I Could Have Stanced All Night*

How long do you hold your stance for in a match? Have you checked lately? It should be the majority of the time but this is very difficult to do unless you really push yourself, or are a high performance athlete. But I would respectfully suggest it should be more of the time than not! The reason I ask is because from a coaching perspective it is noticeable how difficult it is to get youngsters to retain their stance whilst fencing (or even practising!) The feet move closer together, the legs straighten and before we know it we're at home to Captain Falling-Over. You don't see it in other martial arts and I think I know the reason why.....

Fencing is generally perceived by the majority as something you do with a sword. The sword is everything, not your balance, not your footwork etc. It's quite often the main reason people take up fencing in the first place. This may only be a sub-conscious perspective but the majority of fencers I have worked with are much more concerned with their (or their opponent's) sword and more interested in exciting things to learn to do with it, rather than listen to some Coach banging on about feet. It's swordplay, not a dance class!! This on the whole is fair enough but it misses a very important point i.e. that the sword is useless unless you can get in range in a controlled way and this starts with the stance and footwork. As a coach I know just how important it is to keep reminding people of it but it seems equally difficult to embed!

*possibly