Anticipate everything, anticipate nothing

The other night I was watching a Japanese film called "Zatoichi". It was most entertaining and centred around a blind masseur in 19th century Japan who happened to be an expert swordsman (as many blind characters are in these films). He was on a quest to eradicate a criminal gang and there were a number of increasingly unlikely sword fights as he worked his way through the criminal membership. One of his opponents was a highly skilled Ronin (masterless Samurai) who had hired out as a bodyguard to the criminal gang as many samurai had to in order to make a living in this period. At one point these two experts faced off in a sake bar and the masseur closed distance and prevented the samurai from making a conventional draw with his sword by drawing underhand. Whilst no blood was shed at this point this stalemate obviously irked the samurai and he pondered on this long and hard. The masseur also sensed that the samurai was a fearsome opponent and arranged for their climactic duel to take place at night, thus evening the odds somewhat. As the two protagonists faced each other the Ronin envisioned the outcome of the fight if he changed his sword drawing technique. He realised that if he shifted to an underhand grip he would win. With this realisation he let out a slight grunt of satisfaction. Hearing this the Masseur instantly changed his draw to overhand, changing the situation completely and killed the Ronin.
The point of this story is that we can spend a lot of time envisioning specific situations and devoting our energies to solving problems that may never occur. It is much better to go into a fight with an open mind and general strategy than to plan for a specific occurence and be defeated. Train yourself to parry attacks and then riposte; not to parry an attack that is just three inches above your right elbow with a riposte to the opponents third rib. This situation may never occur in a fight so will remain essentially useless.
This is a philosophy for life in general; it is much better to have minimal expectations and a general strategy rather than specific hopes of one unique outcome which are ultimately unfulfilled.

Quote of the week

"Keep the mind in the exact center, not allowing it to become sidetracked; let it sway peacefully, not allowing it to stop doing so for even a moment."
Miyamoto Musashi

Be prepared - pay attention!

It is said that the great swordsman Miyamoto Musashi was never without his swords, even taking them into the bath house and toilet. He believed in never being surprised and always being prepared for what life throws at you. In other words he was always prepared and never, in modern terms, switched off.
I learnt a lesson about not switching off last night in the salle. As usual my coach asked me to help him demonstrate various moves. In this case he asked me to take an engagement of sixte and then attack down the blade. He would then respond with an opposition parry. Once we had demonstrated this several times and the class had practiced it he then introduced a ceding parry of prime which was totally different in force and feel to the previous technique. I just had to engage and lunge, engage and lunge and I sort of fell into a mental doze as Andy demonstrated the prime parry again and again. Suddenly he reverted to the opposition parry and whilst the class probably didn't notice, this had an electrifying effect on me because I nearly fell over! The force and direction of the parry was totally opposite and I had become adjusted to the feel of one technique and wasn't paying attention. Luckily I was able to maintain my balance and avoid too much embarassment but it just goes to show how crucial it is to pay attention at all times! Even when being the 'stooge'!

Ground Yourself

It never ceases to amaze me how many people forget to keep their back foot flat on the floor when lunging (and that's not easy to say or type). I guess the reason a lot of people twist their foot over is because their lunge is more of a fall or lean than a thrust and they would argue that they are putting more into it. The truth is that without the foot being kept flat there will be not true power in the the lunge. There may be momentum but that is not the same as power. A proper lunge explodes from the back foot, which anchors the fencer as they push off. Keeping the back foot flat also means there is less tendency to fall forward. Next time you are fencing try putting your awareness into your feet. I often do this, particularly when fencing defensively as it gives me a greater sense of stability. Try gripping the floor through your shoes, it can give a great sense balance. (This also helps in other situations where you are nervous).
On a more practical side, make sure your fencing shoes are free of dust on the soles as this tends to accumulate and will mean you slip and slide more often. Just scraping them down the wall or rubbing them vigorously on the floor may remarkably improve your grip. I wouldn't recommend rubbing them on your socks like some fencers do, the grubby marks do not add to the appearance in my opinion!

The three elements of success - Ki-ken-tai.

I want to discuss Kendo. At this point the regular reader is thinking "Uh-oh, here he goes again getting all Eastern on us" but bear with me. I have recently been reading another book by Dave Lowry in which he discusses the three elements of success. (Thoselong term readers will know of my admiration for Mr Lowry's work). In order for a point to awarded in a Kendo tournament the referee looks for three essential components of the hit before he will award the point.

Ki - the referee looks for the spirit or intention behind the strike; was it planned, was it a deception, was it luck? Was it a conscious decision and a fully committed one?

Ken - the element of the sword itself. Was it held and wielded correctly?

Tai - the element of the body. Is the posture correct? Was the lunge made correctly with the arm extended and the back heel on the floor? Was balance maintained through the attack and footwork correctly followed?

If any of these elements are not present the hit is not awarded. Imagine how this would change a modern fencing competition and the potential uproar it would cause! Now, consider your own fencing. Are you demonstrating Ki-ken-tai? If not, it may actually be preventing you scoring points without you knowing it!

Simple Truths

I was observing some matches yesterday at the Salle and it dawned on me that there really are some simple truths in fencing. You see some fencers constantly striving for the exotic; the unusual stance, the blade held in an unconventional position, leaps and jumps in order to score, but the reality of the situation is that it's the simple things that get you victories.
If your opponent is small you must be neat.
If your opponent is left handed then you must threaten and find their flank to unsettle them.
If your opponent has a favourite and habitual parry then you must deceive that parry.
If your opponent does not commit to their attacks then you must parry riposte or attack on their preparation.
Seek simplicity in your fencing and you won't go far wrong.....