I was thinking the other day about a former student of mine in CA, a boy who was born with some issue in his arms and legs that made them very, very small compared to his torso. The rest of his body was fine, he just little stumpy limbs. However, the family had quite a bit of money and were able to pay for a lengthy procedure where they literally made his legs longer. I saw the result before moving away, and I know that they're going back to do the same thing with his arms. I was completely blown away by the result of the operation; he had a good foot or more of height. Medical science has come a long way.

However, this made me think about fencing (as most things do.) If we've come to the point where we can actually increase a person's height, the with enough time, resources and willpower is there anything that we cannot teach? This is a purely theoretical exercise; I am NOT sending any fencers to have bones broken and lengthened. It's intriguing, though... I've seen vast personality changes, I've seen people switch fundamental reactions to stress and of course huge strides in technical and tactical ability. I used to think that the only thing we really couldn't change was the body the fencer has. Apparently I was dead wrong. Makes me wonder just what the limits are of what we can do as coaches.

EDIT: I should say that I'm talking about what we can teach kids, what things that are assumed that we can't change (people set in their ways, basic disposition, etc) NOT extreme body mods.