Discipline and Mindfulness
This weekend I was reminded of two qualities a fencer (and a fencing coach) should have; discipline and mindfulness.
At the club on Saturday we had to move into more cramped quarters for a while whilst our usual venue was reserved for exams. The venue was smaller and meant that there was less room around the edges of pistes etc. Those of us familiar with fencing clubs will appreciate the fact that this meant being very careful where you were walking and being mindful of distractions. Whether it was the novelty of the situation or something but I had to ultimately have a stern word with my young charges to be aware of what they were doing. It is vital for a coach to be mindful of everything that is going on in the salle; other fencers may not be so prudent. It takes discipline.
My students were also prone to wander off or not pay attention when judging. This sometimes seem like a mundane task to young fencers (and even older ones) but is a vitally important part of fencing. It requires discipline to stay focussed on a fight when other exciting things may be happening but that's the way it is. People want judges for their own fights so it's only fair to help others out as well when the time comes. Besides, it also improves your observation, attention to detail and fencing knowledge.
Being mindful of things requires discipline and this was again brought home to me in the afternoon when I attended a coaching seminar. We were working on some lesson plans that required us (in the role of the pupil) to stay on guard and then respond to various openings presented by the coach before returning to and maintaining our guard. This required both physical discipline but also mindfulness of our stance. I decided to really concentrate on my balance, keeping it between my hips, finding out exactly when it shifted forward or backward, which miniscule movements made a difference. It was surprising how much effort it took to remain in what I considered a good stance and also worrying how easy it was to lose it again. Once the legs started to ache it was even harder!
So these two traits are vital to a fencer in my opinion; the mindfulness of small but vital details and the discipline to react to and deal with them.
At the club on Saturday we had to move into more cramped quarters for a while whilst our usual venue was reserved for exams. The venue was smaller and meant that there was less room around the edges of pistes etc. Those of us familiar with fencing clubs will appreciate the fact that this meant being very careful where you were walking and being mindful of distractions. Whether it was the novelty of the situation or something but I had to ultimately have a stern word with my young charges to be aware of what they were doing. It is vital for a coach to be mindful of everything that is going on in the salle; other fencers may not be so prudent. It takes discipline.
My students were also prone to wander off or not pay attention when judging. This sometimes seem like a mundane task to young fencers (and even older ones) but is a vitally important part of fencing. It requires discipline to stay focussed on a fight when other exciting things may be happening but that's the way it is. People want judges for their own fights so it's only fair to help others out as well when the time comes. Besides, it also improves your observation, attention to detail and fencing knowledge.
Being mindful of things requires discipline and this was again brought home to me in the afternoon when I attended a coaching seminar. We were working on some lesson plans that required us (in the role of the pupil) to stay on guard and then respond to various openings presented by the coach before returning to and maintaining our guard. This required both physical discipline but also mindfulness of our stance. I decided to really concentrate on my balance, keeping it between my hips, finding out exactly when it shifted forward or backward, which miniscule movements made a difference. It was surprising how much effort it took to remain in what I considered a good stance and also worrying how easy it was to lose it again. Once the legs started to ache it was even harder!
So these two traits are vital to a fencer in my opinion; the mindfulness of small but vital details and the discipline to react to and deal with them.
posted by Dave at
7:50 PM
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