Fifty steps, one hundred steps

I read an interesting Japanese saying recently; "Gojuppo hyappo" which translates as "fifty steps, one hundred steps" i.e. if you have taken fifty steps then make the effort to complete one hundred. This seems to be very apt as another year turns before us and we enter 2012. It is very easy to start something at this time of the year and then never finish it, whether it be that improved lunge, new diet, fitness regime, or that book you've been meaning to write. In fencing terms some budding fencers will walk into a salle for the first time ever this year, some student will win their first fight whilst other athletes will be hoping to stride onto the Olympic stage. Life is really nothing but a series of steps at the end of the day and whether you are taking a new path or struggling bravely along the old it serves well to take one at a time and keep putting one foot in front of the other. The path of fencing and indeed of life is really an endless one but it takes spirit sometimes to keep walking. Take all obstacles one step at a time; after all, we are all on the same path. Happy New Year to you all.  

And whilst I'm here.....

...... Happy Xmas to all you folks who keep on dropping by! And best wishes for a prosperous and successful New Year.  

Injury? Opportunity? Or Injuritunity….?

I have recently been talking to my students at length about utilising opportunities when they arise in fencing. One strange opportunity that I have been given over the last seven months is chronic tennis elbow. This is described as a low impact medical injury but anyone who has had it will know it is high impact on the sufferer. Basically it is like someone sticking a red hot needle into your elbow on a continuous basis. I injured mine at epee and have been unable to fence competitively (or do any circular actions against resistance) since mid-May. Initially this proved very frustrating and a tad depressing but I have come to regard it as an opportunity. Why? Well I have been able to spend more time on my coaching, particularly with our budding foilists and it has proven to time well spent. There is now a great sense of camaraderie within the group and I am getting regular requests for individual lessons. I have also taken great pleasure in seeing some new coaches beginning to thrive. This is really the ultimate pleasure for a coach, seeing some of his students taking on the mantle and enjoying it. So I guess the moral of the tale is that even though something may initially appear to be a major pain in the backside it can turn out to be an opportunity in the end!       

Fencing & Sherlock Holmes

With the release of the new Sherlock Holmes film I thought I’d post some of his quotes which in my opinion relate well to fencing. Which is after all, all about solving problems……..


“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear”

“The little things are infinitely the most important”

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact”

“There should be no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation”

“Education never ends Watson. It is a series of lesson with the greatest for last”

“Things must be done decently and in order”

“We can but try”

Think about them and see if you can see the relevance.......

Stealing Arrows

I watched a John Woo film called “Red Cliff” last night and was struck by one particular scene. The story was about a group of Lords who stood up to a tyrannical Prime Minister in ancient China despite being out-numbered and isolated. At one point they run out of arrows and their venerable and knowledgeable chancellor hatches a cunning plot to steal some from the enemy. He sails some ships toward the enemy fleet in a thick fog and provokes the complacent enemy generals into firing volley after volley into his cleverly padded flotilla, thus collecting a huge amount of arrows for their cause. The enemy do not realise they have been duped until it is too late, believing that their superior resources and strength will gain them victory. Their over-confidence in their own strength proves costly.


It struck me that there are parallels in fencing. Have you ever met an opponent who was so sure of one technique that they used nothing else? Perhaps a compound attack or a parry riposte that they did repeatedly? In effect they are presenting you with an opportunity to steal their arrows…. That compound attack could be provoked and defeated by revealing an opening then doing successive parries. That parry riposte could be defeated by a first counter. There are always opportunities to turn an opponent’s strength against them….