Neal Durando summed up a concept we were tossing back and forth over email with a simple phrase: "Scoring opportunities don't occur unless there is a tempo change"*
This is first principal and speaks to how tactics are actually executed on the strip (there is a bit of discussion about this with Jason Sheridan in my last blog post). Many coaches teach the actions that actually deliver the hit in the bout: lunges, beats, parries and their ripostes, and so forth -- what Zbigniew Czajkowski ca
...More
The direct attack is a successful action when performed in proper distance, with speed, good technique, and executed as a surprise to the opponent. Without these four qualities, the chances of a succesful direct attack are low. Of the four qualities needed for a successful direct attack, the absolute speed of both fencers is unlikely to change during the course of a bout, and the technical skills of each fencer do not improve during the bout. This means that two qualities of a succesful direct...More
Right before I left my last foil coach (well before the 2005 timings) we had been playing with the concept of putting the hand in play as late as possible when attacking in foil. By keeping the hand slightly "neutral" and held back during the start of the attack, my coach felt that there was a strong advantage to the attacker in making a last minute decision about which line to finish in. On the other side, the hand can be put into play very early to generate a reaction that can subsequently be
...More
I'm idly typing away on some notes that I'm writing up for epee, and one of the things I wrote down in my pad (I carry a pad around and write down notes about fencing as things occur to me) was a question written in big letters: What is a fencing lesson supposed to teach?
I must have went back later and made a list (not in any order):
Technical skills in:
1. Footwork
2. Blade work
3. Hand and foot coordination
I had a second clinic with Michael Marx last weekend. This was a new audience for him, and a new weapon for me (my last clinic was in epee, this one was in foil) but the message was the same: look at what is actually happening in fencing today when you teach. Give the student real actions to get a response. Create real situations for the student to solve. Michael says: "I don't give cues, I give fencing actions.”
This is an approach I have been trying following for some time (I speak about
...More
I still find the secruity procedures for flying a little baffling at times. I can't bring on a Swiss army knife with a one inch blade, but I can bring on a sharpened number 2 pencil? Everytime I see the sign showing prohimbited items I think of Mr. Fairburn and Mr Sykes--or "Shibumi"--and I have to giggle. I guess if I ever figure this logic out, it will mean the terrorists have won?
I agree with all the posts on F.net about the Gaylord ho
...More
I made this entry in the thread on marketing. It looks like it got skipped over in the discussion, but I wanted to reprint it here, and add a few more comments. I was responding to a poster who complained about all the SCA and LARP (Live Action Role Players) that showed up for fencing clubs:
This is probably a separate issue from marketing, and relates more to club dynamics and the coach's style. Our very nature brings in a lot of those students into the doors of our clubs. A certain perce
Over the years, I’ve interacted with a lot of coaches and talked to them about their clubs. I’ve been curious how successful clubs structure themselves and when I find successful clubs, I try to talk to the coaches to see what they are doing.
I’m not near a permanent answer yet, but over the years, I’ve notices some interesting points of intersection:
Point 1:
All of the clubs have very precise missions, and stay very focused on that mission. It’s obvious that the clubs work very hard t
...More
...If I have a point in line and my opponent attacks by jumping over my head, and, like, I follow him and hit him in mid-air and he, like, hits me....do I still have a point in line...?
The conversations on F.net are driving me more crazy than normal, the last few months. It's one of the reasons my post count has dropped: I have started to reply in a number of threads on a few different subjects, and then deleted the post before publishing it simply because my annoyance was so transparent. ...More
11-15-2009 09:00 PM 