Variety is the spice of life... or is that Cinnamon?

I've noticed over the years that fencers like to gravitate towards the same groups and people when they train and spar. This is perfectly understandable; we tend to like certain people over others and fencing is a sociable activity. The only draw back to this is that it never provides you with a different challenge and you can get stuck in a bit of a rut. I myself am guilty of this as I tend to fence the same groups of people (mostly my students) and I excuse this by arguing that I am helping their development by observing them consistently for improvements in their technique. This is mostly true but sometimes there is a bit of inertia there for me and that is why it can come as something of a shock when faced with new fencers at a competition. Solving the same puzzle week after week can be self defeating and sometimes it is good to try a different opponent who will provide you with a different and unique set of challenges to overcome.

In Japan in the 1600s some aspiring swordsmen used to deliberately travel around the country to actively seek out new challenges. Musashi is credited with a number of duels against opponents who were not only of different schools but also users of different weapons. He fought warriors with mastery of the long spear, the sickle and chain and the Bo staff who all presented him with new and potentially deadly obstacles to overcome. He gained many insights on technique during this period of his life, particularly around the importance of correct distance and timing.

Obviously I am not advocating that a foilist take on a sabreur (although it could be an interesting one to watch) but I am suggesting that a change in training partner wouldn't be a bad thing once in a while.