Autumn Lightning

Principle 1:

2012-01-23T11:26:00.000Z

Do not forget that Karate begins and ends with respect

This is fairly self explanatory but is worth considering from a fencing perspective. Fencing has a long tradition of respect; for your opponent, for your training partner, for your coach and for the president. It is an integral part of the sport and one should be mindful of this at all times.

The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate

2012-01-22T20:54:00.000Z

I was given a book at Xmas regarding the Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate as written by Gichin Funakoshi.* You may wonder what relevance these will have for fencers but let me detail them for you and see what you think....
1. Do not forget that Karate begins and ends with respect
2. There is no first strike in Karate
3. Karate stands on the side of justice
4. First know yourself, then know others
5. Mentality over technique
6. The mind must be set free
7. Calamity springs from carelessness
8. Karate goes beyond the dojo
9. Karate is a lifelong pursuit
10. Apply the way of Karate to all things. Therein lies its beauty
11. Karate is like boiling water: without heat, it returns to its tepid state
12. Do not think of winning. Think, rather, of not losing
13. Make adjustments according to your opponent
14. The outcome of a battle depends on how one handles emptiness and fullness (weakness and strength)
15. Think of the opponent's hands and feet as swords
16. When you step beyond your own gate, you face a million enemies
17. Ready stance is for beginners; later one stands in natural stance
18. Perform kata exactly; actual combat is another matter
19. Do not forget the employment or withdrawal of power, the extension or contraction of the body, the swift or leisurely application of technique
20. Be constantly mindful, diligent and resourceful in your pursuit of the way

So there you are, the guiding principles as specified by the founder himself. The relevance to fencing of some of them is obvious, others not so. I will leave them with you to ponder for a while, then I will return to the subject in subsequent posts......

* "The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate - the Spritual Legacy of the Master" Gichin Funakoshi. Translated by John Teramoto. Kodansha International 2003

The Theory of Relativity

2012-01-22T20:27:00.000Z

One of the things that has always amused me as a coach is how the enthusiasm and energy levels of fights between young students rises meteorically when it concerns siblings. I was coaching a group of younglings this weekend and things were going pretty well, quite relaxed and some good fencing until brother and sister Eduardo and Francesca faced off. Then it was carnage a go go! Francesca (who I think is about nine or ten) suddenly became a whirling dervish when faced with her brother, but at least they didn't hurt each other.... too much!
I had to smile later on when presiding a fight. Francesca was judging for her brother and raised her hand enthusiastically signalling a hit. I halted the fight even though I hadn't seen a hit and enquired "So Eduardo has scored a good hit...?" I could almost see the cogs whirring as realisation dawned that she was just about to award her brother a point. Hand still held proudly aloft, she frowned and said definitely "NO....."
As I said, I had to smile..... Just one of the perilous but humorous dangers of coaching children!

Happy Birthday Ali

2012-01-17T11:12:00.002Z

Muhammad Ali is 70 today. Here’s a selection of quotes from The Greatest

"Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."

"When you can whip any man in the world, you never know peace."

"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

"I'm the best. I just haven't played yet." Ali on golf

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."

"I think maybe my Parkinson's is God's way of reminding me what is important. It slowed me down and caused me to listen rather than talk. Actually, people pay more attention to me now because I don't talk as much."

Fifty steps, one hundred steps

2011-12-31T10:20:00.000Z

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.....

2011-12-23T14:56:00.001Z

...... 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….?

2011-12-23T14:53:00.005Z

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

2011-12-23T14:53:00.002Z

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

2011-12-15T11:18:00.002Z

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….

Leaving a Legacy

2011-11-16T10:48:00.000Z

My Coach has finally had his book published, thus securing his fencing legacy in print! I’m proud to say that some of my line drawings have been included and although biased I can recommend the book as a good introduction to fencing and tactics.* If you’re interested you can find more details here
http://www.crowood.com/details.asp?isbn=9781847973054&t=Fencing:-Crowood-Sports-Guides---Skills,-Tactics,-Training
or check out Amazon.

Maybe one day I’ll turn this blog into a book… I’ve already got a title in mind….

*I receive no royalties for this advertising!!

A little piece of advice - the Coaches' Dilemma

2011-11-16T10:41:00.000Z

“In criticizing, the teacher is hoping to teach. That’s all” Bankei

One of the most difficult things about being a coach is being able to build a relationship with the student that allows for constructive criticism to be exchanged. Whilst praise is important, it is only one half of the job. If it is not supplemented with constructive advice on improvement then it will just falsely inflate the student’s opinion of their abilities.
It is a delicate aspect of the coaches' work and I have seen many a young coach falter the first time they run a class and have to give advice on improvement as they don’t know how to phrase it, neither do they wish to cause affront. Like most things though, there are techniques that can make this easier for both the student and the teacher.

Always start from a neutral position: Start your feedback with something neutral like “I’ve been watching you fence for a while now and have a few observations if you’re interested….” This invites the attention and participation of a student and gives you as the coach an indication of their willingness to connect.

Move to a positive first: Continue with a positive statement such as “you have a very good lunge”. This gets a positive vibe going.

Avoid the “but” word: Don’t finish your praise with “but” as this does two things; it prevents the student absorbing the positive message by leaving no sentence break and it also subconsciously negates the first part of your positive feedback. Try using other words instead of “but” such as “however” or pause and use phrases like “it seems to me that…..” or “I did notice that…..” Have a look at the following sentence and experiment with other phrases like the above to see which impact you prefer. “You’ve got a really good lunge….. but your parry riposte could be improved”

Use positive words: Never say “your parry riposte is bad”. Rather try “your parry riposte would be even better if…” It’s a subconscious law that the human brain will fixate on negativity and even reproduce that behaviour subconsciously. It’s a bit like the story about the best magical medicine in the world. It would heal anything as long as you don’t think of a monkey whilst drinking it…..

Clearly demonstrate what you are explaining: Always accompany verbal feedback with a physical demonstration if possible.

Give a goal: Throw in something that gives the student something to aim at and a reason to take the feedback on board. “Doing it this way will mean you’ll get more hits” or “Retaining point control will allow you to make your riposte quicker” etc

Finish with praise: Any feedback discussion should always end with something positive. A brief “well done” or “keep up the good work” is a good finishing line.

Be prepared for the student to rebuff advice: Some people need time to digest information and may not take it in initially. Last Saturday a student responded to my advice on their distance work on compound attacks with “Well I haven’t been well this week and I probably shouldn’t be fencing at all really….” I just smiled and said “Ok, but do think about the different distances between a compound and simple attack. It will help you score more points”. Without wishing to be generalist and gender-ist, I find ladies are much better at listening to and considering advice. Men (and particularly young men) are not so disposed to listen so you might have to repeat it a few times.

Giving feedback is a skill but like most skills it can be improved with a little thought and plenty of practice. Feedback on this post is welcomed!!

It's not all on the pitch (or piste)

2011-10-03T19:28:00.000Z

I'm a big rugby fan and at the moment am enjoying the Rugby World Cup (or not - I am an England supporter - sometimes watching an England game is agony). One thing that has struck me is how it is important to be able to be 'in the game' even when you're not. As anyone who is a viewer of the RWC will know, the England team seem to be dogged by off the field controversy at the moment; some of the younger players (and some older ones) don't seem to realise that how they behave off the pitch is as important sometimes as how they play on it. Poor behaviour or silly stories not only have an impact on them but also the team. It is partially about leadership from the manager, coaches and team captain but it is mostly down to self-leadership
This is relevant in any sport, but in fencing it equates with how you are on the piste, how you step onto the piste, how you behave between matches and how you react to results. It also applies to how you behave in the salle; do you have lessons, discuss your fights, participate in the warm-up's etc? It's amazing how many people don't....!
I'm not advocating a life of monastic contemplation of your chosen sport (unless it floats your boat) but I do suggest that your overall behaviour will reflect not only your character but also the respect you have for your sport and tradition.

An Unexpected Gift

2011-09-15T13:07:00.003Z

I received a surprise gift from a student the other week. She came up to me and proudly informed me that at a recent competition she had scored with an attack made down the blade from an engagement of sixte. She was particularly pleased about this as she had been practising and attempting the attack for a number of months with no success and it was doubly significant as she is mostly quite a defensive fencer, so an aggressive attack is a little out of her comfort zone. The way she described it to me it was almost as if the rest of the competition was unimportant apart from that one attack. I regarded this as a nice present because it shows that some of my teaching regarding technique and correct form might be beginning to show fruit, plus it was very refreshing to hear from someone who was keen on getting the technique right rather than just attack blindly to win. It was also nice that she took the time to tell me about it as it must have been apparent that this was important to me too. Just when you least expect it you find something pleasant on your journey...........

Viewing the Distant Mountain

2011-09-04T19:11:00.000Z

There is a Japanese phrase that reads "Enzan O metsuke" which roughly translates as "viewing the distant mountain". This is pragmatically associated in budo with looking slightly beyond the opponent in combat in order to keep a general focus on everything that is happening without being distracted by specifics. It can also be used to mean thinking strategically rather than tactically, moving toward a goal beyond the immediate one.
As a fencing coach it is often quite easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of the every-day problems of a fencing salle. Someone is chewing gum, not everyone is doing the warm-up, here comes that fencer who is always late again, why are the students so inattentive tonight etc etc. These all build up like cloud, obscuring the view of the distance. It is important to keep one's eyes on the distant mountain, which for me is the fact that my role is to introduce an activity I value, spark an interest in it, keep it entertaining, challenging and fulfilling and hopefully create something that will mean as much to my students as it does me, whilst accepting that not everyone will get it. Now that's what I call a view...... if I can just remember to keep looking at it.....

Back to Basics

2011-09-04T18:49:00.000Z

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......

Reishiki

2011-09-02T14:43:00.001Z

The title above is yet another term I stumbled across in one of Dave Lowry's books, in this case 'Moving Toward Stillness'. The term is an old Japanese word meaning form, etiquette or respect and Mr Lowry uses it in reference to correct and appropriate behaviour in the dojo. It is a very nebulous and encompassing term that is very difficult to pin down and is similar to the old British expression of something "that really isn't cricket". Sometimes you know instinctively when behaviour isn't right. Such an incident occurred on Wednesday in the club.
I was talking to Coach Andy when all of a sudden there was a tremendous clash and clatter. Everyone looked round to find one of our younger sabreurs smashing his sabre on the ground in anger. I don't know what had sparked the hissy fit but young sabreurs do tend to get quite pumped up as a matter of course. A silence descended on the room and I half expected someone to say "Oh I say old boy...... that really isn't on, don't y'know" (In fact I nearly did - but I'm not quite posh enough). The best bit was that the silent wall of mild opprobrium obviously impacted on the young man because he rather sheepishly apologised and saluted the class in a gesture of contrition. And quite right too; it might be difficult to define but the collective group had shown the youngster that he had breeched the boundaries of fencing reishiki and it's good to see that it's still in evidence as an instinctive reaction to behaviour that doesn't belong in any self-respecting salle.

Come and try. WARNING: it could be a lifelong commitment

2011-08-09T13:04:00.000Z

I don't know if this is a problem in other clubs or sports but there seems to be a definite challenge in managing the transition between fencing beginner and fencing regular at my club. We do quite well in getting 10-12 people along for a beginner's course over six weeks and they seem to enjoy it but then after the course is done 95% of them never come back, which is frustrating. As a mid-level coach at the club one of my jobs is to work with fencers of an intermediate level and encourage their continued participation in the sport but if not many stay to intermediate level then it's a bit tricky! So I wonder if we could do better and here's my reasoning:

Beginner's course: is this the wrong title? Are we giving the impression that once you've done it you're a fencer? Shouldn't we be terming it an introductory course? This would make more sense to me and the course should give the impression that there are years of learning and development that can be undertaken subsequently. In Karate you are aware that a black belt (or even the next belt) is not coming soon, that there will have to be significant study and practice before they are achieved and also that this is the natural order of things. I think that sometimes modern sports are guilty of bowing to the 'quick dip/smorgasbord/tapas/mezze' culture in which people want a brief experience of the activity and then tick it off. Well, guess what? Some things can't be mastered or experienced in twelve weeks. In fact fencing can't really begin to be understood in that time. You have to manage the basic moves instinctively before you can understand the complicated ones and then you can start thinking about strategy. And that's another few years worth of work.......
Which weapon? Here's a conundrum for any club; how to introduce the weapons and in which order....... Maybe clubs should have a 'mask of sorting' a la Harry Potter which tells the budding fencer which weapon they should pursue..... Traditionally fencers tend to start with foil and I think this is the right move. Foil is arguably the most complex weapon in terms of convention and provides a good introduction into the world of fencing. Once a fencer has got some time in with the foil they can think about diversifying. If a fencer is introduced to the weapons early enough they can then decide where they want to go ambition wise, rather than gravitating away from foil because the other weapons 'look better' or seem 'easier'. I feel it's a good idea for club weapon Captains to get involved with new fencers as soon as possible to introduce themselves and their weapon and spot any potential future competitors/team members.
Progression of learning: it's important to show people that there are loads of techniques to come and get them on the hook intellectually and provide them with something to look forward to. Fencing knowledge develops over a long period and is not to be taken lightly in terms of the challenge and achievement it can give people. It's not all about awards but they can help.
Physical challenge: I feel that sometimes we overlook the physical demands of fencing as a sport in favour of the 'swordy' aspect. Years of fencing have ensured I have remained flexible and in reasonable shape and this is a positive benefit that we may not give enough emphasis to; after all, there are some people out there who like keeping fit!
Healthy competition: fencing provides an almost unique style of competing against another person. If the student is initiated into the skills of combat carefully and sensibly there are many positive experiences to look forward to, with an ongoing developmental challenge as the student develops. Quite often students can get thrown into the deep end and this can be potentially off putting if the student is not used to one on one contact sport.
History lessons: fencing has a huge history to turn to when it comes to engaging the imagination but do we as a sport make enough capital out of it? The odd historical anecdote can enliven any lesson and also stimulate a desire to learn more within a student.
I haven't got the definitive answer to my self posed question of how to keep beginners coming back, but thinking about it is pretty important for the future. Any thoughts out there in the blog-o-verse?

What's it all about?........ *

2011-08-02T12:50:00.000Z

There's a lot of debate raging in British Fencing at the moment about the upcoming Olympics that we are hosting in the UK next year. The focus seems to be on winning medals, presumably based on the theory that a lot of money is being pumped into fencing (although the facts of that matter is another debate altogether...) so therefore the money givers want a result i.e. a medal. Shiny shiny is the only thing that matters or so it seems...... Today it was announced that after the upcoming world championships the athletes aspiring to Olympic selection will be reviewed as follows:

The initial cohort of athletes, have been selected up to and including the period to the end of the World Championships (end of October). Immediately following the World Championships a fundamental review will be undertaken of all athletes selected for the Programme from 1st August 2011.
As a result of the review athletes will be categorised as:

1. Capable of winning a medal in 2012

2. Showing a performance and training trajectory that would deliver a medal in 2016

This is a very difficult subject to discuss as everyone will have their perspective on this. My personal one is that I am not convinced that the 'medal or bust' approach is the right one. For me the thing is all about the journey; imagine the feel of walking out onto an Olympic piste..... is that something that should be denied an athlete just because it is judged by some statistician that their weapon/gender/age group is not going to get GB a medal? Shouldn't it be a little bit about the wonder of it all? The sheer achievement of even getting there? Or is it all about satisfying an ultimately shallow desire for medals from an instant-fix nation?
Now I'm talking about it from the perspective of a 'never going to have been there or done it journeyman coach' so I might be romanticising it a bit in terms of ultimate outcomes. It may be different for the athletes concerned; they may accept it's all about the glitter and not the journey and I imagine the feelings of gaining a medal are truly remarkable, but not everyone can or will. My views may well be completely out of touch with the times but let's think of the impact on youngsters coming up; on the future top athletes of fencing. Are we really saying that unless they can win a medal they won't get funded? Who is to judge this? How will they do it? What criteria will the selection be made on? Are we really sure that this is what UK fencing is all about?

As I say, it's a really tricky subject and everyone will have a strong opinion. If I was to introduce selection criteria they would look something like this:
Fighting spirit
Decent technique
Role model for other athletes in their sport
Behaviour appropriate to representing your nation
An appreciation of and delight at the opportunity

Looking at them, they're just as hard to judge as any other yardstick. But they seem much more worthwhile to me.

* if you found yourself subconciously saying "Alfieeeee...." after the title you're a person very much like me....

The Stop Hit

2011-07-04T14:46:00.000Z

A few days ago I saw one of the best examples of stop hitting on the preparation that I have ever seen. I was watching a DVD about Muhammad Ali, specifically the 'Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman in 1974 and I was blown away by it. I have never really seen an entire fight of Ali's as I only have vague memories of him on TV as a child so this was a real eye opener. It wasn't the usual Ali hype and showmanship that resonated more the fact that he was so quick and so resilient. George Foreman had the most powerful punch of the time and the critical thought was that he would knock Ali down in less than three rounds which was his usual form. Ali didn't subscribe to that view however and hung on the ropes taking a lot of punishment to the body before unleashing a flurry of powerful counter-punches to knock Foreman down in the 8th round. The really impressive thing for me was that Ali had a plan and he stuck to it; he knew Foreman's punches were powerful but he also knew that they took a big preparatory swing to deliver and that during that preparation he could land at least two good strong jabs to Foreman's head, before covering or dodging out of the way. This he proceeded to do, throwing more punches than Foreman whilst allowing his opponent to tire himself out. This to me is a classic example of how with proper timing you can execute a successful strategy based on the stop hit and this technique can be particularly demoralising for your opponent as you continuously strike them on their initiative, leaving them feeling helpless and somewhat bruised mentally and physically.

In fencing the stop hit (both at foil and epee) is a deceptively simple technique mechanically but a difficult one technically. As your opponent steps forward you lunge directly at them and catch them before their back foot lands leaving them incapable of dodging or stepping back. It is particularly effective if presaged by a beat (or a bind in epee to ensure avoiding a double) and even more effective if you have used a small stutter step backwards to lure your opponent in. In general if someone is thinking of attacking you they are not thinking of defending themselves and as they step in their momentum carries them onto your point. Against someone who is constantly stepping in with an engagement presage your stop with a disengage or counter-disengage before making the hit. It calls for precise timing but it is worth it.

Ali was also a master of psychological warfare and could inflict almost as much damage with a comment as a punch. Foreman recalls that in the 5th round he hit Ali with his most powerful body punch and Ali just leant in and whispered "Is that all you got George?" Foreman remembers thinking "yeah, that's just about it...." One could speculate that from that moment on Foreman's defeat was inevitable. The psychology of your opponent is well worth studying; recent tennis matches I've seen at Wimbledon have shown how once an opponent's confidence and belief has started to crumble it only needs to be continuously nudged to collapse completely. As Musashi put it "In individual martial arts it also happens that an adversary will get out of rhythm in combat and start to fall apart. If you let such a chance get by you, the adversary will recover and thwart you. It is essential to follow up firmly on any loss of poise on the part of an opponent, to prevent him from recovering." Wise words indeed.

Circles within circles

2011-06-18T15:28:00.000Z

This week at the club I gave a lesson on the action of moving the blade in circular sixte. I wanted to show how the same movement can be applied in both offensive and defensive modes and I started by reviewing the circular parry of sixte, the important points being:

The hand remains in sixte at all times - otherwise the action will be more easily deceived due to it's wide nature
The thumb remains on top at all times - otherwise the hand will supinate or pronate and remove the point from the target area, thus making the riposte more difficult
The opponent's blade is engaged with their foible against your forte
The parry is left as late as possible, the opponent's blade being encouraged into your foil guard in what I refer to as 'the triangle of control'

If a circular parry is carried off in a neat and timely manner it is a very enjoyable parry to employ but it depends on delicacy not strength. The strength of the parry should lie in the fingers and hand and travel no further up the arm than the wrist.
I then moved on to the engagement of sixte and how it was different to a beat, a more subtle reconnaisance of the opponent's grip strength and reaction to your blade movement. The important points are:

The preparation must be made as the back foot lands while you are stepping forward.
The engagement is made with your mid-forte against their mid-foible
The engagement is a preparation and as such is a prelude to an offensive action. Do not make the mistake of only preparing without doing something. I see a lot of fencers who engage, withdraw, engage, withdraw, without actually ever doing anything at all!

I then looked at successive parries of sixte made against someone who has deceived your first parry with a feint and then counter-disengaged under it. You respond by continuing around in another parry of sixte, usually accompanied by a small step back to account for the opponent's accelerating lunge.
Finally I looked at the envelopement, where two rapid and successive engagements of sixte are made as a bind, your blade moving forward aong the opponent's blade to make the hit.
And that was that! I was trying to show how the same movement, executed with sound basic principles could be deployed in many different ways. This to me is one of the great pleasures of fencing, using one technique to do subtly different things...... Circles within circles......

Behold, my Magnificent Octopus*

2011-05-31T09:35:00.002Z

I've been spending quite a lot of time recently trying to put together a compendium of all my lessons. This is for a number of reasons:

1. I really ought to get organised so that I have something to refer to

2. I want to see if I make sense

3. I thought it might be interesting as an exercise

In my work life I am a Business Analyst and one thing I do is construct pictures of problems to help understand them. So it comes as no surprise that I have drawn a picture as a start point. So here, in all it's glory is my current world view of lessons that I teach. It seems to have become a mesh of technical and the esoteric and I have borrowed some of Musashi's terms as an aide memoire as these lessons are based on my interpretation of his words. Now all I have to do is write them down........

* "You mean 'Magnum opus' Baldrick......"

Tsune

2011-05-30T18:02:00.000Z

I have recently been re-reading one of the inestimable Dave Lowry's books on martial arts entitled 'Clouds in the West'. I tend to settle down with a book by Mr Lowry when I need a reminder of why I coach and enjoy my sport and that there are other people out there who feel the same way about their art. As I've been out of action for a bit a Lowry book is just the thing to get my mental processes turning over*.
Immediately on re-opening this book I came across a new Japanese term that had eluded me in previous readings, "Tsune" which Mr Lowry translates as 'the ordinary or the everyday'. He was using this term to describe his connection with his martial art and some people may wonder why he wasn't describing it as 'special' or 'extraordinary'. Well he went on to explain that his art has now become a regular part of his life and one that he wouldn't be without as it has become an integral part of him. I feel the same about fencing, it's something I can't imagine not doing in some way or form, hence this blog, these ramblings and my occasional tetchiness about some aspects of it. Is fencing a matter of tsune for you yet?

* I was also doing some weeding this morning; a bit detrimental to my elbow injury but excellent for thinking!

Kung Fu & Fencing

2011-05-30T16:43:00.000Z

So, what has Kung Fu got to do with fencing you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago I was able to go to the theatre and see the Shao Lin monks from China demonstrate their expertise in their art. One of the things that struck me was the total control of their movement and this resonated with something that I have been ruminating over. My regular students know that I have my own fencing alphabet; the three D's of fencing are "distance, distance, distance", the three f's are "footwork, footwork, footwork" etc and so it goes on. However I have now come up with the three m's of fencing "MoMentuM". I've come to realise that at the end of the day one of the most important things a fencer must be able to do is control their momentum on the piste. If they cannot do this they are liable to throw themselves on the end of the opponent's point or not get their distance right in order to deliver attacks. Momentum can be controlled through being aware of the centre of balance and it's relation to the hips; once your centre of balance is beyond the width of your hips you are in trouble in terms of balance and watching the monks in action it was obvious how well they controlled this aspect of their art. As a fencer you can control your momentum by not straightening your legs, keeping your center of balance through your hips and sinking your weight between your hips by keeping a good bend in your legs. So many fencers make the mistake of 'going penguin' i.e. straightening their legs and waddling along the piste, therefore their balance is completely disrupted. I have attempted to add one of my informal sketches that I use in lessons to illustrate what I mean; it's the first time I've tried it so hopefully it works!

Hopefully this illustration gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. If this turns out to be legible I might use a few more in my files.
Once you're got good control of your momentum all things flow from there......

How to be a good guest

2011-05-26T08:45:00.000Z

Occasionally at fencing clubs people drop in for a night as a 'guest' fencer, pay a one-off fee, do some fencing and then disappear again. Last night we had such a visitor at our club. He was obviously a well intentioned gentleman; he had all the kit and took part in the group lesson, which wouldn't normally be expected of a guest. Within a few minutes I had him pegged as a particular type of fencer that most coaches will recognise... "the over-enthusiastic participant". Why did I notice this? Well, here's a few give-aways....

During Coach Andy's group lesson he paired up with a regular club fencer and then immediately started to coach him instead of practising what the lesson was about. This was not really his job and was compounded by the fact that he was coaching him incorrectly.

When Coach Andy asked the group whether any of their attacks had been working the mystery guest jumped at the chance to point out his "short lunge with cut-over riposte" worked nearly every time. I'm still not sure what this technique is, as it doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

Once practise was over he challenged as many fencers as he could, taking great pleasure in telling them in his opinion exactly what they were doing wrong. Interestingly enough he didn't seem to notice the fact that his own on guard position was wrong and that he didn't seem to know how to lunge. He also fenced a lot in quarte and regular readers may know my views on that.

Finally, at one point I was talking to my group and our guest was setting up a piste. He wandered over, butted into the conversation and asked us to move our "helmets" * A brief pause ensued as my pupils waited for me to explode but as they could see I was frozen into shocked immobility the offending masks were moved.

My points may seem churlish but there is a reason for my ire. If as a fencer you visit another club it is, in my opinion, your duty to act respectfully towards the fencers and coaches of that club. If they do things slightly differently to your club you should respect the differences and comply with any reasonable requests. It is the height of poor manners to coach where you are not a recognised coach, provide opinions when not asked and generally try to impose your view on someone else. Also, if you can say nothing that improves the silence, then please say nothing. And if you do say something make sure it is in the correct terminology! **
Anyway, this was not intended as a rant more as an opinion on the correct way to behave when acting as a guest..... in my humble opinion!!

* For reference helmets are worn by motor-cyclists, masks are worn by fencers. I have never seen in any reference book masks referred to as helmets...... it would be like asking a Karateka to move his 'coat'.....

** I appreciate that this gentleman was probably acting with the best of intentions but my concerns were amplified when I subsequently found out that he was a coach who looked after junior fencers at another UK club which in my book compounds the problem and also passes a whole load of "enthusiastic" behaviours to another generation.

A Breath of Fresh Air

2011-05-24T17:08:00.000Z

Due to various circumstances the Academy ended up fencing outside on the school tennis courts on Saturday morning. Luckily it was a bright sunny day and one thing that it did make me realise was that it is a whole different ball game (well, sword game) fencing in the great outdoors. If you want to look at one facet of sport fencing that distinguishes it from combat then try fencing outside a few times, it's a whole lot different from the sterile environment of a sports hall. Light, shade, sunshine, noise, ground surface all make it completely different. It makes you realise how much more there was to think about during combat in the elements; particularly with sharp weapons! I noticed some of my smarter pupils were always quick to make sure they had the light to their backs; very clever...... But it also got me thinking, even though the environment in a standard sports hall is pretty uniform, are there any factors that you can use to your advantage? Lighting, background etc.... every little helps.
Anyway, I'm still labouring with my tweaked elbow injury and trapped nerve in my back so typing is getting painful again, will be back soon Dear Readers, honest!

British Youth Championships

2011-04-29T09:26:00.000Z

Good luck to James, Joseph, Luke and Alex at Sheffield on Saturday.... Keep calm, keep it simple and keep thinking!

Strains, Pains & Acheing Joints

2011-04-27T09:00:00.000Z

It's been quiet around this blog for a bit so apologies if any of you have missed your fix of my random ramblings! I've been a bit out of whack recently as I tore a tendon in my right elbow a couple of weeks ago which has put me out of commission combat wise. This is the most persistent injury I've had since I last cracked a rib and I must admit it's a bit frustrating as I can't really grip my epee firmly enough to fence with it so I've had to confine myself to coaching, observing and presiding. As the old maxim has it, "those who can, do: those who can't, teach and those who can't teach write about it!" It seems like my life is developing into the middle and end of this scenario at the moment!

So I've been doing some thinking and reading instead. The summer term at the academy is usually quite interesting as due to the school using the sports hall for exams we have to use the old hall which is smaller. Thus in fine weather you'll find fencers out in the tennis courts or even in the corridors! This can make for a bit of a headache for the coaches trying to organise things. As we can't sometimes get the club in one room for instruction we try to think of different things to do. I was pondering this the other day and have come up with this idea that I'm hoping we'll try.

Set some foil fencing problems

Divide into groups of four with the following scenarios to solve..... they have 20 minutes to come up with a solution for each one, demonstrate it to the whole class and explain it. It's up to them who demonstrates what but they must all take part.
1. Deal with someone who has a good broken time attack
2. Deal with someone who steps forward and engages in sixte prior to lungeing
3. Deal with someone who has a good first counter riposte
4. Deal with someone who has a persistently low blade position of octave
5. Deal with someone who presents a straight arm
6. Deal with someone who has a good beat attack on the preparation
7. Deal with someone who engages in sixte, then disengages and feints on your pressure before deceiving your parry of quarte

Each group would work on all problems but only demonstrate one for time purposes (although we won't tell them that at the start). The point is to provoke debate/thought about all the problems plus put them under a little bit of pressure.
If we want to make it competitive the coaches could score out of ten for:
Feasibility
Quality of demo
Imagination/thinking

Obviously I have thought through some of the potential solutions but I won't publish them here as I like to get you all thinking as well. The problems are predominantly aimed at foil but some are also relevant to epee, but anything that prompts analysis can only be a good thing in my book. I might publish my proposed answers in a couple of weeks as a comment on this post.

I've also been doing a few bus/train journeys lately and regular readers will know this is when I tend to review my favourite books. There may well be a post on Munenori's "Heiho Kadensho" or "Household Book On The Art Of War" soon......

"Bouncing" some Kata

2011-04-05T12:57:00.000Z

An anonymous poster has pointed out the following link to me with a comment on an old post regarding fencing kata. I thought it was worth 'bouncing' it here as it's a very interesting link...... Thanks Anonymous!
www.coachescompendium.org/GERMANEPEE.HTML

Not the Face!

2011-04-04T14:36:00.002Z

I discovered a new and interesting target at the club last Wednesday; my opponent's mask. Obviously this would not apply at foil but I'd been reading something about epee fencing and it had been mentioned so I thought I'd give it a go. I noticed it was particularly effective against opponents who fell forward when attacking and as a stop hit against those who attempted to attack to foot. In general it seemed to catch people unawares and seemed quite difficult to defend against. I guess it's not something that is generally encountered and as such has a surprise effect. It also made me feel a bit underhand as it seemed 'not quite the done thing'. I don't know why I felt this way about it, after all it is a valid target and sabreurs are whacking each other round the head all the time! It is a strategy I shall continue with though as it adds a few things into the repertoire:

Surprise: Being hit in the face is unusual and can be quite unsettling - therefore it can upset the opponent, either making them nervous or even irritated. Useful!
Another thing to worry about: Anything that makes the opponent concerned about another vulnerability is a good thing
A good distraction technique: Once you have hit your opponent there a couple of times it might make a good feint for a compound attack to the arm, or a way of drawing a stop hit which you can then bind onto and score
Unusual: It is quite difficult to parry and it might just freeze the opponent long enough to prevent a stop hit

So there you are, despite it's slight sense of unfairness, it's something I shall continue to try (but not too often - predictability is bad). It's not quite Musashi's oar but every little helps......

I Could Have Stanced All Night*

2011-03-28T14:11:00.001Z

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

The Curse of The Pen

2011-03-28T14:07:00.000Z

On Saturday morning at the Academy we had the bi-weekly ladder fencing. We decided to deploy the 'pen for priority' move in the event of a draw at the end of three minutes. You know the one, the pen is spun on the floor, the fencer who ends up with the pointy end gets priority so if a minute is fenced without a score that fencer wins. It increases the eventuality of a result in a fair way. One young gentleman was involved in four fights like this and didn't get priority once. On the fourth occasion on he was heard to say "I never get priority and I always lose - it's just my bad luck!". I'd seen a couple of his previous fights so I watched this one to see if there was a pattern and yes indeed, there was.

The problem the young gent had was that on the command "Play" he would come charging down the piste, over-balance and almost hurl himself on his opponent's parry riposte. He had become obsessed by his perceived disadvantage and getting in the first hit quick. He would have been much better off taking his time and composing his attacks; in fencing 60 seconds can be a long time......
Did I tell him this? Well I'd just given him a lesson where I had reconstructed his footwork for him and addressed his momentum issues so thought I'd let it percolate for a while..... too much info can be a bad thing.

My Signature Move

2011-03-25T15:12:00.000Z

It has become apparent to me lately that I have become known for a signature move, something that my young students have noticed and now comment on regularly. Is it an impregnable defence? An unstoppable compound attack? Well, no.... not really. After I have saluted my opponent (or Coach Andy when I am demonstrating with him)* I discretely flip my foil out of my hand and catch it before I put my mask on. It's not an extravagant move, it just allows me to change my hold from the grip to the blade just under the guard. The foil goes from horizontal to vertical in a controlled way. There has been much debate amongst my younger students as the origins of this action but there is no esoteric reason; it is not flashy braggadocio or psychological enforcement. It is just the fact that I wear glasses and as such need two hands to get my mask on without dislodging them (The Captain Mainwaring look that can result if I don't is definitely not cool)** The quick flip of the foil is simply my ingrained teaching from my Coach of not waving my foil point in the air whilst doing so. Years of repetition have turned it into a habit which my students now look out for and in some cases emulate.

This may seem like a trivial point for a post but it has a couple of important points hidden in it for me:

Something that I spontaneously derived as a solution to a problem has become a habit and engrained in my behaviour without me even noticing it. Is there anything else in my fencing that has become like this? Should I have a look and see?

Now that I am conscious of it (thanks to my students) I analyse it. Through analysing it it becomes less spontaneous and more mechanical. Sometimes over-analysis may not be beneficial.....

It makes me realise that as a Coach I am a constant subject of scrutiny and that people will mimic what I do. A salutary lesson.....

I recall reading a story about a kata from a martial arts school of the Bo-staff where the practitioner strikes the floor with the staff during the sequence. No one knew how this originated as it seemed to have no practical purpose. Some people attributed it to esoteric things like 'grounding the chi' or wiping the blood off the staff to get a better grip etc but after some research was done it's origin became apparent. A couple of generations back, one of the school's masters had been quite short. When he practised and demonstrated the sequence he naturally hit the floor at this point. This became erroneously imitated by his pupils until it became ingrained into the form of the kata. It shows how things can get magnified over time, sometimes for good and sometimes not.
There's always more to things than initially meets the eye......

* I always salute my Coach no matter what I am doing

** If you've never seen 'Dad's Army' Gentle Reader, you will have no idea what I'm talking about......

Progress....?

2011-03-17T14:19:00.000Z

Today is my birthday so to celebrate I thought I'd post something!
Last night at the club was one of those evenings where fencing gives you a little present. I'd been away on business all day and by the time I'd got home was a bit tired and nearly considered not turning out. However I did make the effort and did a bit of coaching before having more epee bouts than I usually average. I won the first one 15-14 and got at least four hits that I planned and executed well, which was pleasing. I then had three 5 point matches which were 3-5, 5-2, 3-5 I think, so I lost overall but was reasonably happy.

I also had two bouts against Jaime, my regular training partner. Jai and I are getting to be a bit like Professor Xavier and Magneto playing chess in the park (although who's who is up for grabs and neither of us is particularly evil*) so our matches are now quite cagey (and one day I might win one). Prior to commencing this time I thought "I'm going to try and fleche so spontaneously that I even surprise myself....." My intention was to fleche with as little warning as I could give, either in footwork or body language, at any time in the fight. I also wanted to fleche on the F of Jai's Forward step. I began to put this plan (or non-plan into effect) and about seven hits into the match Jaime said "Blimey, these fleches are lightning quick!" I was quietly pleased about this as it was evidence of putting a plan into effect that actually was noticeable to a respected opponent; either I was doing something right or Jai and I have got to the point where we can sense each other's energy..... Either way it was progress of a sort! Now all I need to do is put a preparation onto the fleche, get the distance right and try to hit the arm not the torso......

* Although the benefits of having either telepathy or control over metal objects in fencing would be very handy

Poignancy

2011-03-13T10:04:00.000Z

The Cherry blossoms have finally appeared in my garden, just in time for my birthday. But in light of events of the last few days and indeed this last month I just find it even more poignant.
I will return to fencing related blogging soon.......

The Salutary Tale of Sasaki Kojiro

2011-03-04T13:50:00.000Z

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a bit of a student of the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Arguably Musashi's most well known exploit was the duel with Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryujima Island in 1612 in which he killed Sasaki Kojiro with a wooden sword carved from an oar. A lot has been written about Musashi over the years but this post is going to look at his opponent for reasons that will hopefully become clear. (Plus it's only fair - Kojiro was not a villain after all).
Kojiro was an accomplished swordsman known as 'The Demon of the Eastern Provinces' and had formed his own school with many students known as the Ganryu (Large Rock school). This style was founded on the use of the No-dachi an extra long variant of the katana and Kojiro was famed for using a sword known as 'the Drying Pole' due to it's unusual length. His signature move was the 'Turning Swallow Cut' which although not historically documented seemed to rely on a return stroke after an initial downward cut. It was a well known but well feared technique that had earned Kojiro a fearsome reputation and a valuable occupation as a sword-master for the powerful Hosokawa fief. The famous duel was to be a comparison of techniques between two swordsmen of great renown.
So why did Kojiro lose? Was he simply out matched by Musashi in terms of skill? Well, probably not in a technical sense. Here are my thoughts on why Kojiro lost on that fateful day of 13th April 1612.

Mental equilibrium - it is famously documented that Musashi arrived very late for the duel and that Kojiro was enraged at the implied insult, throwing his scabbard into the sea in anger as he approached Musashi. This loss of poise is cited by many as a prime reason for his defeat. One can imagine the slight felt by Kojiro as he waited; he, a respected retainer of a powerful clan kept waiting by an itinerant and unconventional wandering swordsman..... the indignity of it all! But pride goeth before a fall.....

Reliance on a limited range of techniques - Kojiro was famed for both a specific technique and a specific unconventional weapon. Musashi used this against him by crafting an oar into a longer weapon, thus negating Kojiro's advantage. It was only a few inches difference but it did count.

Out-thinking himself - As mentioned before, Kojiro was famed for his swallow cut technique but in his fight with Musashi it is not mentioned that he employed it, or if he did, he could not execute the return stroke in time. Musashi had a reputation for assimilating and countering techniques rapidly. Did Kojiro try to change his style at the last moment in response to this with fatal consequences? Or was it simply because he was angry?

Conventional thinking vs unconventional thinking - Kojiro was very much the product of his society. A samurai who had practised his skills under a Master, worked his way up and gained patronage from a powerful Lord. Musashi admitted to no master or instruction, wandered the country at will, had no sponsor and paid little heed to social or martial convention. Maybe when confronted by such an anomaly Kojiro was put off balance?

Musashi was just better - Musashi himself didn't think so and always regarded Kojiro as an equal after the event. It was after this duel that Musashi said he would no longer fight to kill and that "the previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realise the Way of strategy when I was fifty." It took nearly twenty-five years for Musashi to perfect his skills but it was Kojiro who taught him his most valuable lesson.

That's my view but as Musashi himself would say "You must work it out for yourself".......

Ladies & gentlemen.... the President

2011-02-25T15:46:00.000Z

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

2011-02-24T14:37:00.001Z

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....!"

2011-02-17T14:25:00.000Z

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

2011-02-13T20:46:00.000Z

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

2011-02-10T12:38:00.001Z

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

2011-02-10T12:37:00.002Z

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

2011-02-06T20:55:00.001Z

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.....

Are you a camper or a sniper.....?

2011-01-30T21:07:00.000Z

I have recently become part of the online gaming community of 'Call of Duty - Black Ops' (yes I know I'm 43 but a man's got to retain some vestige of his childhood...) and have realised I have a distinct tactical leaning toward sniping. I much prefer to find a good hiding spot and take a difficult long shot than run around like a headless chicken blatting everything that moves. Nor do I care to lurk in a corner and ambush people who run past (although this does seem a reasonably valid tactic at times - even though it is despised as 'camping' by the majority of gamers).
I've noticed that this penchant for the long game is reflected in my fencing as well. I much prefer to play the tactical game and get a few good hits in rather than hack away in an attempt to win. There are some advantages to this technique; First, if you get a good hit you can really enjoy it because you've been working for it. Second, you can take time to plan things and improve your game. Third, if you change up a gear it can surprise an opponent and finally, you know what you've been trying so you can learn from experience. However, there are disadvantages in that it can take time to get into a fight by which time the situation can be irretrievable, also, it is a more sedentary style so may not keep you at optimum performance levels and make it harder to change gear should you decide to do so. Most importantly (or is it?) is that I lose more fights than I win right now. So if you adopt this style you may be sacrificing short term success for long term gain so you need to decide whether this way is for you.
In a previous post http://autumnlightning.blogspot.com/2008/05/nightingale-sings.html I discussed the three famous Japanese rulers of the 16th/17th century, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. Dave Lowry relates in his book 'Moving Toward Stillness' how most martial artists fall into one of the three character types of these great archetypal warlords.* I guess the same holds true for fencers but I'm not going to lay it out for you; if you're of the same interests as me you'll either already know or will be prepared to dig around to find out the answer.... which one are you?

* It's a great story by the way......

Receiving*

2011-01-23T21:12:00.001Z

There is an expression in martial arts known as "uke" which very roughly translates as receiving an attack. In karate the term is "ukete" or receiving hand and in kendo it is "ukedachi" or the receiving sword. Whenever you train with a partner using drills one of you always assumes the role of receiving sword i.e. the target for the attack. This will usually entail reacting in a pre-ordained way or showing a particular opening for your partner to exploit. In general it is not widely regarded as very glamorous and only being more of a target dummy than anything else. However as usual in fencing this is a significant misconception as the receiver is a vital component of the exercise; if they get it wrong it will all be wrong, their form must be just right for practice and improvement to occur.
On Saturday we were getting the class to practice a beat attack on the preparation, made when the training partner stepped into distance. One pupil was complaining that he was getting hit hard and on observation I was able to tell him why. As he stepped in he was doing so with straight legs ("penguin style" as I call it) thus all his momentum was going forward and down as he tipped over his front foot. If he had been observing proper form and had his feet shoulder width plus apart he would have been fully balanced and better placed to receive his partner's blow, being able to rock back slightly to absorb the impact. By being lax in receiving he was giving himself a tougher time.
Likewise, other pupils when practicing disengage attacks moved their blade across too rapidly thus their partner could not perform the disengage attack correctly, meaning no benefit was gained by either fencer. Another example of the art of the receiver being vital to the success of the whole thing! So the next time you are practicing with a partner and you're not performing the technique make sure you are on the right receiving wavelength.

* Thanks as always to the admirable Dave Lowry for some of the inspiration behind "uke".....

Working with Younglings.....

2011-01-21T15:14:00.000Z

As a coach who works with children and adults I am often asked which group I prefer working with and to be honest both groups have equally challenging and enjoyable aspects. When working with adults you can expect more organisation, dialogue and self starting but there is also the fact that adults can be set in their ways and not so open to coaching. Youngsters on the other hand are slightly more malleable and if you catch them young enough they will absorb info like a sponge but they do need more organising. I find youngsters tend to divide into two camps when it comes to fencing; one group are there for the social/peer group side and the others are there because they like sport and want to do well. Neither of these is a wrong reason to attend a fencing club! But you will have to tailor your approach accordingly depending on who you're working with. I've been blessed with some great youngsters over the years and am very proud of them and their achievements so have no complaints really. Here are some of my tips for working with young people in a coaching capacity.....

Give praise: It's very easy to forget that praise is a great motivator, although most youngsters get very embarrassed by it!

Treat them like adults: although don't expect them to necessarily respond like adults

Be prepared to organise them: remember that choosing a random training partner can be traumatic for a teenager.....

Communications will vary: lads who have been loquacious will suddenly become mono-syllabic when they hit 13. Conversely, girls of 13 will sound like women of 33....

Never show fear: Youngsters can smell it....

If you ask "any questions?" be prepared for ANY questions

Know the rules: Because there will always be an eleven year old who will know them better than you do.....

Never, ever comment on young lad's hairstyles/choice of nail varnish: You are not their parents.......

Have some stock phrases to hand: such as "in general you're not learning anything when your lips are moving......"

Don't expect them to get things right first time: and don't let them get down on themselves if they don't either

They will not all carry on with their fencing: So try to make fencing something they will remember with pleasure in later years

Competition results are not everything, it's the person inside that counts: although you may find it hard to convince some parents of that....

Put their interests first: do not let your ego live through them and their achievements. Never push a youngster into something they don't want to do, particularly regarding competition

Above all, remember you are in a position of trust and behave professionally and accordingly

Goal setting

2011-01-17T20:28:00.000Z

By request here are some thoughts on goal setting. Anyone who has been trained as a coach either in sport or business will know about the popular SMART acronym for goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time boxed. It might be a cliche but it's a cliche because it's a good method! Any goal a coach sets you or you set yourself should meet these criteria.
Specific: "I want to be a great fencer" is not specific. "I want to finish in the top 16 of the local competition" is. For advanced goals S can also equal Stretching in that it should challenge you to improve.
Measurable: "I want to improve my lunge" is not measurable unless your coach gives you a yardstick to go on. "I want to score 10 parry ripostes tonight" is measurable
Achievable: "I want to win every match I fight in" is probably not going to be achievable unless you are an elite athlete. "I want to win 50% or 75% of my fights at this competition" may be a better intermediate goal
Realistic (or Relevant/Results focussed): Make your goals relevant to you. If you don't feel they will lead to results or improvement then you will tend to let them slip
Time boxed: Give yourself a reasonable timescale to attain these goals, otherwise you are going to struggle. But bear in mind they should still be stretching....!
Some coaches will be happy to set you goals; others will want you to think them out for yourself. If a coach sets you a goal you should expect an explanation and be given the chance to ask questions about it if you need to. For me, the student has got to believe in them, otherwise they are useless. I also believe that goals should promote positive thoughts and behaviours; if a goal is making for an unpleasant fencer then it might be time to reconsider the goal. I may be old fashioned, but if a goal is not going to make you a better person then give it a miss. Winnig is not everything; but goals that promote improved performance or being a better human being are great.
Also, don't mistake an instruction for a goal. "Do fifty lunges" is normally an instruction from a coach for short term gain and action and probably isn't open for discussion!
Hope this has been useful, I will set myself a goal of replying to requests within a few days.... hopefully I'll achieve it!

Well I never.....

2011-01-16T21:05:00.000Z

I've just been looking at the stats section of this blog and I'm amazed to see many people from all over the world have been reading this blog. I'd just like to thank you all for dropping in, if there's anything you'd like me to ramble on about please let me know by posting a comment, you can do it anonymously without having a blogger account .... it's good to have you on board even if you're only surfing by!

Thanks

Dave

It's all in the hands... (and fingers)

2011-01-16T20:56:00.000Z

I was teaching a lesson at the club recently concerning the bind and was able to examine yet another fencing paradox. The bind of itself is a very strong move, controlliong and deflecting the opponent's blade. However, whilst it is powerful, it depends on the exponent having 'soft hands'. By this I mean the strength of the move is not executed by excessively powerful hand movements, more by the power of the wrist and arm. If too much power is put into the hand or fist when making the bind then the point will be out of line with target area and every second it is out of line is a useless second. By using soft hands i.e. not excessively tightening the grip through the fingers, the point can be angulated to still be in line with the opponent's target area even if the line is octave or quarte. If the grip is too tight then the blade will swipe the air as the bind is made and will be more likely to land flat. So when executing a strong attack it must be done softly!
In terms of epee there are some differences in that epee attacks tend to be delivered with the arm in a much straighter on guard position due to the conventions of the weapon. This tends to make the grip stiffer as a straight arm tends to cause the muscles of the hand to tighten as a matter of course thus binds in epee also tend to have to overcome a stronger grip from the adversary as well. However, it still holds true that if the hand is too stiff the point will once more be removed from the target area which can be costly, particularly as the target in epee can often be a smaller area such as the hand. Keeping the grip relaxed through the fingers really does make all the difference in these types of attack.
So there you go, not a particularly philosophical post this time but hopefully a useful one!

You've got to have attitude.....

2011-01-09T20:47:00.000Z

A fellow fencer was telling me the other night after a fight that she was working on changing her attitude during matches by being more energetic and assertive. This matched my observations during the match, there was a lot less preparing going on and a lot more doing. I commend her for her attempts as is not easy to change your attitude to anything but fencing is one of those sports where attitude counts for a lot and it can be sensed by your opponent to your advantage. This will only work on people who have fenced for a while though, someone who is aware what is going on during a bout so that they will pick up on these nuances. It's not exactly Jedi mind tricks (and it works just as much on you as your opponent) but it is worth trying. Changing from relaxed to energetic, passive to active etc can take an opponent by surprise, particularly if they have caught your mood, which is likely as it is a subconscious human activity to mirror someone as it comes from our primitive tribal beginnings and the need to belong. Brushing up or changing your attitude can do a lot of good......

The Place Where The Swords Cross

2011-01-09T20:24:00.000Z

Most fencers spend as little time as possible in range of their opponent's sword, preferring to dart in with a step lunge and make an attack, before speedily withdrawing. This is traditionally thought of as the right thing to do, particularly if the opponent's sword had a real sharp point. Whilst fighting with epee recently I discovered that sometimes the reverse is true and it can pay to move in even closer and persist with your attack. Why? Well in many cases the opponent will back off so you can follow them. If they don't and you miss with your attack you run the risk of being hit as you recover. Finally, most opponent's are expecting you to recover (it's what we are all taught) so doing the opposite can be advantageous.
Moving into your opponent's reach is counter-intuitive and calls for a bit more nerve but then this is true of many things in life that are new, challenging or even frightening. Sometimes it takes courage to deal with unusual or intimidating circumstances but this is something we all need to do in the course of our life experiences. Sometimes rich experience comes in the place where the swords cross.......

Happy New Year!!

2010-12-31T15:11:00.000Z

From out of the shadows comes a mysterious swordsman to announce to all you Dear Readers..... All the best for 2011 to you and yours wherever you are reading this! One of my resolutions will be to get back to some serious posting soon!

This might be obvious but......

2010-11-16T20:36:00.000Z

I observed something interesting at the salle the other night. I was indulging in a foil match and was determined to do better in this one (foil is my first weapon after all) so was really giving it some attention. It became apparent to me that I had a bad case of epee arm going on, which was quite a realisation in how I could potentially hop between weapons. In epee the arm is held quite a lot stiffer, due to it being a heavier blade and hits being made with a lot of resistance. The fact that there is no concept of parrying in epee tends to mean attacks are opposed rather than parried, mostly with a stop thrust in an attempt to get a double. In foil the arm must be trained to use the lighter foil to parry and riposte and also perform feints and compounds, which are rarer at epee.
So I had developed a real case of epee arm, muscles stiff and arm virtually fully extended but once I relaxed my shoulders and arm a bit I found I was able to reconnect with some of my old techniques quite effectively. It is amazing how quickly the mind and muscles pick up new habits but it should be remembered that it can be counter-acted by observation and application. This is true of anything in life I guess, whether it be sports, dieting, bad posture etc, so I shall now be putting it into practice on the piste whenever I get the chance.

Classic Fencing Jokes: Number 1

2010-11-09T18:39:00.000Z

Question: What is defence?
Answer: What keeps de cows in.......

It's all about Commitment

2010-11-09T18:37:00.000Z

One thing I have discovered recently is that I have commitment issues.... don't worry Dear Reader, I am not talking personality wise, I'm talking fencing wise. I have had it brought to my attention by a respected observer that I tend to do compound movements and sell myself completely on the first movement then not carry out the second. Any fencer worth their salt will realise that this is a bit arsey-versey and as such I am going to have to work on fixing it. The delight of the compound is that it must be enough to convince the opponent of the sincerity of the attack but leave enough room/time to deceive the response and then enough energy and manouver room to complete the second movement which is the actual attack. Selling out completely on the first action is a big no-no. Many situations and tactics in life depend on this and it's great to get feedback so I can do something about it!

A recipe for confusion......

2010-11-07T12:17:00.001Z

Here's a recipe that I came up with yesterday to help you mess with an opponent's mind during a foil bout.....
Take one beat attack on the opponent's preparation, add speed and commitment
Once this has hardened in opponent's mind and a response of parry riposte has risen, mix generously with a first counter riposte
Add a little consternation by blending first counter-riposte with a feint disengage with a dash of accelerating lunge
If this is not to taste repeat step two and three above with a beat as an appetiser....

It might not be Nigella but it can be a heady mixture to your opponent...!

On the teaching of having a position without a position......

2010-10-19T19:23:00.000Z

Last week I learnt a salutary lesson based on the above teaching of Musashi. It wasn't fencing related but took place at work where in my job I run a lot of meetings focussed on gathering business requirements for IT projects. Essentially it is my job to make sure my engineer colleagues get the information they need to build the system that our business colleagues need. I have recently been assigned to a new project as a senior member of the team and my first task was to plan and deliver a series of workshops to kick things off. It was quite important to get a good start and there were several important stakeholders present so as such I was keen to get it right and a bit apprehensive. However, the first day went well as did the next two, in fact Day 3 went really well indeed (which should have warned me....) All was going to plan until Day 4 where things (in my opinion) were off plan and not working and I did the worse thing a faciliator can do; I got emotionally involved. My plan (and ergo my ego), which had been going so well, was not working the way I thought it should which got me agitated. As it turned out the group carried on delivering whilst I got more into the problem. Very poor show indeed and being the introspective chap I am, one that nagged at me.
The next day I flicked open my desk copy of the Book of Five Rings and it fell open at the section in this post's title and I read "in large scale military science, the arraying of troops is also a matter of positioning. Every instance thereof is an opportunity to win in war. Fixation is bad. This should be worked out thoroughly". It also said "it is crucial to think of everything as an opportunity to kill". What this rather brutal statement taught me was that I had become fixated on my plan and not my objective, which was to get a positive result. Every change of plan or circumstance should be regarded as an opportunity to win, not as an obstacle or problem. I shall make every effort to bear this in mind from now on; in work and on the piste!

Pre-emption is better than cure

2010-10-14T19:26:00.001Z

Last night I re-learnt the valuable lesson that if you don't do anything for long enough on the piste you will no doubt be hit. In two matches I was someone else's "rope-a-dope"* and allowed them to do what they wanted and hit me too many times. I get in this mode sometimes, concentration on stop hits to the wrist when really an attack on the preparation would do it..... Ah well, always learning......

* Ah... he truly IS the greatest

How I learnt a new Kanji

2010-10-14T19:21:00.000Z

Last night I was indulging in one of my usual battle of wills with my compatriot Jai and attempted to lay a trap. I ever so slightly began to slide my front foot forward, not too obviously, on the knowledge that he would no doubt notice my apparent error and go for a foot hit (quite satisfying at epee). Once he went for it my intention was to withdraw the foot and strike down to his wrist or forearm.... the only question was, would it work? I kept edging out my foot further and further until eventually the trap was sprung. Jai's point whipped downward, I pulled my foot back rapidly and my stop hit was on it's way. In slow motion I could see the point heading straight for his forearm and I felt a sense of satisfaction; it must hit, it's going to hit - Doh .....! Just at the last moment Jai pulled back his arm and my hit fell short.
After the fight we were discussing this and Jai made the very valid observation that with an attack like that you need total conviction and I could only agree. On reflection I don't think I could have been putting my all into it or I would certainly have hit. This got me thinking "I bet there's a good Japanese term for this..." and true enough the word for conviction is "Shin'nen" which comprises the characters for 'firm' and 'belief'. Further decomposition reveals that the kanji "shin" is broken into two characters representing a man standing by his word, whilst "Nen" is composed of "now" and "mind". What a great description of the concept of conviction or belief. Standing by what you say in the present moment. So not only did I learn something important about a technique I learnt something slightly deeper too, which deserves greater consideration.

Miscellanea

2010-10-07T15:08:00.000Z

Last night at the club prompted a number of random thoughts so here they are in no particular order.....

Coaches dilemma number one - the mathematics of impatience: if you ask a group to practice two techniques in order, where the second is incrementally harder than the other, within five minutes 100% of the class will be practising the harder technique despite only 30% of them being actually able to do it and 90% of the 70% (are you still with me?) will be getting it completely wrong. I appreciate that improvement is in fact the point of practice but so many people it seems want to get an instant fix, to do the 'exciting stuff' rather than the boring old basics. Maybe it's symptomatic of our impatient all access society where anything you want is just a click away but at the end of the day it's the basics that will build ability and accomplishment. Ignore them and you'll probably plateau out sooner rather than later. Never mind the compound attack with fleche my friend; just try holding your foil correctly first.... Basics + practice + commitment x time = improvement and satisfaction.

"What would Musashi have done"? My compatriot Jai asked me this last night in respect of an opponent with a long reach. My instinctive answer was "He'd have cut his arms off". Initially this was meant as mere badinage but upon further consideration and bearing in mind Musashi always encouraged taking away an opponent's advantage......... it's probably not far off!

Staying calm. One of my fights was a close affair but I'd finally got into a 13-11 leading position. Normally I would have tried to win from there, but I'm pleased to say that for a change I remembered to encourage my opponent to lose instead.

Is there such a thing as a good 15-5 defeat? Sometimes there is, particularly if you had previously felt that four points would be nice and it was a very intelligent fight with ruses, counter-ruses and counter-counter ruses. Mmmmm.... chess with swords....

Contentment is.... being on the piste, not thinking about work, budgets, meetings but wondering how to deceive that engagement of sixte that is probably a trap. Followed by sitting piste-side, pleasurably knackered, exchanging war stories and advice.

Back to Basics

2010-09-28T15:06:00.002Z

Greetings dear reader, summer is gone in the UK and like the autumn mists I have returned to haunt your web browser....
Over the last couple of months I have been trying to get back to basics as I have become increasingly frustrated with my epee fencing. I've felt graceless and somewhat bereft of ideas and as such have decided to really strip my techniques back to simple stuff with the help of Coach Andy. I believe that as a coach I should practice what I preach rather than flailing around like a distressed wildebeest and as such have returned to the simple joy of stop hits to the attacking wrist, cut overs to the wrist, sixte engagements and the odd feint at foot. Occasionally (and mainly as a legacy of foil) I throw in a parry riposte but in general I have really throttled back; gone are the desperate fleches (from wrong distance) and the wide blade work which had encroached on my enjoyment. I've been taking individual lessons and getting my head straight. Last Wednesday was the first time I have actually bouted for over a month and my austere regime did bear some fruit. I only won 1 out of 3 fights but I felt I fenced a hell of a lot better and that made all the difference to me which goes to show (in my book) that sometimes a complete re-boot is in order. It helps to have only a few techniques to think about deploying, keeps the mind a lot clearer and allows those techniques to develop through repetition. Improvement = satisfaction = confidence. So now I'm going to concentrate on fewer things, keep having the individual lessons and get back to enjoying my fencing matches again. Simples!

And now for something completely less frivolous.... Crushing!

2010-08-25T14:55:00.002Z

Last week I arrived at the club with a mind totally free of plans. I had not a clue what to talk about so at the last minute I pulled out my dog-eared and annotated copy of the Five Rings and it fell open to the page on 'Crushing' and I quote Musashi-San:
"In single combat, if the enemy is less skilful than ourself, if his rhythm is disorganised, or if he has fallen into evasive or retreating attitudes, we must crush him straightaway, with no concern for his presence and without allowing him space for breath. It is essential to crush him all at once. The primary thing is not to let him recover his position even a little. You must research this deeply."

This gave me some much needed inspiration and I gave a lesson based on this principle, showing how to pursue an opponent up the piste with aggressive footwork, remises, reprises and fleches using a bind on their blade. All that covered off the practical aspects of the techniques but one thing I couldn't totally put across was the idea of the mental approach to this. How often have you been in a fight with an opponent who is a beginner, or has poor technique or is just not aggressive and thought to yourself "I'd better go easy here"? It's an almost natural urge not to inflict too much damage on someone if you don't think it's "fair" which is admirable but in my view the wrong thing to do. By being kind you don't learn how to close out matches (and in some cases may actually lose the fight) and your opponent does not get a valuable lesson in how they must improve (and may feel patronised if they think you are being nice to them). Some people may argue that they don't want to put someone off or discourage a weaker opponent but I would counter that losing is part of the experience of fencing; all those defeats make the joy and experience of victory ultimately even sweeter. If someone is discouraged by occasionally losing badly I would suggest that any kind of competition may cause problems, let alone a martial art. I always tell my students that the moment the opponent steps on the piste they are there to be beaten, even if they're your best-est buddy ever! At the end of the fight no matter what the outcome you can then shake them by the hand, smile and go back to being nice!

The other thing that struck me about Musashi's words is that they are still relevant today and also what a chillingly brutal and pragmatic message they give. But then again if you're in a life and death fight this is the attitude you need I suppose. I do wonder if there is still a recognition of the human effort and challenge with developing this mindset in Musashi's acknowledgement that getting to this state requires someone to "research this deeply"......

25 things we don't teach in fencing (but secretly wish we could)

2010-08-23T15:15:00.000Z

Basic

1. Fencing up and down stairs

2. Fencing along balconies/long banqueting tables

3. Jumping out of windows and/or swinging from trailing ropes etc

4. Wearing a cape with elan

5. Understanding just exactly what elan is

6. Witty quips whilst parrying

7. Putting candles out with a cut

8. Using inanimate objects such as pillars, posts etc to duck behind when your opponent thrusts

Intermediate

9. Maintaining sang froid and constant witticisms whilst swords locked together with opponent

10. Not breaking a sweat - ever

11. Recognising when your opponent is sweating and making a pointed comment about it

12. Ducking the high cut and leaping over the low reverse

13. Cutting candles in half and leaving them standing for more than five seconds

14. Fencing along the banister or balcony railings

15. Throwing your sword (and not missing - anyone can throw a sword...)

16. Swapping hands midway through a fight

Advanced

17. Arrow cutting

18. A secret unstoppable stroke

19. Recognising when the order of 12 above is different (v important)

20. Getting your sword back after 15 above

21. Disarming your opponent so their sword sticks in the ceiling

22. Looking amusingly surprised when your sword breaks thus gaining just enough time to punch your opponent with the guard

23. When disarmed, inducing your opponent to monologue/expound in order to gain time to rearm

24. Fencing an opponent from a moving vehicle - when they are in/on another

25. Becoming one with The Force

Breaking Broken Time

2010-07-29T14:54:00.000Z

I was asked for advice on what to do against the broken time attack in foil recently and here is some of my thinking on the subject, after some more rumination...

1. On no account stay within lungeing distance - this plays right into the attackers hands

2. Be careful if you retreat - it is likely your opponent will pursue with bent arm and lunge. Even if you successfully stop hit many presidents will give the right of way against you on a double hit due to your perceived backward movement

3. It is best to either stay still or better yet move in closer. The strength of the broken time lies in the final replacement of the blade into line to hit; this is normally achieved by bringing the blade back down from the vertical or diagonal position. If you step inside this arc you destroy the distance element and while risking a flat blow on the head or shoulder should be able to score with close technique. This is a naturally counter-intuitive movement (getting closer to an attacker) so you will need to practice it to perfect it.

By the way, this list is not exhaustive; think about it for yourself as well!

Thinking out of a corner...

2010-07-29T14:09:00.002Z

I had an interesting bout at the club last night, which goes some way to reinforcing my previous post concerning making the opponent come to you. I was invited to fence by an opponent who I'd never faced before, one of my younger students who has taken up epee since learning foil. I didn't know what to suspect as he's quite a physically imposing lad and my brain was definitely work-fuddled but was pleasantly surprised to find myself 8-2 up after a couple of minutes. It all seemed to be too easy, my hits to arm were getting through; I got some nice hits to wrist and then.... it all started to go wrong. Suddenly I was being picked off very neatly on my wrist as I tried exactly the same attacks that had worked previously and I was soon only 11-10 up. I strongly suspected I had been set up and knew that I needed to come up with a new game plan. I played for a bit of time as I explored options, just doing enough to keep the bout going without leaking any more hits. Thinking it through I realised that my opponent's strength was his speed in the counter-attack and essentially I was 'going to him' all the time. What's more, he'd obviously worked this out and was deploying his strength well and if I carried on like this I was going to lose. So I decided to take his strength away from him by pretending to attack and then responding to his counter with a circular bind. I felt if I could get a two or three point gap I would be ok and lo and behold I got to 13-10 up with this change of tactic. He then had to change his method (and all credit to him, he responded to the situation well) by attacking me which then allowed me to start countering him, finally taking the match 15-11.

It was a good match made more pleasurable by the fact I felt I had thought my way to a win by employing processes and techniques that I advocate regularly to my students. It's nice to practice what one preaches! I'm not saying Musashi, Munenori et al would have been proud but they may have just perhaps ghosted the merest hint of a nod......

Let your opponent come to you

2010-07-12T18:26:00.000Z

Sun Tzu says "Good warriors cause others to come to them, and do not go to others". As is my wont I like to apply some of the old learning to my fencing so I got to pondering what does this mean for the fencer on the piste... How do you get your opponent to come to you? I suppose the most obvious answer would be to move away from them making them come forward, which seems a bit obvious but if you time it right will get them off balance as you attack them whilst they prepare, probably with a beat on their blade or other assertive action. Another option would be to step toward them and open (or close) your line, thus provoking them to attack you on your preparation. If you have planned this correctly you can then score with a crisply executed parry riposte. One of the most satisfying ways of making your opponent come to you is the derobement, where you maintain a straight arm and evade the attempted bind with your fingers, thus letting your opponent throw themselves onto your blade. A most gratifying move if you can get it to work.
As a general principle you are trying to get them to expend effort into a trap of your making. This should not be confused with letting them have momentum though; if you let them dictate what they want to do you have lost the advantage. Controlling them by letting them move....... another one for the list of fencing paradoxes!

Fingerspitzengefuhl

2010-07-08T19:19:00.000Z

I came across the above German term whilst recently reading a book on strategy. I believe the translation is "finger tip feel" and not only is it a great word but it also has implications for fencers. In this particular book it was used in the context of a strategist having all the knowledge he needed at his fingertips regarding his men, their morale, the situation etc. In fencing this could also be looked at on two levels; the first level is knowing your opponent to a good level of detail, having intelligence on their favourite techniques, their temperament, their style and energy etc. On a more practical level finger tip feel could also mean the way you control, hold and use your blade to make your reconnaissance and attack. Your senses through your blade can provide a great indicator of your opponent's mood, experience and habits so it is wise to cultivate an effective way of using it via your fingertips and not your fist!

Something for Everyone

2010-07-03T17:59:00.002Z

It was the ladder week at the club today so whilst the youngsters went through their paces I had the opportunity to give some individual lessons. This is where a coach really gets to know the fencer, even for a short duration of time and I believe each student should come away from a lesson with personalised advice. All my lessons start with the same basic warm up which gives me a chance to assess things if I don't know the fencer, before throwing in something specific. Here's some of the things I worked on...
Fencer 1: A capable young lady who prefers attack to defence. So I worked on different parries and ripostes with her (I'm like that). Also did some work getting her to use all the piste rather than a few feet by getting her to beat attack on my forward step. If the rhythm was too obvious she wouldn't get me before I parried it. It's a common flaw in fencers that they don't move their feet enough.....
Fencer 2: Another young lady with good technical ability but who is slightly diffident in attack. In this case I went through some compound attacks with her, explaining that she has the competence to do these well and they will work better in situations where she doesn't feel confident attacking directly.
Fencer 3: A 16 year old lad who is quite powerful but lacks a little sharpness. Got him doing feint disengage attacks and lo and behold his feint wasn't in line thus his final attack had a tendency to miss or go flat. Got him feinting at me and then showed him how it all became a lot neater, but then how success depended on him doing the finger movement before the lunge.
Fencer 4: A young lady who has a tendency to hit flat. I noticed that she was holding her free arm straight down in front of her torso so when she lunged she had a tendency to lean down to the left. Advised her to brace her shoulders a bit more as this would help her point arrive on target. Quite a productive 90 minutes, especially as I got to preside a few fights and observe others. All in a morning's work for a coach....

Fight The Next Battle

2010-07-01T11:22:00.001Z

When you are practising in a bout, do you try the same things over again or do you try different techniques? In line with the previous post we tend to not only fence familiar people but we repeat familiar actions. Do not fight the last battle over again, change your tactics and try something new. This is different to repeatedly practising a specific technique to improve, there is nothing wrong with that. But what you must avoid is stagnation of thought and tactics through just mindlessly repeating yourself. Just because something worked once doesn't mean it will work again. Look at the French and the Maginot Line in 1940. Solid immobile defensive lines had been de rigeur during the Great War so the French built a line of forts and bunkers on their border with Germany. They hadn't been at war with the Belgians so they didn't build on that border. Unfortunately this plan went horribly wrong for a number of reasons.... a) the Germans invaded Belgium first and circumvented the line b) they had also invented airborne glider troops and paratroopers so just dropped on top of the forts and c) all the guns pointed toward Germany making the whole thing useless if out-flanked. A classic case of not adapting to the next likely battle. Don't become a Maginot Line yourself!

Seek Out Your Opponent

2010-07-01T11:19:00.001Z

When you fence at your club (or take part in any bout of your particular discipline) who do you seek out? Is it the same people you fence every week? Are they better, worse or the same skill level as you? It's worth examining this as it can prove instrumental in your development or lack of it. It's natural to want to train with the same people on a regular basis; we are by nature social creatures who like routine but it can also be counterproductive when testing our skills. If we don't push ourselves we don't improve. If you should find yourself drawn to experienced fencers who can teach you something then that's no bad thing, even if it means you lose a lot of bouts. Gradually you will see yourself improve a step at a time and it's important to set yourself realistic goals, such as one more point a week. I have a number of valued sparring partners who I fence and I am never sure how things will go which keeps me alert. Last night I had a neck and neck bout where I faded badly at the end (still working out why...) and another where I was hammered 15-4 but those four hits were planned and executed well. I also found that I was intimidated by my opponent and my desire to do well into complete immobility of mind. My thoughts solidified into a confused mess of hesitation and my actions did the same (non-existent Zan Shin - if that isn't a paradox....?)This in itself was a very good lesson!
I have seen fencers of a certain disposition deliberately seek out people they know they can beat in order to inflate their own egos. My counsel would be to seek out those who have gone before and learn from them. As Musashi said "determine that today you will overcome your self of the day before. Tomorrow you will win over those of lesser skill, and later you will win over those of greater skill".

Fencing... it's a funny old game...

2010-06-29T19:30:00.002Z

Greeetings dear Reader, I have returned!
It's been a few weeks since I last posted as things have been a bit hectic and I kind of lost my muse for a while there but now it's back and so am I. Sometimes it's easy to forget why things are fun but last week at the club I remembered due to a number of incidents.
First I was able to elaborate on a lesson given by Coach Andy on compound attacks. Andy stressed the concept of distance; if you're close go simple, if you're further away go compound, which is the fundamental foundation of this type of stroke. I was able to expand on this with the class to go into the feint, which is also integral to the whole thing. The interesting thing about the feint is that it is a paradox; to fool your opponent with it you must let them see it.... otherwise they won't react to it and let you take advantage of the opening you are trying to create. It's a fun concept and a fun lesson to teach and one that is common to all martial arts everywhere*
Secondly, I actually did quite well in the group epee lesson that Andy taught afterwards, which is always a boost. We did a nice technique involving provoking a counter attack to wrist and then taking the blade to hit to chest, another variation of a feint in action.
Finally I got a really good epee bout in with a respected opponent. I am happy to say I lost 15-8 but I was well pleased with this as my opponent usually beats me 15 to 2 or 3. At one point I was even 4-0 up. This was particularly pleasing as I hadn't fenced competitively for a while and wasn't expecting much. But also, as usual I had a great post mortem discussion which was very thought provoking. It shall now be known as "The Night My Point Died..." It's this kind of thing that makes fencing so much fun in my book and has recharged my blogging appetite. Expect more soon.....!

* Great feints of history
1. Hannibal luring the Romans in at Cannae by collapsing his centre and surrounding the ensuing attack
2. William provoking the Saxon shield wall to give chase at Hastings by feigning retreat and luring them down off the tactically strong Senlac Hill
3. The Allies convincing Hitler that the D-Day landings would be in the Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy through the ingenious invention of a fictitious army and creative use of dummys and a dead body
4. Fay Wray in King Kong - ooops, that was a faint, sorry

Know Your Enemy

2010-05-14T14:34:00.000Z

When you go out onto the piste (or other* place of combat) do you check out your opponent? Or are they just another person to fight? I suspect a lot of fencers just get on with it without a second thought and sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. However, it might be of use to analyse the adversary before taking them on so here are a few questions you could ask.
Are they short or tall? Their height will determine their stride length (helping you maintain distance), their reach (ditto) and your likely attack range.
Are they athletic? This will determine whether they get stronger or weaker as a fight progresses and how well you exhaust them by using your footwork and the length of the piste. It also gives you a clue as to your energy conservation strategy which could be vital in a 15 hit match
Are they experienced? Difficult to judge visually but after a few hits you should have an idea
What is their energy like? Are they calm, twitchy, nervous, prone to anger etc? This will give you a clue as to how to fashion your tactics
Are they left handed? Might sound obvious but this will definitely influence your strategy...!
Have you fenced them before and if so, do they have any favourite techniques? This will give you an idea of what to use against them
All these things will influence the way you choose to approach the combat and there may be other indicators that you will wish to develop for yourself. I would strongly recommend that you give it some thought though because it's too late when you've just lost.

* I originally typoed this as 'otter place of combat' - presumably for gladi-otters.... I thenk yew

The Critical Margin

2010-05-12T13:42:00.001Z

In Japanese martial arts there is always much discussion of the critical margin in an attack and it usually is directly related to the distance between you and your opponent. A legendary example is the duel between Musashi and Kojiro in which they both struck at each other simultaneously. Kojiro's blow sliced through the knot of Musashi's bandana whereas Musashi's blow crushed Kojiro's skull. In real combat a distance of an inch could make the difference between life and death; a critical margin indeed! There are lessons in this story that can be used to illustrate Musashi's grasp of the importance of these margins and I have already covered some of these in the post 'Musashi's Oar' from September 2008. There is another aspect to the story in the fact that Musashi tied a towel round his hair as a bandana and left the knot on his forehead. Why did he do this? Maybe as a means of keeping his hair out of his eyes (Musashi had notoriously long and unruly hair as opposed to the shaven topknot of most Samurai). Or maybe it was there as protection; just enough protection to make a difference where the critical margin was an inch or two? We will never know if Musashi was lucky or just very very good but I think that very good makes it own luck a lot of the time......
On a much less lethal level there have been many times in my fencing career where I have attacked someone, missed by an inch and then got hit by a counter-attack or riposte. It's very annoying when that happens and it is usually down to one (or several) reasons:

Incorrect technique selection: I'm either too close to use it or too far away, possibly because my footwork was wrong
Poor execution of the technique: no explanation needed!
Opponent out of range: they are moving away from me when I attack
Telegraphing: I make it obvious what I am going to do and they adjust distance before I do it
I attack the wrong bit of the target: due to my foil background I still tend to fleche to the body not the arm and can't cover the distance quick enough
Not getting inside their reflex time: I don't move them where I want them to be
A predictable rhythm: it makes it too easy to avoid my attacks

The all pervading factor in the examples above comes down to one of the three D's of fencing; distance. If you can't manipulate the space and distance of a combat then you are likely to lose it. It really is the critical margin of any fight and will determine the success or failure of the move you are attempting. Step in too deep and your feint won't have time to execute or you are vulnerable to counter; step in too short and you just won't hit or won't provoke the move that you are looking for. Distance distance; details details....

Congratulations are in order...

2010-05-05T11:03:00.001Z

Well done to James Rose, who this weekend came third in his age group at the British National Championships; in fact he only missed out on a Final place by one point, losing 15-14 in the semi-final. James has shown great application over the last few years and is a nice chap to boot so this achievement is very well deserved.

The more I look, the less I see....

2010-05-05T11:02:00.000Z

I've noticed a strange phenomenon occurring when I have a lesson off Coach Andy these days. Whenever I look at the target I want to hit I miss it but whenever I don't look at it I hit it. This is particularly prevalent in epee lessons when I am asked to stop hit to the wrist when attacked. If I look at Andy's hand I miss it completely but 9 times out of 10 when I vaguely focus somewhere near his right shoulder I hit the wrist plum on. I'm not even really focussing on anything specific but just trying to cultivate a general awareness of movement and tempo. It feels like my point of focus is actually behind him. I can't really put forward any specific reason for this but it does seem to generally relax me and allow me to mentally take in the big picture. The use of the eyes and what to look at has been discussed by Musashi, Takuan Soho and Yagyu Munenori with many metaphors that I have already covered elsewhere on this blog (see Feb 2009 archive) but sometimes it's interesting to experience a phenomenon yourself as that is when it really starts to make sense. It's also nice to feel that I am on a path that has been walked upon by greater antecedents than I!

Fencing as Meditation

2010-04-29T13:46:00.000Z

Greetings Dear Reader, long time no post! After a short break due to time constraints and temporary loss of muse I have returned. Sometimes it's easy to lose track of why we do the things we enjoy, for instance last night I arrived at the club in a slightly tense state. It had been a niggly day and the last couple of weeks have been a bit stressful and I really wasn't in a good frame of mind. I didn't fence one competitive match all evening however it turned into a good night because I ended up having a great lesson with Coach Andy to work on my epee skills. It was quite a tough lesson as I was lucky enough to catch Andy when he had some free time with no queue so it was nearly a full half hour. As the lesson progressed I found myself worrying less about all the other stuff and getting more into the correct mind set i.e. just doing my fencing. And it felt good! The chance to concentrate (or not, paradoxically) on one thing was very mentally refreshing if somewhat physically exhausting. But even that was a nice kind of tired. I guess it shows that sometimes you just have to get out there and do stuff and just occasionally the Universe provides. You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need.....

The Courage of the Straight Arm

2010-04-29T13:43:00.000Z

I read an interesting article in 'The Sword' magazine this week (it's published by British Fencing for it's membership) written by Prof William Gaugler on the merits of the straight arm in foil fencing. (it's important to think Foil because the straight arm is a whole different beast in epee). The basic proposition of the article was that a fencer persistently presenting a straight arm will be very hard to overcome, particularly if that fencer is adept at deceiving any attempt by the opponent to take or beat the blade or otherwise assume the right of way. I was discussing this with a friend at the club and we decided to have an experiment with it. It quickly became apparent that this was easier said than done and the fencer with the straight arm would need to have superlative technique in order to make it work, particularly when it came to responding to a beat on the straight arm. (Probably the only way to respond would be to parry riposte the resultant attack I guess....) However we did agree that the straight arm has many things going for it. It is intimidating and once it is out there the opponent has to do something about it in order to score. Their possible offensive options are somewhat limited so if (and it's a big if) you've comprehensively trained yourself to respond to the right things in the right way you do have a chance to gain a significant advantage. You also have to have an iron-like unshakeable confidence in your own application of the technique as it is very easy to chicken out and withdraw that arm! Is it an invincible strategy? Probably not. Will it work well in certain situations? Probably yes. The best thing about articles like Professor Gaugler's is that it makes you think about your fencing; and that's most of the fun!

What's Your Battle Standard?

2010-04-29T13:38:00.000Z

The great Samurai warlord Takeda Shingen had a battle standard on which was written the characters "Fu Rin Ka Zan" which translate as "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain". A bizarre thing to write on a battle standard you may think, until you investigate further. The characters are an abbreviation of a section of Sun Tzu's Art of War which talks about the characteristics of an effective military force. "Therefore when it moves swiftly it is like the wind, when it goes slowly it is like a forest; it is rapacious as fire, immovable as mountains". An effective force must be able to move swiftly in order to overcome the enemies tactics, but it must also be well ordered like a forest. It must consume it's opponents completely but also be capable of being as immovable and intimidating as a mountain. (Musashi also comments on the characteristics of mountains, it's a very popular image). So Shingen was setting out his principles for all to see; his enemies, his own troops, his subjects etc. What he was also subtly doing was letting these people know that he was well read in political and military tactics so should be respected and perhaps feared. Shingen was indeed one of the most respected warrior lords of his era, so much so that when he died his life-long enemy Uesugi Kenshin wept with sorrow at the loss his passing represented. The question I have is, if you had one, what would be on your battle standard?

Drawing the bow, but not releasing the arrow....

2010-04-06T14:19:00.000Z

I came across the above phrase whilst re-reading "The Demon's sermon On The Martial Arts" by Issai Chozanshi. (Do not fret Dear Reader, the Demon of the title is a Tengu rather than a Satanic variant. Think more like a mischievous and only occasionally malevolent mountain spirit). Anyway, it struck me as an excellent metaphor for the coaches dilemma; i.e. how much is the right amount to teach someone? A sports coach of any variety has to find the right level of instruction for the student he is dealing with and there are a lot of different blends of student. Some students want to be very competitive, some don't. Some students simply enjoy the challenge of learning, some don't and prefer to carry on at their own level. Some students just like the encouragement a Coach should give them, some just like to challenge themselves and have a quiet smile to themselves when things go right. Some students respond well to feedback, some crumble at the first hint of advice. Some students just don't want anything to do with a coach at all (apparently Musashi never had a teacher and it didn't seem to do him much harm..!)
On top of the considerations of the student themselves, the instructor has to consider the technique being taught. How far can the coach take the student? Can the bow be drawn and the arrow released or are there things in the technique that mean the student has to release the arrow himself? Most fencing techniques can be taught to a simple mechanical level but there are always subtleties that the student can only learn for themselves by doing. The Coach has to decide how far to take the student on that journey. Not far enough and the technique will not be comprehended at all; too far and the technique will be obscured by technical details and opaque subtleties.
The final piece of the puzzle is the Coach themselves. They will have a view on what they like doing. Some prefer to teach the simple stuff, some prefer the more complicated techniques, some prefer groups, some prefer individuals, some prefer that their students outgrow them, some prefer they don't. I enjoy teaching the basics to people and spreading the word but I guess my take on the coaching that I really enjoy can be summed up with two examples. One from Confucius who, if he turned over one corner, would not teach a student who didn't attempt to turn the other three (harsh but fair!) and from Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass'.... "I am the teacher of athletes, he that by me spreads a wider breast than my own, proves the width of my own, he most honours my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher."

Jo, Ha, Kyu

2010-03-25T10:34:00.000Z

In his treatise 'The Life Giving Sword' Yagyu Munenori refers to Jo, Ha and Kyu as three states or rhythms of combat. These three terms are also prevalent in Noh theatre and Japanese music in general. I won't go into all of them here but will concentrate on Jo which in theatrical writings is described as the beginning or introduction. Munenori however, describes it as 'the combat before the fight'. This initially sounds counter-intuitive but I've been thinking about it and this is my take on what he meant. Before any combat there is a build up to the moment the opponents clash; this is the time Munenori is referring to. In fencing terms it's the time when you are waiting to get on the piste, the mental imagery you project about the fight, the energy and body language with which you step onto the piste, the moment you make eye contact for the first time with your opponent before the salute, then the salute itself. All this is part of the fight itself and will determine and influence your behaviour over the course of a competition. It's also going to determine whether your mental attitude to the fight is correct and ultimately influence your performance to a greater or lesser degree. This period of time is going to vary depending on you, the circumstances you are in and your own temperament. It might be seconds or minutes (But probably not the whole time; that might be a little forced and mean you don't have many friends...) It is also something that cannot be 'faked' so I'm not advocating you try to impersonate Arnold Schwarzenegger in terminator mode, you have to find your own state of Jo for yourself in order for it to be meaningful.
It's an aspect of any martial art or combat sport that is often not acknowledged by coaches and athletes except at the highest level but it is a vital component to good performance and it's worth considering at any level of participation. If your mind and approach is wrong your fencing or technique will be correspondingly affected. There is an old Japanese expression that goes "Saya no uchi de katsu" which translates as "Victory is in the scabbard". As Musashi says you need to study this well....

I'm not bored, I'm just watching camp fires.

2010-03-21T20:49:00.002Z

In the classic tome 'The Art of War' Sun Tzu talks about watching emeny camp fires at night to see if they are moving around, either in signs of panic or preparing for a night attack. He also advises that clamour by night indicates nervousness. Very sensible advice I'm sure you would agree. However, the subtle point of this advice is in order for these observations to be made the observer must be calm and focussed, not nervous or distracted. It is in this state that the opportunity to observe the enemy can be taken. How many times at competition do you see other fencers engrossed in their i-pods, or talking with others or bouncing around like mad things? Wouldn't it be better to be watching to see if anything can be gleaned from the opponent's behaviour?
Sometimes at the club I can be found sitting cross legged at the side of the hall watching what's going on. Many people wander up to me and ask "Are you bored?" Well, no, not really, I'm just watching the enemy camp fires.....

Choshi, Hyoshi and Ma no tori-kata

2010-03-21T20:15:00.003Z

Now I know the title of this post may look a little weird but I have been recently re-reading the book "The Karate Way" by Dave Lowry. I don't do Karate but if I did I'd probably try to do it a lot like Dave Lowry. I tend to read anything of his at least three times as not only does he know a lot about the afore-mentioned art but he also practices Ken-jutsu, calligraphy, cha-do, sushi and is generally extremely knowledgable about Japanese culture and martial arts. Indeed this blog was inspired by his book "Autumn Lightning; the Education of an American Samurai". I always find reading one of his books an inspiring and relaxing experience, probably akin to what I imagine smoking a favourite pipe would be like, were I to actually be a pipe smoker! Mr Lowry's writings tend to focus on traditional martial arts but are just as applicable to fencing and life in general.*
Anyway to cut to the chase and back to the title, these are three terms that I hadn't really considered on the first reading of the book but struck me this time round. Hyoshi refers to the timing of a technique, the cadence of the attacks and strikes etc. Keeping the beat of the techniques going. (The character for Hysohi is actually representative of a child clapping). Translate this into beats, change beats, engagements, attacks etc in fencing and you can see the correlation. Each one has it's own special timing that needs to be correct to succeed.
Ma No Tori-Kata relates to the utilisation of space during a match or bout (Ma is the term for space , kata is the term for structure). Have you noticed how most really striking pictures have a slightly off center quality of space? Particularly in Japanese art where the composition may only be in one third of the space available, leaving a large amount of area that is empty. This is use of Ma or space. In a fencing match there are a number of flavours of this concept. Using the full length of the piste; using the space between you and the opponent to trigger attacks, parry or negate a technique etc, even moving laterally in the limited space we have can all be constructive use of space. A fencer used to close in work can be flustered by an opening distance. Conversely, a fencer who prefers compound attacks will be stymied if you close on them.
Choshi is slightly more complex and could best be described as the rhythm or pace of the entire encounter. Why does this matter? Well, consider what happens if you come onto the piste in a relaxed fashion... it's possible this will rub off on your opponent as well, perhaps giving you the chance to exploit a quick change of rhythm? Or what about the fencer who gets more and more exasperated as they fall further behind, their very exasperation causing them to get more flustered and deepen the spiral? From then on, their entire day just gets worse. Or the fencer who builds momentum throughout an entire competition, getting better and more effective as they go. All examples of choshi and all within some form of control by you, the fencer.
As usual with something the Japanese Budoka have given a name to, these concepts are well worth considering further.

* Enough of the eulogising; in short, if anything about Japanese martial arts appeals to you, read Dave Lowry!

Lungeing at Conclusions

2010-03-18T12:52:00.001Z

In WW2 both the allies and the axis forces used the hand grenade. The allied used a oval shape grenade which looked a bit like a pineapple but the Germans had a grenade with a stick handle. Why did two so obviously different designs arise for the same object? (Bear with me reader, I am hastening toward a point here.) Basically, the Germans used their grenades much more in an offensive capacity whilst the allies had planned to use them more defensively i.e. popping one over the edge of a trench and keeping your head down. By putting a stick on it, the German grenade could be thrown further and more accurately. It didn't have as big a payload but it could be deployed more accurately, which suited the German tactics of blitzkrieg and rapid counter-attacking on positions they had just lost.
So what in the name of Bodhidharma's beard does this have to do with fencing?
Well, it's dawned on me recently that the lunge is the same technique but has totally different applications in epee and foil. In foil the lunge has to be parried by the opponent if they want to score a defensive hit, therefore it can be used by the attacker to provoke or deceive. It also has to be deeper in order to hit the body. In epee the defender can also score against your lunge, but in a more passive way i.e. simply by ignoring it and countering in time or before the lunge even lands. This kind of takes away some of the lunges effectiveness in epee and brings into question the payback of cost against result of a good lunge to body. I've seen a lot of good lunges in epee that have only resulted in a hit against the lungeing fencer. However I still believe it has it's place in epee, it just needs to be applied in the right way. As for that right way...? Well, I'll leave you to think about that for yourselves...!

Fencing: it's mental!

2010-03-18T12:31:00.000Z

Last night was the first week of our Easter competition so it was the poule round of the epee for me. I found myself in a quite daunting group and my first thought was "I'm going to have to do well to break even here!" I usually set myself a target of being in the top half of the final tableau so I felt I had some work to do to get there. Not only that I had arrived with a splitting headache and was having problems concentrating on anything, let alone fencing. However, whether I had sub-consciously rid myself of expectations by thinking this I don't know but I arrived at my last match with 3 victories and 2 defeats. I SO wanted that last match to make it 4-2! Trouble was I was fencing Abi, one of my regular sparring partners and she has had the hoo-doo on me in our last few fights. Still, I felt good about things and soon found myself leading 3-1 at which point I thought "OK now just don't do anything daft, just run down the clock" which I managed to do for 20-30 seconds then conceded two hits to make it 3-3. At that point my instinct was to just attack blindly, in fact it was almost an imperative screaming at me "DO SOMETHING!!" However I reigned this in because my past experience has taught me when I do this I open myself to a counter, normally because the adrenalin excess overcomes my point control. What I didn't want to do right now was attack to the body wildly, I needed to control myself and pick off the arm. It was actually really difficult to keep calm at this point but I did and went 4-3 up. Then Abi pulled a point back to make it 4-4! I thought I had nailed it but her hit had been quicker than mine. Now all my instincts were in over-drive, demanding a headlong attack response but this time I could control it better and remain calm (I wasn't tense I was just very very alert!) And lo and behold I got that final hit and boy, did it feel good. I was obviously pleased to have made it 4-2 in terms of victories but I was also more pleased with the way I'd approached it mentally.
I've always maintained that fencing is 50% a mental activity and I certainly saw and heard things that backed that up last night. However, it's very easy to realise this intellectually; it's a lot harder to restrain the physicality in the midst of sporting combat. It's something I am determined to get better at. I am reminded of two of Musashi's tenets for sword mastery... "Forge yourself in the Way" and "Learn to see everything accurately"......

I am a Judge... I am The Law!

2010-03-15T20:02:00.002Z

It's quite noticeable how fencers don't really like acting as judges for steam foil matches. This is particularly prevalent amongst the young fencers, the majority of whom seem to just disappear into some wonderful world of gazing into the distance or biting their nails, when called to judge. This doesn't apply to all of them but it also appears to happen to some adult fencers as well, so what is it about judging that causes such a malaise and how can it be made more engaging as an activity? There are some basic things to remember:
• Make sure you know which fencer you should be watching and keep focussed on them. In other words you are watching the fencer in front of you to see if they are hit not if they made a hit.
• Keep behind the fencer on your side at all times. I've seen judges get hit because they stood too close. Ouch.
• Do not talk to 'your' fencer, even if he is your best mate. Never offer advice!
• Put your hand up when you've seen a hit; Presidents are not psychic! Many a time I've stopped a fight when presiding because I've seen a hit and then the judge agrees with me, despite not having put their hand up. If I hadn't seen it what would have happened?
• Avoid scratching your head, out of the corner of the President's eye this can look like you're signalling a hit!
• Always use definite and clear language when responding to the President. All that is required is 'on target', 'off target', 'no hit' or 'abstain'. Anything else is superfluous.
• Avoid subtle and well intended hints to the President like "do you mean the initial hit?" thus implying that the President has missed something. This is not your call to make and an electric box would not tell the President the right of way when simultaneous hits occur so neither should you.
• If you don't know, do not under any circumstances make it up!
To my mind, if you get all the above right there seems to be quite a lot going for judging; it gives you an insight into how someone fences and it gives you an insight into the ways fights can ebb and flow. It also gives you confidence that you are 'seeing' the situation correctly. In general it boosts your understanding of the whole thing but I suppose in our quick-fix age it's not 'doing anything' so it's regarded as rather dull. The other great thing is that all you have to do is watch; you don't even have to make any decisions as that's the President's job. No opinions necessary, just a good eye and attention span. A final thing to remember is that if you are participating in a poule and you are not taking your judging responsibilities seriously it will quite probably rebound on you at some stage... No one likes to have their best hit missed by a non-attentive judge and what goes around comes around eventually!

The Show Always Goes On...

2010-02-28T20:33:00.003Z

On Friday my wife and I went to the theatre to see 'Les Miserables' and had a brilliant evening . I always get a buzz from seeing true talent at work and there was plenty to enjoy in the performance. But in my eccentric way, one thing really stood out for me. The singing and set design were all excellent and the performers were outstanding but there was one point in the second half that made me smile. For those of you who know the plot it was at the point where Valjean rescues Marius from the barricade and the actor playing Valjean picked up the other chap and carried him off. In doing so Marius inadvertently dropped his sash. Nothing major, a trifling but niggling detail perhaps and the scene continued apace. However, the next scene was the soliloquy of Javert, a key scene and one of the major plot moments. So, the actor playing Valjean did something very clever. He allowed the scene to continue, singing and acting seamlessly but as he moved off the stage he subtley snagged the offending sash with his left foot and took it with him.
Now you may think this is no big deal but I think it was a great example of presence and attention. a) he noticed it and it's significance to the impact of next scene b) whilst continuing to perform he formulated a plan c) he carried out the plan successfully and with minimal fuss. All whilst delivering a faultless performance.
I don't know about anyone else but I was impressed. A true example of someone fully present in his craft. There is a very good story about Yagyu Munenori and a Noh theatre performer but I will leave that for another post. If I don't come back to it someone remind me.....!

Lightness of touch

2010-02-28T20:09:00.002Z

This weekend I was giving several individual lessons at my club and one of the moves I was geteting my students to perform was stepping in, engaging my blade in sixte and then reacting to my opening with either an attack down the blade or a disengage on pressure. The one thing that most of them got wrong was the initial step in to engage. They all invariably over-commited and then found the distance was wrong for the atttack. It's another of the essential paradoxes of fencing; in order to attack aggressively you have to be light and relaxed. Too aggressive on your initial movement and you risk telegraphing your attack to your opponent so there should be no difference between a reconnaisance and the actual attack. Sometimes you just have to rein yourself in and relax, which is very difficult to do but worth the effort in the end. I'd like to come up with something profoundly Zen-like at this point such as "to attack, you must give up on the idea of attack" but I can't think of anything adequate...... ;0)

Get Kata....*

2010-02-21T20:47:00.002Z

One thing that I have been pondering for some time is whether fencing needs Kata in the way that most martial arts have them? For the un-initiated a Kata is a routine of pre-defined moves that the exponent repetitively practices either on their own or with a partner in order to gain proficiency. They also form part of the grading system of the art in some way or another. We in fencing don't do this, preferring to have some group practice on the moves and then some demonstration of them in the grading system. Would it be weird to practice some choreographed moves with a partner? Would it be beneficial in any way? I can't help but think it might benefit some fencers to practice the same move again and again with a partner until the subtleties are mastered. Variety could be added by speed, distance even emotion etc until it became quite a rich experience. But then again I am old fashioned. Perhaps I will retreat to my cave and ponder some more. Besides 24 is on in a minute!

* Apologies to Michael Caine - the Sylvester Stallone version was not a touch on the original....

The Indefinables

2010-02-21T20:22:00.004Z

No, this is not the title of a Kevin Costner movie about gangsters but something I nicked from Maestro Andy the other night. We were coaching a lesson on counter time, particularly the act of inviting an attack so you could parry riposte it and I mentioned to him that because I have been assisting him for nigh on 15 odd years we probably make techniques look relatively simple in the demo stage of a lesson. I kind of know what Andy will do and he kind of knows my rhythms etc. I continued with my exposition to the end that this particular technique is actually quite subtle and whilst mechanically simple (i.e. you step in and open your line so that you look vulnerable, then parry riposte the inevitable attack) it is actually quite difficult to do convincingly. You either get it or you don't. He agreed and said "Yes, it's the indefinables.....". I thought "Hmmm - I'm having that for the blog..." So here we are Dear Reader!
The point I am trying to make is that it is sometimes relatively easy to grasp the basic mechanics of something but the spirit of it can sometimes take years to finally comprehend. You can practice a technique for a long time before it actually starts working. In some martial arts a Kata can be repeated for a very long time before final comprehension makes it really work. In fact in some of the Kata from some sword schools the real meaning and application has been lost in the translation to the modern discipline, such as Sword combinations designed for fighting in enclosed spaces etc.
Another example from fencing is the step-feint-disengage attack. If the step is too long you fail, because you have insufficient room to conduct the compound attack. If it is too short the feint will be unconvincing and will not provoke your opponent's parry. You need what is referred to in astronomy circles as a 'goldilocks'* step. Not too long, not too short, but just right..... This is just one instance of some of the indefinables of fencing and it's what makes doing it and coaching it such fun.

*For those of you who are unfamiliar with astro-physics in the exo-planetary department, in order for a planet to evolve life it must lie in an orbit from it's star that is just the right temperature; not too hot, not too cold hence the 'goldilocks zone'.

There Ain't No Such Thing as a Nailed On Cert....

2010-02-15T13:44:00.001Z

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was at a competition this weekend and fencing once again demonstrated to me that there's no such thing as certainty involved. When I arrived I took a look around at the other competitors and was not hopeful when I saw the opposition. Whilst having been a fencer for over 20 years now I have only really been doing epee seriously for the last year or so and in that regard was not expecting to do that well. However, a number of things happened to show that fencing chickens should not be counted before they hatch...
I won my first fight, with a satisfying final point of bind disengage fleche. Put me in a good mood, but I knew my next fight was against someone I didn't expect to beat...
I won that fight as well, 5-3. Crivens! I was then reasonably confident that I would beat the next opponent as I had watched him and planned some tactics to use
I lost (badly) 5-1. Curses! Also, I didn't expect to win my next fight either
I didn't (so sometimes I'm right) but I did get a nice broken time hit in to the wrist. I thought I might win the next one but knew it would be close.
I won that one. Could I win the last one and make it 4 wins 2 defeats? I was feeling confident as I had a plan for my next opponent, a left hander.
The plan worked to an extent but I still lost. I had planned to feint to leg and deceive his octave parry and hit to arm. This worked but my other techniques didn't.
So I finished 3 up 3 down, which in retrospect was pretty good and probably went against my expectations.
I then went into the Direct Elimination stage and the story of the first fight is in the previous post. So then I ended up in the last eight and found myself fencing the left handed fellow from my pool. My strategy was to stay with him for as long as possible and then change rhythm to try and win it. At the first period I was 5-4 down so the plan still looked on, however I had a poor start to the next period and quickly found myself 8-4 down. From then on I was trying to chase the match and finally ended up losing 15-7 as my fleche attacks simply weren't good enough and I began to snatch at my disengages, meaning I was missing a lot. Most significantly, my opponent had better point control than me and fenced well, picking me off on the arm a lot.
Ultimately I finished in the top half, which was better than I expected. Plus, I did better than one of my main training partners, which was even more of a surprise. But one of the significant things I continue to realise is that you can never predict how things are going to go.... and that I still have loads to learn.

Enthusiastic or Just Excessive?

2010-02-15T13:43:00.000Z

I was at an epee competition at the weekend and had an interesting experience in my first direct elimination fight. I was fencing against a young man who I'd never seen before who was quite stocky, powerful and had a pronounced square shouldered stance. He was also obviously very..... hmmm.... enthusiastic. I had overheard him saying to another competitor earlier how he had imbibed several Red Bulls for breakfast to compensate for a late night and was now 'buzzing' and this was indeed the case. Basically his technique consisted of flecheing..... continuously. With a bent arm. This he did until he realised that I was simply stop hitting on his arm and he was now 8-3 down. Then he started to bind in sixte and fleche, which was marginally more effective in the sense that I basically parried in seconde and only occasionally got a stop in. I then figured out that when I attacked him he simply didn't know what to do and was 11-5 up at the break as a result. In the second period he became more desperate and as a result he began to fleche direct again with the same results as before. Now, I didn't mind him haemorrhaging points but what I did mind was as a result of his bizarre square stance he was running into me every time and there were two occasions where he came close to (accidentally) shouldering me in the face. Not much fun, particularly considering how 'enthusiastically' he was attacking. In the end I had him at 13-6 and he decided to leap upwards like a frog in a blender, allow me to stop hit him and then come down sideways on his ankle and probably sprain it. Net result 14-6 to me and him on the floor in obvious pain. I and the President suggested he might want to retire but no, with the Red Bull coursing through his veins he vowed to limp on heroically. So I lunged and hit him to get it done before he hurt himself even more.
Talking to several people after the fight this is apparently quite normal as the young man has a 'bubbly' character and always fences like that at his club. And there's the rub. Someone, either a fellow fencer or better still a coach, desperately needs to take this chap aside, put a metaphorical arm around his shoulder and say "Look chap, if you carry on like this then three things will happen: a) you'll continue to lose b) you'll hurt yourself c) you'll hurt someone else. He obviously is a very keen young fellow and it would be a shame if he eventually goes out of fencing through disillusionment at continually losing or injury. There's nothing wrong with enthusiasm but it needs to be tempered with some realistic and pragmatic coaching, rather than just letting someone get on with it because that's just the way they are.

Three F's of Fencing

2010-02-07T20:28:00.002Z

Quite a few years ago I (for no particular reason apart from wanting a challenge) had a go at bodyguard training. One of the things that stuck in my mind from that period was when one of the instructors asked the group "what is a bodyguard's most effective weapon"? Lots of hands went up with suggestions of fists, feet, guns etc but the instructor just shook his head and said "Your brain..."
This also applies to fencing; there are many weapons a fencer can use, but for me the three that stand out are their Foil, their Feet (Footwork) or their "Finking"! The foil is the most obvious, but if you can't get your opponent into range then it's no good as a weapon. That's where your feet come in; you've got a 14 metre piste to play with so use it!
Finally, if you can't think your way through problems (i.e. "I've just been hit twice in a row by that disengage attack... what asm I going to do about it?") then you are also destined for disappointment. You must cultivate a balance between all three to be truly effective.

Dedicated Follower of (Fencing) Fashion

2010-01-29T14:54:00.000Z

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

2010-01-24T20:34:00.002Z

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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.......
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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!*

2010-01-17T20:49:00.003Z

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!

2010-01-17T20:25:00.003Z

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

2010-01-14T16:10:00.002Z

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

2010-01-14T16:10:00.001Z

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?

2010-01-14T16:09:00.000Z

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?

2010-01-10T20:52:00.002Z

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.

The Fencing Alphabet

2009-12-24T12:29:00.001Z

Happy Xmas to all you readers out there and a succesful New Year as well!

A is for Awareness - pay attention to even small things
B is for Balance balance balance
C is for cutting - something you only do with a sabre
D is for Distance distance distance
E is for Experience - which you normally only get just after you needed it!
F is for Footwork which underpins everything
G is for Grace - which our fencing should have
H is for Hitting and not being hit
I is for Instinct - it comes after many years of practice
J is for Judgement - you must cultivate this to succeed
K is for Knowledge - any fight where you don't increase this hasn't been a complete success
L is for Lunge. The basic move which takes years to perfect
M is for Mobility and using all the piste
N is for New - there is always something new to find in fencing
O is for Opportunity - watch out for them at all times
P is for Practice practice practice
Q is for Quiet reflection - something you should attempt after every match or lesson
R is for Respect, for the sport, your opponent and the President
S is for Spirit - every good move should have it
T is for Timing or Thrusting which you do with a foil and epee
U is for Using your opponent's strengths against them
V is for Variety - something all fencers should have in their game
W is for Winning, which is nice, but isn't everything
X is for messing up alphabets
Y is for Youth and enthusiasm; usually defeated by age and cunning!
Z is for Zanshin or 'Lingering Mind'. Really good fencers have it!