The good news is that I just landed a new job! This is good because I will be doing what I enjoy doing again. The bad news is that the new job will probably actually keep me busy (unlike my current job) and I will be able to play on f.net a lot less.
My last three blog entries talk about things I have learned recently. The place where I put my learning to the test is at a tournament. Last Saturday, there was a small local tournament that allowed me to do exactly that. There were 8 epeeists so we had one pool of 8. I employed the strategy of having a plan. Even if I had not scouted out any given opponent, I had some kind of plan in mind when the ref said, "Fence!" Having a plan allowed me to fence with ...
I had dinner with my brother. He is a music teacher. I have been trying to get him interested in fencing, and he is, but his finances are tight right now and he is dragging his feet. Nonetheless, he is always interested in engaging in a discussion about fencing. Over dinner, we were discussing the difficulty of teaching/learning tactics. I mentioned to him that Chuck had gone to the tactics clinic with me but he was expecting something more structured. We kicked around for a ...
Chuck has been noodling on my issue with opponents who use heavy beat attacks. Using a French grip, he says, is an invitation to them to use this tactic. He suggests that I may want to go back to a pistol grip. (I am reluctant to do so as the French grip is IMO more flexible in in-fighting situations.) I can deceive a lot of beat attacks with absence of blade, derobing the attack, and distance management. A lot of the attacks will fail. Some will get through. If I don't have ...
If you’ve watched the new Batman trailer, you’ll recognize the line as one delivered by Heath Ledger in a deliciously demented tone. That line helps me to remember some of the key learnings that I found at Walt Dragonetti’s Epee Tactics and Gamesmanship clinic. The clinic was a full day. While teaching tactics is conceptually difficult, Walt and Brian Stone did a good job. I took notes. Rather than misplace the paper I wrote them on, I am capturing them here, with some editing ...
Go to Profile
Mark as Read
