditions of the sport in their own way.

It can be argued that the fencer who remains calm and serene during the stress of the bout, without succumbing to irritation, anger or over-aggression remains more focussed than a fencer who suffers such tantrums. Extreme emotions have no place on a fencing piste.

Shoden (Basics) 2

Guard positions
There are traditionally eight guard positions in foil ranging from the position of prime (representing a position where the sword has just been drawn from the scabbard) to octave (a low guard position on the sword arm side). The positions are difficult to describe in words and must be taught. The most used guard position is the sixth, or sixte position and it is from there that the fencer should concentrate their attention. Some fencers fence from low or high guard positions, either because they are inexperienced and have seen other fencers do it or they do not like their foil being engaged by the opponent. Whilst the latter reason may have moderate benefit, in general a low or high guard position results in the point being slapped on via a cutting style action and not making true contact with the target. For this reason I strongly advocate concentration on a solid position of sixte. Many fencers have said to me that this leaves the target area open, but it is just this reason why it should be employed. By leaving the target apparently open in one line you encourage your opponent to concentrate on only that line. If you have a middle or ambiguous guard position you are in fact giving them more openings to use and you more areas to defend.

Balance
Maintaining correct balance is vital in fencing. If you are unbalanced you will be unable to react appropriately to your opponent or dictate the fight yourself. The feet should always remain shoulder width apart when fencing and small steps should be taken with the aim of never being out of balance for long. Also when lungeing, care must be taken to not lean forward with the head. Once the head leans forward the torso will unavoidably follow it, making the lunge difficult to recover from and the thrust more of a jab with less chance of success. A fencer should make every effort to hold their torso perpendicular to the ground when lungeing; the importance of this cannot be over-emphasised.

The target area
In foil fencing the valid target area is the torso from the crease of the neck to the groin, including the back. Nothing else counts.

The stance again
Much is made of the on guard position in fencing. The basic things to remember are that the sword hand should be presented to the opponent with the arm relaxed but extended. Many fencers cramp their sword arm into their body denying themselves the extra reach a relaxed arm gives them. The arm should be solidly presented in the position of sixte and the shoulders held square on to the opponent. A common fault amongst beginners (and some more experienced fencers) is to turn the body side on to the opponent in a mis-guided attempt to reduce the target area available to the opponent. Usually all this achieves is to make their own lunge less effective and cramp their movement. Simple body mechanics mean that a lunge made from too side on a position will result in a hooking motion not a straight extension. The front foot must be pointing forward and not turned in and the back foot should be at 90 degrees to the line of movement. The non-weapon arm can be held in a variety of positions but the only important thing to remember is to keep it out of the way.

The Lunge
The lunge is the most effective method of delivering the point to the target of your opponent. All lunges must start with the sword hand advancing first, then the arm then the body. It is important that this order is maintained otherwise the lunge will not be exploited to the full. The front foot must remain straight and the back foot must remain flat on the floor as this is where the grip and power come from in the lunge. If the front foot turns there is more risk of loss of balance and at worst, injury. The back arm should be thrown backward as a counterweight to the lunge. The head should remain upright and the body must remain perpendicular to the ground. A good lunge is something that a fencer can pursue for their entire career.

Rules
There are many rules of modern fencing and I am not going to attempt to describe them here as they will be learnt readily enough in the salle. I will summarise them by saying they are in general designed to deter cheating against modern electrical apparatus and cowardly, discourteous or dangerous behaviour.