I'm about to have a lot of time off (most of the summer) and I have been thinking of some questions to ponder and research while I'm unemployed:

1. Why don't we teach foil more like saber, in terms of making foil fencers simply move forward early in the phrase, forcing the simultaneous when necessary, and otherwise scoring with indirect or direct attacks (with counter-time occasionally thrown in)?

2. What strategies do shorter epee fencers use to be successful? Are there ...

One of the most interesting things about coming back to competitive fencing after coaching for so long is that I'm seeing patterns and depths of complexity in the sport that I was not fully aware of when I was fencing in my 20's and 30s. I'm also struggling to find a way to teach these patterns to my students, while questioning if I should even attempt to do so.

In epee, I see these rising and falling wave forms of scoring possibilities that are so fleeting and intuitive (I ...

There's a lot of interesting video on You Tube concerning fencing and fencing lessons (some interesting because of the just plain oddness of the lessons) but I'm annoyed that so many of the videos are taken perpendicular to the lesson. It's almost impossible, even with good resolution, to see what the blades or actions of the coach and student are.

It you're taking videos of lessons to put on You Tube, use an "over the shoulder shot" to get a good perspective on the actions ...

This got a surprising number of comments on my facebook page. I thought I would share it here, as well.



Every bout you fence tells a story about who you are. The score is part of that narrative, but so is how you deal with victory and defeat, bad calls, and unpleasant opponents. You are the principal author of that story.

What stories are YOU telling?

I used to talk too much during lessons. This caused two problems: it broke up the flow of the actions in the lesson -- and fencing is just about feeling actions flow as it is about doing actions correctly -- and it kept me from connecting with my students on an emotional level.

Fencing operates in a lot of areas at once: technical, tactical, physical, and emotional. The fencing lesson should incorporate these elements as well. By talking too much, I kept my students from connecting ...