Express yourself through the medium of Fencing..

I was working with a student at the weekend who was demonstrating all the symptoms of the young fencer's curse of inhibition. (Particularly prevalent in teenagers of the female gender). Her lunge was short, her elbow was clamped to her side and her movements lacked resolve and commitment. I happened to know that this student was also an active gymnast so was able to use an analogy she could relate to (I hope) regarding expressiveness. I asked her what would happen if she was to do her gymnastic routines without expressing herself, without the flourishes, grace and confidence that gymnastics seems to require. She was able to ponder this and I hope it made a connection. It certainly made a difference over the rest of the lesson and she began to lunge with depth and commitment - and with some style!
It might seem strange to talk about style and grace in connection with fencing but to be honest if you are doing it right there should be an element of grace to it. As a 42 year old male who's a few pounds over the ideal this may seem a strange aspiration but I think that grace only comes through familiarity with a technique, a state of understanding that comes after the brain and muscles can do something without having to ponder the mechanics.
It's at this stage that fencers can also start to express themselves more obviously. Even beginners can express themselves in basic terms and it usually is some of the more obvious things like agression, nervousness or fear that show in a learner on the piste. As their skills develop this can change to one of confidence, determination, rhythm, even fun! A personality can be recognised beyond the random clash of blades. This can prove a clue to the astute observer as to what the fencer is likely to do, or how they are likely to react. It can also be useful to a fencer to manifest different personalities in order to gain the advantage. As Musashi said "Being like a rock wall is when a master of martial arts suddenly becomes like a rock wall, inaccessible to anything at all, immovable".

Do you feel lucky Punk? Well, do ya?

Sorry for borrowing from Clint Eastwood in the title of this post but I want to talk about luck and how it might influence your fencing. Luck plays a part in virtually all sports but there is an oft-used cliche that says you can make your own in many instances. Here's a few examples of how you can do this and turn luck into something a little more like skill....
Practice and Prepare.
The more you practice a technique the better it becomes. Also, the more you prepare the more effective you will be. If you mentally prepare yourself for various scenarios that you will encounter in a match then you will be more likely to respond appropriately when they occur. Visualisation is a technique used by many athletes to get themselves ready for competition. Imagine yourself in a particular situation and then go through how you will respond to it. Don't just think about it, visualise in depth your movements, reactions and feelings so that it becomes as real as it can be; then do it again and again. This will help discipline your mind and reflexes to respond instinctively when the time comes and reduce your reliance on fortune. Alos, don't just practice the easy stuff, practice the difficult situations as well. In fact, practice them more frequently!
Develop strategies
This is very akin to visualisation and involves developing plans for certain situations. e.g. "If I'm down by five hits with two minutes left I will...." "If I fence a left hander I will....."
Keep your point in line
Whenever your point is not directed at your opponent you are wasting time and effort. In the event of your opponent closing quickly and failing with an attack you have more chance of hitting them if your point is in line, even if you just stop thrust.
Using every resource
Make sure that you use all the resources you have, which include the dimensions of the piste. If you allow yourself to get pinned into one rhythm or space you will most likely run out of luck fast.
If you adapt some of these into your fencing then hopefully you will increase the times you win through skill and decrease the times you just get lucky.