Fenced Wednesday in MA--NH and AL present. Didn't take a lesson because I had to get up at 0500 on Thursday, so I had to leave a bit early. Fenced fairly well--continue to focus on tempo vs. power....

Saturday, took a lesson with Istvan, for the first time this year. Badly needed it, but it went much better than I expected.

1. M extends. S bind 4, cut wrist twice, cut head. M cut flank; S parry 3, cut head. Standing, with one advance, with two advances, w/ three advances. For the sake of those who actually read this, sample footwork/handwork coordination is:

M Extend
S bind 4
M retreat
S cut wrist twice w/advance
M retreat
S cut head w/advance
M cut flank
S parry flank
M retreat
S riposte head w/advance.

We do it at normal speed--coordination is important. I was rushing the final step with the riposte to head. It is parry/stand, M retreat, S extend-advance-cut head. It's easy to start the advance before the extension.

2. M extend. S bind 3, beat 3, cut cheek. W/advance, w/double advance, w/ advance-lunge.

3. S 3-4 invitation advance....
a. M retreats; S jump-lunge-head cut. (I would actually prefer to do this with an advance-lunge--the traditional ballestra is nothing more than an invitation for a counter-attack these days).
b. M establishes PIL. S beat 4, cut head w/lunge
c. M cuts in. S parry-riposte. (The trick here is that you end the advance, stop, parry-riposte. If you are rushing, you will not be able to stop....)

The 3-4 invitation with an advance is a nice gambit, in that it generally forces your opponent into a predictable response--bad fencers are frozen by it (what is going on?) so you gain tempo to attack. It generally draws good fencers into tactical wheel play.

4. M feint 4, feint 3, coupe 3, coupe cut-3. S parry 4, parry 3, counter 3, counter 3, cut head. Retreating. M may actually end the attack on any of the feints, so you can't move to the next parry until he changes lines... again, the watching/not rushing is very important.

Plus some random hand-speed/parry riposte drills in between the various longer elements.

Very pleasant lesson--my footwork, especially my lunge, is not where it should be (my front foot on my lunge is a little late/slow/tight, so I don't get the full distance I should, if that makes any sense....), but I got into the groove very quickly, and was generally pleased with my hand-foot coordination.