I happened to be reading a book about the rise of new financial products (specifically CDOs and synthetic CDOs) and I turned to thinking about innovation in fencing.

What is innovation in fencing? It's almost impossible to come up with new moves: the sport is so old that it's unlikely anyone is going to "invent" a new parry or type of thrust. While I'm often shown new "actions" by fencers and coaches, they are often actions that went out of favor years ago. These ...

I watch a lot of lessons when I'm at big tournaments. I've seen a lot of top coaches give lessons. Some lessons have held my attention, and some haven't. The ones that held my attention have always very different (imagine comparing the lessons of Vladimir Nazlymov to Paul Soter, for instance) but each interesting lesson had certain spark that less interesting lessons lacked. I can recognize that spark very quickly, even across a big venue.

Trying to put my finger on that "spark" ...

I've been thinking about the issue of "surprise" and the role it plays in a fencing bout. One of the differences between an average fencer and a good fencer is how much the good fencer controls the environment of the bout. The better fencer is not surprised because of the way they control the environment in their bouts. Gary Copeland talked to me a little about this in terms of some of the fencers he has trained in the past (such as Nick Chinman). While he never actually stated it as fact, ...

Modern foil is much more "fluid" than many intermediate fencers think. Some of my students are reluctant to leave the fencing line, to assume odd positions or strike odd targets, they often let convention hamper them.

When distance closes in foil (as it often does these days), the goal is to get a light on. You're too close for pretty fencing, or even the conventions of parry and riposte. Stop the opponent's blade, move your body into a position from which they can't easily ...

There were a lot of assumptions underlying the first foil lessons that I received when I was young. Some of these assumptions were integral to the lesson, but others seemed to have been agreed upon as unspoken conventions. Here are some of the assumptions from my early foil days, off the top of my head:

• The arm will straighten before the final footwork action of the attack.
• The defender is obliged to parry the attack.
• The parry will be made as late as possible.

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