What is the personality of your fencing club? Are you workers or slackers? Do you train fencing, or play fencing? Are you an athlete building up for performance or in a rec league of sorts?
This is a post over at my blog where I talk about my views of a few types of clubs I've been at and get one coach's perspective.
Nearly every fencer has, at some point, read at least part of one of Nick Evangelista's books on fencing. Also, at some point, every competitive fencer learns to take Evangelista's writings with a very large grain of salt.
Looking at his writings, there are several areas where he is just out of touch with the fencing world and modern sports science. Oftentimes his assertions on what constitutes proper form are variations of the "we've always done it that way" arguement.
One thing to his credit, he does love fencing and wants to promote it.
"Whether or not I was to follow in his footsteps, I would forever be known in the fencing community as Danny Bukantz's son."
So begins the book "Closing the Distance: Chasing a Father's Olympic Fencing Legacy". Throughout the book, Jeff Bukantz walks us through the highs and lows of his career as a fencer, referee, and professional wrestler.
This is a featured blog posting from Allen Evans. Allen is a frequent poster to the Fencing.Net Forums and provides great insight from the point of view of a fencing coach.
"To teach someone to fence is not just to teach the mechanics of fencing. The student often gives the coach a tremendous amount of power to manipulate the personality behind the fencer; to influence not just what they do on the strip, but who they are as people. This is a profound responsibility. Handling it well is one of the marks of a great coach."
Do you strive to fence well, or to look good while fencing? What is your aspiration when you are playing a sport where you are trying to outscore your opponent but whose basic philosophical construct is "to hit without being hit"?
Following are some some comments by Enrico Di Ciolo
Nearly every fencer has, at some point, read at least part of one of Nick Evangelista's books on fencing. Also, at some point, every competitive fencer learns to take Evangelista's writings with a very large grain of salt.
