Movie Swordfights

It's a fact in fencing that whenever a movie comes out that features sword-fights and/or fencing there is always a slight increase in people coming along to clubs to try it out. This was particularly noticeable after the first "Zorro" film and I know some clubs that did demonstrations before showings at cinemas in an attempt to drum up some business. I think that it also a fact that most people who come along because they 'saw it in the movies' also quickly give up. Unfortunately fencing as a sport is nothing like anything you see in the cinema. even the recent James Bond film "Die Another Day", which initially featured some proper club fencing (executed by good fencers) deteriorated into a farce (see below) which the actual fencers involved in were almost embarassed to be associated with. Modern sport fencing is not swash-buckling; it's rules and forms do not allow that to happen and any attempt to promote it as such is misleading. It is however dynamic, exciting, demanding and both mentally and physically challenging. If you are prepared to go beyond expectations of derring-do you will get a lot from pursuing it.
Nevertheless as a fencer and a film buff, here's my opinion on some of the best (and worst) sword fights in cinema history. In no particular order I give you....
The Last Samurai
This one contains probably the best realistic Japanese sword fighting I have seen; particularly the Ninja fight scene and the scene where Tom Cruise takes out three bad guys and then has to figure out what he just did.
The Princess Bride
For sheer tongue in cheek fencing the duel between the Dread Pirate and the hero is hard to beat. The swapping from left to right, the flicking swords into the air, classic stuff. The rest of the film has some good moments too, particularly when the hero confronts his arch nemesis, issues a challenge he has been waiting all his life to say only to have the bad guy leg it. Priceless!
Star Wars IV.
The duel between Obi-Wan (Alec Guiness) and Darth Vader at the conclusion of which Obi-Wan is struck down. This to me looks more like a proper duel and is not reliant on CGI like the latter ones (see below). I also rate the battle in Star Wars I between Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Darth Maul. Ray Park who plays the Sith is a very proficient martial artist and this really shows in his use of the double bladed light-sabre staff thing.
Kill Bill Volume 1
The fight between the Bride and the Crazy 88s is very well done, very bloody and just about technically accurate to make this list and is nicely topped off by her climactic confrontation with O-Ren-Ishi-I
Robin Hood
Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone have a very good duel at the end. Rathbone was actually a pretty accomplished fencer in real life which adds to the authenticity. The rest of the film isn't great it has to be said and the tights don't help.
Scaramouche
This is a fencing classic. The story of Stewart Granger as the masked avenger on the trail of his enemy is very well done.
Pirates of the Caribbean (Curse of the Black Pearl)
Some of the duels in this are not sufficiently OTT to be excluded. The first meeting between Will Turner and Jack Sparrow in the forge is a great example of win at all cost tactics.
Zatoichi
There are a couple of good fights in this one and it's worth checking out.
The Seven Samurai
The iconic and very brief duel in the first third of this film is a classic and very good recreation of the probable outcome of a duel between two evenly matched Samurai
Matrix Reloaded
Included because Morpheus takes out a car with a Katana. Not realistic at all but VERY cool!

And the really bad ones....
Star Wars II
Yoda duelling with Count Dooku. Far too silly for me. It was like Kermit on a pogo stick and didn't get better in the final instalment.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Shia LeBouef and Cate Blanchett duelling on bonnets of racing truck? No thanks.
Die Another Day.
Started well in a salle to die for but degenerated swiftly into panto. Madonna in a leather bodice as fencing master? Do me a favour. And do we really need a past-it Piers Brosnan making double-entendres about his weapon? Short answer; no.

Too much control is a bad thing...

I noticed the other day another similarity between using a wooden training sword and a foil. Whilst practicing the side strike it became apparent that trying to control the sword too much leads to an irritating wobble when you complete the action. The idea is that the swing should be smooth and controlled but by trying too hard it upsets the whole thing.
I notice a similar situation when people try to aim their attacks in fencing. Usually the action becomes hurried or cramped and the attack fails, missing by quite a margin. In my experience this is because the very act of 'aiming' causes the muscles to tense and misdirect the hit by swiping the blade rather than delivering it to the target. Then the fencer over-compensates and uses too weak a grip with similarly bad results.
I find that in general if I want to hit a specific area of my opponent, say under his arm or to the flank I just generally concentrate on the feeling of hitting that area, rather than focus specifically on one bit of my opponent's target. Whilst this is not always effective it does give me the right amount of control to achieve the hit more times than not. If you try too hard you probably won't succeed; another fencing paradox!

Battle Scars

One of the first questions I get asked by people interested in having a go at fencing is "Is it dangerous?" My usual answer is "only in the same way that Grand Prix racing is." By this I mean that because the sport is inherently hazardous (you are trying to stab someone after all) it is in fact quite safe as there are more than adequate safety precautions taken. The fencing jacket and breeches are constructed of a particular fabric and weave so they can withstand a hit of 850 Newtons of force. The mask can withstand a 1000N hit and underneath the jacket the fencer wears an underplastron either of solid construction for ladies (and some chaps if they are so inclined) or fabric of a further 850N. This does provide protection against most events. The most common cause of injury (and in very rare cases fatalities) has been a blade that breaks upon hitting and the jagged end carries on to strike the fencer. Even when this happens things are usually ok. Take this week for instance when I had an interesting experience on the piste. I was fencing in quite a close match and all was going well when my opponent and I attacked almost simultaneously. I had been attempting to provoke an attack and immediately parried his attack into the low line, looking for a riposte up his blade. What happened next was unclear but the result was a loud twang/crack and I felt a simultaneous hard blow on my elbow and thigh. I then noticed that my opponents blade had broken about a third of the way from the guard. It's at this point that you check for holes....! It would appear that the blade broke, the thin end whipping up into my elbow and the sharp end striking my thigh. The hit to my thigh left a neat little hole in my breeches but there was no evidence of outward damage (such as spurts of bright arterial blood etc) so we carried on. Once I got home I discovered a nice little three inch graze along my thigh but that was it. If I had been fencing in track suit trousers it would have been a very different story though so it pays to have the right kit!
I've had four or five blades break on me in my time and also broken two or three of my own (I'm still mourning Mr Whippy) but in all that time have never received an injury worse than my scratch this week. I have however torn my hamstring twice, broken ribs twice and dislocated my thumb. My back's a bit knackered and my right bicep muscle insertion aches like a b-achey thing these days but on the plus side, my Doctor tells me I am the most flexible 41 year old he knows and my legs and overall reflexes are in great shape. (I've nearly lost that stone as well Doc - honest).
So like any sport, it can leave a mark on you, but the benefits far outweigh the injuries.

Crossing The Threshold

Another thing that I've noticed about various different martial arts and disciplnes is that they all usually have some sort of little ritual at the start. In fencing we salute the President, judges and opponent. In martial arts there is usually some sort of bow as there is in the suburi exercises I am practicing at present. In this the practitioner performs a seated bow or zarei prior to commencing the exercises which serves as an indication of his/her intent to commit to the training. It also acts as a threshold between the everyday world of mortgages, jobs, television and brain activity that we all deal with and provides a moment of clarity for the practitioner. I have observed many fencers who just give the most cursory of salutes as if it is a minor and slightly embarassing inconvenience to get through. Even if we ignore the fact that historically, etiquette demanded respect for one's opponent prior to the potentially mortal combat you and they were about to indulge in, the modern fencer should consider the salute a good use of a couple of seconds to concentrate, clear your mind, assess your opponent and cross the threshold of the business at hand.

Anna Bentley - National Champion again

"Fall down seven times, get up eight" - Japanese saying

I am delighted to be able to report that my friend Anna Bentley has succesfully retained her foil title at the National Championships yesterday. I've known Anna since she was a wee nipper (well, since she was 13 - she's always been as tall as me!) and I know that she has put huge amounts of effort into her competition and training over the last few years. Over the past month alone she has fenced in Cuba and Kiev and has had several up's and down's. Some would say that defending a title is easier than winning it the first time. Maybe so, but in some ways it's harder as the pressure is really on. The pressure has certainly been on Anna recently and I am extremely proud of her strength of character and fighting spirit. Enjoy that champagne Anna, you deserve it!

Learning from something different

A couple of months ago I related how I had recently purchased a bokken or wooden Japanese training sword. Since that last post I have been practising as best I can using a book by Dave Lowry, "Bokken: The Art of the Japanese Sword". It has proven an interesting experience so far and this morning I decided to try something new. I have so far been working on movement, cutting down, cutting at an angle and thrusting. Today I decided to try Yoko Uchi or side strike, which involves swinging the blade in a lateral movement. This technique is even more alien to anything I have tried in my fencing career and it is always difficult to try and learn something from a book without any visual clues or cues apart from pictures. However, I persevered and after a while had the approximation of the swing without the foot movement. But as soon as I tried to complete the strike with the correct foot movement it all started to go wrong. It took me a while to realise that the strike had to be completed just as the rear foot moved through and grounded, rather than as the foot was moving. A fraction of a second either way and there was no control in the strike and it felt like swinging a baseball bat instead of a sword. Once the strike completion and foot grounding were coordinated it simply felt right. This revelation applies to many fencing techniques. If you attack when unbalanced it can lead to failure. You should look to pick off an opponent as their feet are moving. Ripostes are more solid when grounded etc. Alos, a fencer instinctively knows when they are fencing correctly. The trick is to learn from it. It's funny how principles can apply across disciplines and traditions. What more will I learn? I think there's something about breathing forming in my mind but I have not yet grasped it........

The Four Types of Fencer

On Wednesday Robert made a very astute observation; he pointed out that there are only really four types of fencers. Fencers, Fencers who coach, Coaches who fence and Coaches. When you look round the average salle this invariably holds true. It's an interesting question as to what are the motivational forces that prompt someone to change from one state to another. A lot of people never move from just enjoying the fencing themselves but others find themselves drifting into coaching as they move through their fencing lifespan. I don't know of anyone who became a coach straight off as this seems pretty difficult to me but I am open to correction on that one. I myself am probably somewhere between the third and fourth stage; I still enjoy the odd match and the challenge of the competition but I now get more out of coaching and helping others develop their skills and interest in the sport. When I first started the thought of becoming a coach never even crossed my mind but now here I am, happily blogging away and chewing my nails off at competitions as my crew compete. Funny old world! I'm glad I did get into the coaching though; it certainly broadens your knowledge about the sport and yourself but it's not something everybody is comfortable with. For one thing, it can be difficult adjusting between the coaches mindset and the competitors mindset when you fence and it can definitely remove some of the edge. When I am fencing one of my students a part of my brain is thinking "that was a nice attack" when I should be thinking "kill them!" (Only joking - I shouldn't really be thinking anything ;0) So there are definite pluses and minuses in moving into the coaching realm, but on the whole I am very glad I did!

Weight of expectation

I was fencing on Wednesday night and although things went better (i.e. I didn't end up drop kicking my mask across the room and at least one of my foils worked) I still found myself getting frustrated. It was half way through a fight that I was losing pretty comprehensively when I realised that I was incredibly tense which resulted in me flailing around dramatically every time my opponent so much as twitched. Once I had realised this and mentally shook myself off I actually scored two or three points in a row (then my foil handle worked loose and the moment was gone again). I pondered this on the way home and after some thought have the following ruminations that may be worth sharing. Or maybe not but here goes anyway!
So why was I stressed? Well, I could wheel out the old "things have been hectic at work and at home" excuse (which they have) but I think it was more than this. One of the problems I sometimes inflict upon myself is the weight of my own expectations. I don't think anyone else noticeably burdens me in this respect but when I fence I really feel it sometimes. In my head I am trying to be the cool composed Ninja-like dealer of destruction but in reality I'm pretty far away from that most of the time. (In fact I am only human). I spend so much time telling others to remain calm and coaching people through situations that I naturally expect to be able to do it easily myself. There is a fear that if my students see that I can't achieve it they will think of me as some sort of fraud. I know this is irrational but this is how the mind works - any excuse to remain in it's comfort zone and not move on. By this I mean that the subconscious can create a self fulfilling situation; you worry that you won't be as good as you think (or others expect), you put pressure on yourself and voila, you are not as good as you think. The trick is to jettison all those prejudices, expectations and old habit patterns of thinking. Get beyond the imagination and get into the real moment. This is quite a common thing and doesn't just apply to sport. It can catch you out though so be aware of self defeating expectations; what other people think or say doesn't really matter a damn. It's the spirit moving you that counts.

Fencing Logic

"It is not logical, but it is so"
Mr Spock

Yesterday I was having a discussion about simplicity of method and tactics with one of my students who is fencing at the English Championships today. I was explaining that in the most part it is the simple tactics and techniques that win fencing matches simply because of the level of opponent you are facing. The simplest technique is the lunge and if you carry out this attack with the right distance and timing you will defeat your opponent's defences in the majority of cases. Enhance a basically simple technique such as a lunge with a good grasp of footwork (to bring them within distance) and timing (hitting then when they move forward, are unbalanced or are thinking about hitting you) and you have a winning combination. However, a lot of tactics rely on the opponent reacting in a certain way and therefore if your opponent is not capable of doing this then they will fail. It is the logic of fencing that employing an attack that is too advanced for your opponent may well result in failure. It ain't no good trying to provoke and then disengage around a circular parry if your opponent doesn't know how to do one!
So tactics must take into account a certain level of ability on the part of your opponent and is something that the fencer should be looking for as he fences.
This is often the reason why lessons in the class build up movements. Yesterday we taught a lesson which progressed from step-feint disengage lunge, countered by successive parries of quarte-sixte, countered by compound attack. This progression fails when the technique is inadequate and is often the reason why fencers fail to understand it in their haste to progress to the 'next level'. It's vital to master all the preceding techniques before you move on otherwise you will fail. That is the logic of fencing.

I'll say it again...

Here's an exchange that occurred at the salle this morning...
Young Fencer: "Awww can we do something different, we've been doing this for five years!?!"
Coach: "Are you any good at it yet?"
Young Fencer (slightly taken aback): "Er.. well, no."
Coach: "Then keep practicing and in five years you might be."

As I've said many times before, the above is a typical exchange between a coach and a student. The human brain just has to gratify itself with quick achievement, speedy attainment of goals, avoidance of effort and hard work, above all it wants to subconsciously avoid the tedium of practice....!
I doubt Rafael Nadal pops a couple of serves over in training and thinks "That should do there then". Or that Jonny Wilkinson hoofs a couple of kicks through the posts and thinks "That's sorted that out, I think I might go try taking lineouts instead.."
It's vital that the basics are mastered before you try anything else. We are all like this; I'm quite keen to try some new stuff with the wooden training sword I'm learning to use in Suburi but I'm only too aware that I haven't even learnt how to swing it properly yet, let alone do anything fancy. If I try to move on too quick then the foundations of practice will be weak and the benefits will not arrive. I have all the time in the world to get it right after all.....
So next time the desire to move on strikes; think again and practice some more....

I am not perfect

Last Wednesday at the salle I committed an unforgivable sin whilst fencing. I got annoyed. What was worse was... I ALLOWED IT TO SHOW. Now those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will know that this is a big deal for me in that I always advocate remaining calm and detached where humanly possible. Obviously last night was a time when it wasn't humanly possible! So what could have possibly contributed to my lapse of character? Did someone denigrate my fencing beliefs and theories? Did someone impugn my credentials? Did someone slaughter my wife and son and burn my farm down - oh hang on, that was Gladiator.... None of these dear reader, none of these romantic reasons for a red mist occurred. The reason I lost my cool was..... Velcro. Yes, that amazing material invented primarily for the purposes of space travel was the cause of my undoing (quite literally). Those of you in the know will recall that the fencing mask is held on by a back strap. This is usually secured by velcro and provides a snug and safe fit. (I presume in the old days they would nail it on or something). Well it should provide a snug and safe fit. Unfortunately my mask is getting a bit worn and the velcro has seen better days and last night it was coming loose between every hit which meant I had to fumble around one handed to keep sticking it back. This was fiddly and time consuming and (in my mind) made me look a bit of a klutz. This in turn translated into my fencing, where I began to resemble King Clumsy George the Ham-Fisted, ruler of Clumsinia and winner of this year's Clumsiest Clumber-magnet competition. This didn't put me in a good state as every time I came on guard I could hear the gentle rrriiiiiiippp of the velcro letting go and this started to really annoy me. Interestingly enough I was fencing with a french-grip foil (all my other pistol grip foils are out of whack at present) which I have never done before on the electric scoring equipment. But strangely this didn't really bother me as I was treating it as an experiment. It was that bloody velcro that really did my head in and eventually after being beaten by my opponent I expressed this anger by rather elegantly drop kicking the errant mask into my bag from a distance of twenty feet. I swear the whole salle turned round to look and marvel; "OhMiGod, Dave has lost his temper!" Anyway, upon reflecting on this incident I have the following observations to offer:
I am going to buy a new mask
I am either going to get my foils repaired or get some new ones I am going to remember Musashi's words "pay attention to even small things" with a new perspective now; it's not just that the small things can guarantee victory, it's also if you don't look after the small things they can guarantee defeat!