Ladies & gentlemen.... the President

I was called upon to give some coaching tips about presiding foil matches at the club the other night when someone asked for some guidance. This (in a much more structured order) is what I said:

• Don't look at either fencer. Focus beyond them as most of the time your general view and peripheral vision will give you enough data to decide priority. Don't look at the leaves, look at the tree.
• When calling a halt the first thing to decide is how many hits were there? If there was only one, rest easy. If there were two you need to decide priority.....
• If you can't decide priority within the first ten seconds after calling the halt you're not likely to decide at all
• It's ok to not know priority in the case of simultaneous attacks and is a lot better than arbitrarily guessing!
• Parry ripostes and beat attacks look very similar at speed. Be careful you spot which has just occurred.
• Never change your mind, particularly if questioned, unless a fencer acknowledges a hit that you hadn't seen. Even then, it may not change your final decision
• Project your voice and take control
• Be clear with your explanations and clearly indicate who scored
• Be prepared to explain further to the fencer who has been hit
• Give clear instructions to the fencers regarding coming on guard, retreating to the on guard lines, remaining where they are etc

Presiding epee is a slightly easier affair you just have to look out for floor hits

 

In general presiding can seem initially daunting but it does improve one's understanding of the game and I believe it does add benefit to your fencing life. Give it a try, you might just like it!

Learning not Fighting

There's been a theme building up in my head for several weeks around the difference between fighting and training. A lot of people in the fencing world (and probably sports in general) are under the impression that if you fight/compete in a lot of matches every week you don't need to practice or train because you will automatically get better. Let me be unequivocal here; this is wrong. As a coach I see a lot of examples of this in clubs; people who turn up, have a cursory stretch, fence the same few people and then go home, with no analysis or interaction with a coach at all. Now this is perfectly fine if it floats their boat as a social activity but it is not a path to improvement. Improvement only happens when analysis and reflection takes place after the action. This can be done in conjunction with a coach, a senior fencer, a respected colleague or on your own, but it must happen in order to digest and assimilate the learning then develop different strategies. To be fair, this situation is not always the fault of an individual fencer; it can just as easily be a coach who doesn't have the experience, confidence (or time) to assist in this way.

Whatever the reason I've seen loads of fencers at foil over the years who have just been allowed to bash away without reflection and they can usually be recognised by the following characteristics:

• They have developed a 'stunge' - something that isn't quite a step but isn't quite a lunge either
• They always 'stunge' with a bent arm
• They rarely parry riposte but often counter-attack
• They have very little concept of a compound action
• They quite often get frustrated because.....
• They tend to plateau in their development
• Ironically, they can be quite difficult to beat because they are awkward and unconventional, even though their style may be limited, which ends up reinforcing the cycle.

I'm not trying to be pompous with this post or denigrate people in any way, but I do feel it's important to explain that without reflection and assimilation there can be no real learning or improvement. You don't have to work with a coach or talk to anyone else but if you genuinely want to improve please please, as a minimum, do think about what you're doing! It can be a whole lot more fun and add a lot of satisfaction!

"Show us the good stuff....!"

I was approached by two foilists last night who wished to avail themselves of a lesson. It's always nice to be asked but I was a bit unprepared so asked them if there was anything specific they wanted to look at. Their response was "show us something good that works.....!" This is quite a common request for coaches and is always a tricky one to fulfil. I've posted before on the topic of 'magic techniques', but there is sometimes an expectation that the more complicated and extravagant a technique is the more invincible it will be. Sadly the truth is slightly more mundane in that the real way to be effective lies in doing the basic simple things well.


In my way of practising there are three factors that influence success for a fencer. They are Footwork, Blade work and Brain work.

Footwork is usually regarded as a bit of a poor relation by most club fencers; after all the whole sport is all about swords isn't it?!? Well no, not really. If you can't use your feet properly you won't be able to enter and exit your lungeing distance or influence your opponent to do the same. You won't be able to control your own momentum or balance and you certainly won't be able to confuse your opponent with rhythm changes.
Blade work is the ability to deliver your point to the target area effectively either directly or indirectly, ideally without moving it too far out of line whilst doing so. Your blade movement should be relaxed and controlled and exert just the right amount of force. However, if your feet have not got you within the right range for the technique it will fail.
Brain work is the ability to watch, perceive and react to situations during a fight. This develops subsequent to the other two factors once the mechanics have been understood and mastered. Most people are shown a technique, practice it until it becomes effective then consider the best tactical situations to deploy it. However, no matter how great your thinking is, if you don't have the skills required to make the hit you will once again struggle.
So what did I end up teaching the two foilists? Well, I basically reviewed the previous group lesson that Coach Andy had just done. Step in, beat, feint, disengage lunge. It involves footwork (getting the distance right for the compound action, controlling the momentum on the step): Blade work (the beat, subsequent feint and disengage) and Brain work: getting the distance right and picking the right moment. It can also be made more intellectually challenging by adding in the option to beat-lunge on the opponent's step forward if the distance is close.... brain strainer!!
Other questions I was asked last night were:
"Does it matter if I'm not fast?" No, not if you execute your techniques with good timing and distance.
"What techniques are good in fights?" For foil I would suggest a blend of beat's on the preparation, some sort of compound feint-disengage attack and a decent parry riposte will stand you in good stead if done well. Epee is another matter entirely!

In general there is no wonder-technique there are just techniques that are practiced time and time again. The simplest techniques can be devastating if executed to the best of your ability.

Look For The Ants

A few of my students were competing in the county championships this weekend and this is a story I told them yesterday in preparation.
"Long ago in Japan a great swordsman was approached by a young boy who beseeched his help. It turned out the young lad was to fight a duel the next day with a man who had killed his father and he was seeking advice as his sword skills were basic to say the least. The great swordsman agreed to teach him what he could and spent the rest of the day teaching him one simple technique repeatedly until the young man had got a reasonable grasp of it. Eventually the swordsman called a halt and looked at the boy honestly. "You have grasped this technique and it should serve you well. When you come to the duelling spot, examine the ground at your feet. If there are ants there I assure you that you will prevail. In addition I will remain here and contemplate your victory "
So off the lad went and the next morning he arrived at the duelling spot and examined the ground at his feet. He saw that there were indeed ants crawling around and buoyed by this knowledge executed his one technique perfectly and killed his opponent."
So what does this all mean? Well, the great swordsman knew a number of things, which I carried on to explain:
1. A single simple technique practised well can be very powerful in combat
2. In ancient Japan there were ants in most places. The swordsman knew this and counted on it to give the boy confidence
3. By telling the boy to direct his eyes at the ground the swordsman was encouraging him to focus on something else rather than his fear and also to centre himself without distraction
4. In addition, the suggestion that the swordsman would think of the boy gave added confidence to him

So I explained to my students that in my usual roundabout way I was telling them to keep calm, keep to simple techniques and that they had my full confidence. As it turned out they all did extremely well and I was very proud of their attitude, behaviour and results. Above all, I was extremely pleased with the fact that so many of them were thinking about their fencing...... I couldn't ask for more...! 
   

Expecting The Hit

Last night I observed an interesting phenomena from the sidelines (I do a lot of observing on the sidelines... it's the best place for it). A fencer was getting more and more frustrated when he was failing to score points and his frustration was spiralling into annoyance, then anger then outright depression. I was trying to figure out what he was doing wrong and it eventually dawned on me..... He was expecting to score the hit every time. Now there's nothing normally wrong with confidence but in this case it was manifesting itself in a semi-complete lunge, a pause and a quick glance at the box. Because the lunge was not deep enough or properly placed the hit wasn't scored and the subsequent pause resulted in him getting hit more times than actually hitting. It is vital in fencing to fully commit to any action; the point being scored always results from the point of the weapon being placed properly on the target area and nothing else. If the point doesn't register nothing else can happen. Therefore all the energy must be devoted to this end and a fencer should never relax until the point has been clearly scored and registered. In fact it's better not to expect anything until the end of the fight!

Distraction Techniques

I have often posted regarding historical uses of distraction techniques in a fight such as Musashi arriving late for his first two duels with the Yoshioka School, then early for the final one. Also, he employed the tardy technique in his duel with Kojiro, enraging his opponent out of his equilibrium and into defeat and death. Last night I was confronted with a distraction technique the like of which I'm sure Musashi would never have encountered and would have struggled with. Something so shocking that it nearly put me off for the first couple of exchanges in the fight. Just after the salute and before we came on guard my opponent, to use the vernacular of the street, 'shook her booty at me'.* It was obviously done in jest and she did subsequently apologise but it just goes to show there's always something in fencing that will give you a surprise lesson........ I'm not saying I would have won otherwise but there was only two points in it at the end! It's not a strategy I will be trying though..... ;o)




* Yes, I am down with the kids.......

The Balance of Coaching

I was discussing one of the downsides of coaching with a colleague on Wednesday night, the one all coaches suffer from on occasion...... continuing to coach when you're competitively fencing. That moment when you forget yourself and marginally open a line for an opponent, they hit you and you find yourself thinking (or sometimes even saying) "good hit, well done!" Not very helpful when you're trying to win a match that's for sure!
It probably happens to all of us who coach and can sometimes be a nuisance. But being a coach has many more advantages than disadvantages. For instance on Saturday I arrived late at the club due to traffic problems and was in a bit of a huff as a result. However as a coach I was in the great position of making a positive choice and raising my mood by spending time with youngsters I don't normally work with. This gave me the challenge of finding something relevant to talk to them about in their technique so I really had to look, think and engage. I don't want to sound arrogant but I try to make all my contributions meaningful for each student; not all of my points register with them I'm sure but I really enjoy trying to deliver some useful information wherever possible. Basically I want to make a difference and a positive one at that. I think I did that on Saturday to some extent and that gives a real sense of satisfaction. I like to think that each of my lessons, one-to-one chats or indeed blog posts are little messages in bottles that ever so occasionally wash up on someone's shore. It's this that makes coaching far more valuable than the odd inconvenience.....