Dedicated Follower of (Fencing) Fashion

I was giving a lesson on reconnaissance the other night and it dawned on me how some fencing moves come into (and go out of) fashion. For instance, a classic reconnoitre is to engage in sixte and execute a disengagement on the opponent's pressure. A perfectly reasonable response but the final hit could just as easily be made by coupe or cut-over. However, how many times do you see a cut-over these days? Or an engagement of quarte followed by a froissement? It seems these and other techniques are now out of fashion but it's initially difficult to say why. I can understand why some things came into fashion, like the flick hit for instance, which became popular due to the mechanics of the pistol grip. This technique was then endangered officially when the foil timings were changed (a rare occurrence of a technique being outlawed through technology) and has now dwindled away again thankfully. However, it's harder to understand why some things fade away.
I suppose a circular movement is now stronger if made with a pistol grip, as the wrist comes into play more and things like the beat are obviously stronger if made with a pistol grip. Techniques that rely more on the fingers have become rarer, however this is not a reason to stop doing them; in fact it makes more sense to actually do them more! If your opponent has no familiarity with a technique such as a cut-over, froissement, envelopment or passata soto etc then they will not know how to deal with them, giving you a greater chance of success. So perhaps it's time to dust off some of these old techniques and see what happens......

Problem Solving

One of the key things that any fencer has to be able to do, at speed and under pressure, is solve problems. The other night one of my students was telling me about a problem he had at a recent competition. He had been using beat attacks on a person with a very strong grip but once he'd executed the beat his opponent would parry the beat and riposte hitting simultaneously. This caused some inconvenience to my student as the hit would go against him, based on the president's interpretation. He asked me how he could have got round it. To me there are several answers but you have a think before reading on.....
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keep thinking
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Got an answer?
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Hurry up, he's winning!
Anyway, here are my suggestions in no real order of merit.
Do a beat disengage instead, therefore the opponent has nothing to parry thus denying the opponent's strength.
Try a beat but with a first counter riposte attached, thus using the enemies strength against them. You'd need to do this from a little further out to give yourself the distance to make it work though.
Where the opponent has a strong grip, try engaging their blade with pressure and see if you get enough reaction to attack off it with a disengage.
As I said earlier, this is the sort of thinking you need to get used to in order to improve your fencing. Every opponent throws up different problems and it's down to you to solve them!

Always with the negative waves Moriarty, ALWAYS with the negative waves!*

I want to talk about energy in this post, which can always be a controversial subject in a martial arts and sports setting. However the concept of a person's energy influencing their performance and conduct is a very old one indeed. The Chinese call it Ch'i, the Japanese call it Ki (and the written character represents steam rising from a pot). In the UK I suppose we'd call it spirit but I'm not totally sure we really have a word for it. However, the older I get I'm certainly more convinced of the effect it can have. In my job I facilitate a lot of workshops involving groups of people and I have seen first hand how my energy influences them. The more positively energised I am the more they are and vice versa. If I let my energy slump then theirs will to, or a stronger personality will step in and take over the group if even if I don't want them to.
I've also been to lectures and coaching sessions where the person running it just doesn't manifest energy and these can be very dull sessions indeed. So it follows that the way you manifest your energy can also effect your fencing. Musashi recounts occasions when Martial Arts masters should become like a rock wall. He's obviously not talking about a physical transmutation so what is he getting at? To me, he's referring to the mental attitude or spirit of such a Master manifesting as an unassailable, invincible force thus striking the opponent with a sense of awe, futility and ultimately defeat. In some accounts this could apparently lead to the opponent being either unable, or unwilling, to strike. These sorts of phenomena have been recounted in earlier annals of sword arts such as Kendo but you can still see it in elite sports performers today in that a certain sense of inevitability or victory can surround such people.
So imagine being able to apply this energy in your fencing bouts. What effect would it have? I'm not talking about some sort of Jedi Force powers, or goat staring etc. I'm talking about the energy of positive thinking and intent; a belief that you can triumph and that you have the potential to do so. I know that sometime I come onto the piste with a "Let's just see what happens" kind of attitude but I'm going to be making efforts to change that this year. I may not be a Samurai Master but that doesn't mean I can't have the right attitude. I'll let you know how I get on!
* The post header is a quote from 'Kelly's Heroes' in case you were wondering....

Wow! Work and Fencing can mix!

This weekend I was giving a lecture at the University of East Anglia about presentation skills and being confident in front of groups of people. (I have the honour of being an Associate Tutor at the Centre for Continuing Education i.e Adult learners.) I was talking about some of my preferred techniques for doing well in these potentially stressful situations and afterwards it dawned on me how much these techniques were also applicable to fencing. (I'm not sure which way I'm cross fertilising but I don't think it matters really...) These are some of the things I talked about at the UEA so see if you can make the connection...
Establish a positive intent - it's beneficial to establish in your mind that you are going to succeed or do well.
Own the room - when you enter a room to do a presentation it's your room. The audience are only guests in it.
Use the space available - make use of the room to make maximum impact
Ground yourself - establish your balance and calm centre before you start in order to calm your nerves
Preparation is king - make sure you know what you are doing and/or talking about
Anticipate questions and develop answers - by figuring out what people are likely to ask you can prepare yourself for it and respond appropriately
Practice improves your skills - the more you do something the better you will get at it
Your energy is vital - it is your energy that people will react to and remember long after the presentation is over
I guess this post is continuing in the same vein as my previous post about fencing developing skills that can be re-applied elsewhere (and the converse of skills from outside fencing applying to your performance on the piste - if you are prepared to think about them hard enough). To me there is an obvious correlation with fencing in these themes but I'm not going to beat you over the head with it; you can figure it out for yourselves I'm sure!

Indescribable Coaching

In many Japanese texts about sword arts and martial arts in general you find the advice that it is difficult to learn something by reading, instead you should practice it well. Last night my Coach Andy gave a lesson on the broken time attack in foil (it doesn't work in epee) which is a very difficult lesson to put across. He then asked me to elaborate on it further with a smaller group of enthusiastic students, which I was only to pleased to take on. The broken time attack is one of those things that you only understand by doing; intellectually it doesn't make sense. Why would the opponent parry something that isn't an attack? As a coach you end up saying "Trust me, if you get it right they will react to it". The student has to understand the movement and rhythm for it to work. It's also one of those techniques that's difficult to set up in group practice. On the piste it either works or it doesn't and 'staging it' only lends limited value. However, my class stuck with it and after a while were getting a good handle on it. So then we looked at the antidote i.e. as your opponent breaks time with a bent arm you simply stop hit by either lunging or extending your arm. This sounds simple but it is actually amazingly difficult to do but once again after some practice the class were getting the hang of it well and were asking lots of good questions but their understanding really only blossomed by doing it. So the next time any coach describes something you don't understand, have a go at it and see what happens. Practice may not make perfect but it does make perception.

Noticing the Small Things

One of Musashi's maxims is to pay attention to even small things and last night I found an example of such that added some learning to my fencing. I was fencing at epee and had determined to practice more circular parries in sixte whilst opposing my opponent's attack. Obviously my intent had translated into some physical tension and I suddenly noticed my shoulders had tightened up a lot (which by simple laws of bio-mechanics travelled through my bicep into my forearm and into my hand). It also lead to me crouching forward slightly which of course meant my target area was closer to my opponent! I then made a conscious effort to relax this tension and found that my point control improved quite a bit. It also lead to me enjoying the sensation of gaining insight, which in turn lead to me enjoying and appreciating the fight more. It was a pretty good fight as well as Abby and I matched each other point for point and I think I would have enjoyed it even if I hadn't got that last point to win 15-14. It was a classic case of what fencing is all about for me; learning, friendly but meaningful combat and also fun.

Doubles - a point lost or a point gained?

Double hits at epee are an interesting phenomenon. When I first picked up my epee again after a few years absence they were quite a novelty, seeing as you can't get them in foil. I initially looked upon them as an achievement. "Wow! I'm as fast as the other guy/gal!" Now I'm looking at them as predominantly a frustration. They are now an indicator that I'm just not quite delivering with my techniques; my circular engagement is not strong enough to clear the opponent's blade fully away from my own target area, my fleche is not quick enough or my arm is not extending enough to hit without being hit myself. Last night I had a bout in which I scored five doubles from fifteen hits, three of which were to my disadvantage (i.e. I should probably have hit without being hit) and two were to my advantage (i.e. I was defensively lucky to get my point onto some target). The latter is probably the only occasion when doubles do help, otherwise as a fencer they should be eliminated where possible!

Is Fencing a Martial Art?

Hello and Happy New Year to you all! The title of this post is something that has caused me to ponder for many a year now. And I think I now have my personal answer which is, "No, even though I'd like it to be."
I've now come to the conclusion that Fencing these days is really a sport loosely based on combat, which is actually a world of difference from a martial art. In some ways I'm surprised that I'm not more disappointed by this personal revelation but in other ways I'm quite pleased. Why? Because it's fair to say that the vast majority of people only really take up fencing as a hobby, or as a social activity, or as a competitive discipline with winning in mind; which is perfectly fine. These folk don't want to do a martial art or they would have taken one up, therefore it is unreasonable of me to get frustrated when the vast majority of the fencing world raises a collective eyebrow at the concept of it being a martial art.
However, the fact that fencing isn't really a martial art doesn't mean I personally can't treat it as one and bring learnings and values that I whole-heartedly believe in from other disciplines into it. In fact, shouldn't we do that with life in general? A lot of the things I have learnt through fencing can be applied to my day job and to my life. It's these learnings that make me think that for some of us Fencing isn't a hobby, or a martial art; it's a way.