I've started giving lessons with my left hand (in foil and epee only). I thought it would be an interesting physical challenge, and at least one of my coaches told me that if I ever stood in front of him for a Maitre exam, he'd want to see some actions done competently with my off hand.
I've discovered that not only is it an interesting physical challenge (since I'm trying to do footwork left handed as well), I am also getting a new perspective on my students. I see some errors when I am w
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I was giving a lesson with a tactical progression the other day. The student was new to me, but has fenced for a little bit. At one point -- after she had hit me with two different variations of the attack we were working on -- I stopped the lesson and asked her what she thought might be going through a potential opponent's mind at this instant in the "bout".
She looked at me as if I had just asked her a question in Klingon*. It's a reaction I've gotten before from students -- even if they
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A few years ago, someone asked for advice on starting a career as a fencing coach (the poster was a young fencer). I made a reply, and forgot about it. Someone just reminded me of it and I wanted to put it here, so I don't forget it:
Very few coaches in the United States make their sole living as fencing coaches. Most of us have jobs or significant others that support what we do. However, with a little planning, some perseverance, and some luck, it's possible to turn fencing into a career...More
With the absence of Coaches College this year, Jill Feldman* and I decided that a trip to the USFCA conference might prove to be a substitute for our usual gasping at high altitude. We packed our fencing bags, and drove up 95** to Lambertville, NJ.
Lambertville turned out to be quite quaint, and not what I was expecting at all. After a disastrous night in the Inn at Pennytown (I would not recommend it to anyone) we switched to a pricier but very comfortable and accommodating bed and breakfas
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Congratulations are in order for the US Women's Saber Team and their coaches and support staff. What a spectacular result. I once thought I would never see an Olympic Fencing medal for the US in my lifetime. Now, it's starting to become an expected result!
Along with the current Olympians, I think another group of people are deserved some thanks: we need to acknowledge all those women who first stepped up to the plate -- not that long ago -- and said :"Yes, we can fence saber, we want to fen
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One of the things I noticed this Nationals was a marked emphasis on planned counter-attacks and remises this Nationals, especially in Men's Foil. While there were certainly a fair number of traditional attacks (and all my fencers both hit and were hit with them), there seemed to be more than the usual number of counters and remises.
I'm not finally waking up to the realities of the "new" timings (I've been quite aware of the changes brought on by the new box) but my impression is that there
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I’ve come to expect a certain dull competency in venue hotels. I expect them to provide me a room and a comfortable bed, and that’s about it. Since I can sleep in a wide range of temperature conditions and I prefer a very hard bed, these requirements are usually met by every hotel I travel to for events. The Crown Plaza proved to be no exception, a somewhat noisy, but comfortable hotel, close to the venue.
What I don’t usually expect is good food, and the Crown Plaza proved to be no exceptio
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Many modern military aircraft are designed in such a way that they are unstable. Without the help of computers making multiple corrections to their control surfaces every second, these planes would crash*.
I was thinking about this last week, when one of my fencers asked why the footwork of advanced fencers looked nothing like the footwork in the clubs beginning class. I explained that advanced fencers tend to fence on the balls of their feet, and execute actions differently than beginning f
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I spent some time visiting with my friend Wang Yung (past member of the World Vet Team in saber) at a small camp in South Jersey. It was a longish drive for me, but fortunately, my wife and I timed the traffic well, and we didn't get stuck anywhere, and made decent time to Jersey.
In between Wang's lessons to some of the other Vets, I talked to Wang about saber -- definitely my weakest weapon. He validated some of the ideas I have about cues and footwork (we're both avid fans of changing tem
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09-25-2008 09:45 PM 