Back to Basics

I have been giving a set of lessons lately that are designed to take the students back to basics. Some of these lessons involve putting the mask and foil down completely. There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly I have got really bad tennis elbow (a story in itself) and secondly it is very easy to forget the hands and feet once you have a sword in your hand. After all, fencing is a very swordy thing at the end of the day. Well, yes but also no..... without the feet and balance being right the techniques will fail.
Here's my footwork lesson plan, fresh from the post-it note I wrote it on!

Basic position - revision (hand out in front, feet a minimum of shoulder width apart, knees bent etc)
Balance - (the weight sunk between the hips)
Feet in the lunge - (foot follows the hand, front foot straight, back foot must be flat on the floor for power and balance)
Types of footwork action

• the appel - (useful for distracting/unsettling an opponent  )
• ballestra - (as above, good going forward, must be along not up)
• cross step - avoid at all costs as it disrupts balance completely!

varying rhythm - (it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. Too predictable = not being able to move opponent closer)
Exercise: pairs work on getting close enough to lunge and hit partner's raised hand through footwork
Controlling momentum - (very important for compound attacks  - small step on the approach feint, deep lunge to deliver)
Exercise: Pairs work on stepping and engaging on sixte whilst retaining control of momentum, then respond appropriately to partners opening

The interseting thing about fencing is that the more you learn about it you realise that it is the basic things that really make the difference. You can learn all the fancy blade movements in the world but it's the basic things that you must return to again and again. It can take a whole fencing lifetime to get that lunge right......