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 ...
A series of small observations about Nationals... 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 ...
Any lessons for fencing coaches here? http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958781-1,00.html
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 ...
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 ...
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