I am the owner and founder of the newly established Sheridan Fencing Academy in NYC. After earning my fencing master degree under--and spending several years training with--Zbigniew Czajkowski in Katowice, Poland, I have spent the last few years coaching in the US. In that short time I have trained NAC and SN finalists, top youth fencers in sabre and epee, and, most recently, the CWS silver medalist at the '08 JOs. This blog contains advice for both fencers and coaches.
The process of learning can--should--involve numerous mistakes. We learn the most about our activity and ourselves by making mistakes. Although many students may feel like they are wasting time until they perform some action or technique perfectly, it is when they make mistakes that they, in terms of their education, can be most productive.
There are, however, striking exceptions to this model.
Some students become "prisoners" of their mistakes. They fixate on errors, believing them to
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People generally look at talent as some magical quality that you either have or you don't. Coaches hope to find the elusive talented individual that will become a great fencer. Athletes admire the talent of the top competitors.
Talent, however, is an illusion.
The greatest factor separating the "talented" from "untalented" is their beliefs. While athletes may be different sizes and strengths, and have differing levels of coordination, their ability to perform and achieve greatness is d
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Most coaches are fairly dedicated imitators, copying their entire skill-set from other coaches they've seen or worked with.* The process of imitation gives a coach an opportunity to capitalize on the knowledge and experience of others and, for many coaches (particularly in a country like the US, where there is very little formalized coaching training), serves as the primary means of learning how to teach fencing.
More knowledgeable and experienced coaches also gain from imitation as it allo
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The thing that has the greatest impact on your success--as a fencer, as a coach, as a human being--is your set of beliefs.
Your beliefs are the governing principles of your thoughts and behavior. They define and limit what you can achieve. If you believe that there are things you will never be able to do or achieve, then those things will remain unattainable to you. If you believe that you can continue to learn and succeed, then you will.
Beliefs have a significantly greater impact on
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One of the most important elements of tactical thinking in fencing is deciding what distances you want to use to frame your (and your opponent's) actions.
It is never enough to say, "Now I will try parry-riposte," or, "Next I will do a beat-attack." Even if you rely almost exclusively on foreseen actions, distance and timing considerations are significantly more important than deciding what action to do next. Understanding how different distances affect a bout allows you to properly choose
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While I was studying with Czajkowski, an American coach I knew emailed me asking for a list of some of his exercises. In fact, coaches constantly ask me for fencing exercises--either ZC's or my own. There is definite value to be gained from sharing ideas, but many coaches overlook the most important thing they need to understand before they can successfully use any exercise: theory.
My reply to the American coach was that while all of ZC's exercises are great, without understanding the the
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What happens on a fencing strip? What is actually going on?
To understand the psychology of a superior fencer--the psychology you need if you are ever to become superior--you have to understand the essence of what all fencing is.
Fencing is about expressing dominance over another human being.
Footwork, bladework and tactics are all tools of expressing that dominance. Human beings are hierarchical creatures. In everything we do with other people, we take dominant or submissive roles.
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Michael Jordan "made it look easy". Pete Sampras "made it look easy". Tiger Woods, Katarina Witt, and Jose Torres have all made what they do "look easy".
People who perform an activity at some level of excellence are often said to make that activity "look easy". In sports, you do not make something look easy because you are excellent; you are excellent because you make it look easy.
One of the most important qualities of effective execution of technique in fencing is effortlessness. E
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It's a statistical truth. Of all the people in the world who fence, only one person every four years (per individual event, naturally) can be Olympic Champion.
The important thing to understand about statements like that is that they exist to weed out the weak. If someone says, "You will probably not be X," and you allow that to dampen your motivation, you are accepting weakness.
It is a fact that most people who fence will never be Ol
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When we discuss "control" in a bout, we are generally not talking about bullying the other fencer around (although we might be) but, rather, establishing a frame.
To be successful on the strip, we need to influence our opponent's thinking. This means affecting both his logic and his emotions. The greater our ability to manipulate the opponent's mind, the easier our victory will be. To have the greatest influence over our opponent's thoughts, we need to control the frame of the bout. In o
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06-27-2008 02:56 AM 