Some tips for a newbie?

[nm_demon]

Well, here I am, finally ending my first fencing class. I really love this sport. It's so fun, and I've only been "fencing" for roughly 2 months! "Fencing" meaning I don't have much knowledge about really perfecting anything so far... but that's beside the point for now.

My real question to you is: got any tips for my first in-class tournament, that could ultimately help me put the burn on my opponents?

Please keep in mind, the others (and myself, I guess ) are all relatively inexperienced. Tell me a few tricks to really confuse 'em, eh? Thanks all!

[Peach]

1. Have fun.

2. Try to fence with correct form. "Sit down" in on-guard position, make correct footwork, lunge properly. Remember to breathe and stay relaxed.

3. Don't try to confuse your opponents. You want them to know exactly what you are doing. A good rule of thumb is to do something twice so they thoroughly learn what you are going to do the third time. And THEN do something else instead. For instance, advance-retreat, advance-retreat, advance-lunge.

4. Instead of moving fast all the time, try moving slowly and then changing your tempo when you attack. If that doesn't work, try moving quickly and then slowing down when you attack.

5. Learn something. Your first tournament, whether in class or outside, is for the experience. Have fun. Welcome to an incredibly addictive sport!

[great bowyer]

also, concentrate. this, i found, is one of the best things you can do to help yourself... pay attention to what your opponents are doing...where is their blade, tip, target, are they advancing retreating or attacking. if you pay attention to these things and react in the appropiate manor (extend, perry-ripost, lunge) your opponent will either run into your blade, or you will catch them off guard with your attacks, thus, concentrate on what is happening.

the number one most important thing i found that will get you the furthest in your career...HAVE FUN, and ENJOY.

[CarlKnoch]

I agree with have a good time! And don't worry so much about winning the tourney. The most important thing is to do the best you can with what you know. And stick to what you know!

So if you've only started with straight attacks, and parry riposte, stick to that! I would suggest being defensive for a first tourney, but really you should do whatever your good at. If you're a good attacker and can score that way, do that. If you're a great parry riposte fencer, then do that. Play to your own strengths.

Have Fun!

[frenzl]

of course have fun as everyone else said but keep it simple espesciall with beginers. just do a compound attacks -feint disengauge works very nicely. remember it's all in the timming!

[J.Harris]

Don't decide what you're going to do before you do it and try to carry it out no matter what your opponent does... I'm awful for doing this. Make sure you react to what they do.

[noodle]

read <a href="http://www.fencing101.com/vb/showthread.php?p=136521#post136521" target="_blank">this</a> for basic epee/sabre tips for your first competition, and if you fence foil, say so and i'll whip up a few foil tips

[nm_demon]

It's foil

Also, anyone know where I could randomely get a glove that fits well (as opposed to my awesome gardening gloves of doom) somewhere in the Detroit/Dearborn/Novi/Plymouth/Canton area here in Michigan? It'd be nice for everything to fit just right, for once

PS Thx for all the tips, guys and gals!

[CarlKnoch]

Place to get a glove that fits well...... The Internet.

However if you need something faster than that I would search the internet for some fencing shop or club close by. Many larger clubs have gloves that they sell around my area.

[noodle]

physically buy one? no, not really
you're going to have to order one online. the bg acg glove is pretty nice for a beginner, imo. feels nice, lasts a while.

anyways, foil is a lot tougher to generalize than sabre and epee. here are a few thoughts from me:

-when you make a parry or a beat, you don't need to blast their blade out of their hand. don't wind up, don't hulk smash it, but don't give it a love tap, either. give it a solid tap and go.
-foil is a good combo of epee and sabre. when you have the chance, pick your opponent apart and keep good distance by doing feints that have no good chance of hitting, but seem like they do. beat their blade and act like you're going to hit them somewhere to see how they react. if they're predictable, try and use it to your advantage (if you beat 4, extend and they ALWAYS react with a circle 6, beat 4, extend, disengage around the circle 6 and hit). when you do make your attack, though, you gotta go. be aggressive and don't make timid attacks. timid attacks usually result in distance falling just a little too short. if you're going to go, go.
- if you're fencing someone else who is also reasonably new, disengages are generally your silver bullet. beat, disengage. beat, slow disengage initially, disengage quickly a second time.
- if you're reasonably atheletic and/or quick, try and work yourself into close distance and do a beat, extend, lunge as fast as you can. add a disengage if you need to. most new people aren't very quick on their feet with keeping distance, if you can break it fast, you're likely to hit them before they move away and/or can react with a parry.

anyway, those are my initial thoughts. its been a while since i fenced foil and its been even longer since i've been a new fencer fencing foil but those are some tidbits i remember from my early days both in fencing and in foil.

[nm_demon]

Okay, thanks! Those tps were very helpful Noodle. Another thing, this time more specific:

Half the time, when we bouted to get ourselves "into it" last class, I realized that if I did any sort of attack, they'd cringe back and just attack me back by lunging/extending at me at the same time I'm attacking, making it sound like a parry riposte (they'd accidentally nick my foil.) I hit them first, with a beat-attack, but now it's a parry! Bleh. I'd sometimes parry this weird thing well, too, or hop backwards ( hehe this probably sounds SO amateur,) but sometimes this "random" attack would score them a touch.

Any ideas as how to lessen the threat of such an attack, or, technically, this kind of riposte ?

[noodle]

Originally Posted by nm_demon

Okay, thanks! Those tps were very helpful Noodle. Another thing, this time more specific:

Half the time, when we bouted to get ourselves "into it" last class, I realized that if I did any sort of attack, they'd cringe back and just attack me back by lunging/extending at me at the same time I'm attacking, making it sound like a parry riposte (they'd accidentally nick my foil.) I hit them first, with a beat-attack, but now it's a parry! Bleh. I'd sometimes parry this weird thing well, too, or hop backwards ( hehe this probably sounds SO amateur,) but sometimes this "random" attack would score them a touch.

Any ideas as how to lessen the threat of such an attack, or, technically, this kind of riposte ?

well, lets see. you're not being entirely specific so i'll just throw my thoughts on on this one, too

- finish your attack. this seems to be the #1 thing i yell at my foil teammates when they're on strip. if you have right of way and you know it, finishhhhh. don't let their random counterattacks or reactions bother you. sometimes in practice its good to deal with their counterattacks, but in a tournament, if they throw one out there and you can still hit them, finish the attack.
- if they accidentally nick your foil in their counterattack, it probably is a parry riposte or would be called as such. don't let them hit your blade. disengage or just keep it farther away from their blade and finish.
- fencing new people (like yourself) can often be frustrating for more experienced fencers. its tough to tell what they're doing, to predict where they're going to react. sounds to me like this is kind of the problem that you're having. the best thing you can do is keep things simple. don't let them hit you if you can help it. if you have any weird reactions, its ok. not like i can explain them away for you

[nm_demon]

Originally Posted by noodle

- finish your attack...
...not like i can explain them away for you

That advice is perfect. For some reason, whenever I mulled this problem over in my head, I always think: "Okay. Attack! I hit them. Yay. What's that, random nick-age?! Parry, hit them again." But what you said works tons better. Don't let them hit my blade (why I are so dumb?) lol thanks for putting up with me!

[daeceg]

Are you fencing electric or dry?

Having novices judging touches is one of the more frustrating experiences I've encountered...a valuable learning tool for them, but still really exasperating when that incidental blade contact is considered a legit parry.

One sure-fire tip. Make certain the hit is obvious-don't just tap it, make sure the blade flexes, if you're steam-fencing.

Keep fencing until you hear a 'halt'. I've seen several novices stop fencing when they *think* a halt should have been called, then get scored on.

[jBirch]

4 bits of advice in addition to the above for your first tourny:

"When in doubt, attack."
"Never stop moving"
"Never look at the box"
"HIT THE TARGET!"

If you feel good enough, try to find out one response that each opponent will do and then counter it. If you know that when you attack, they'll counter attack: parry their attack and hit them back. If you find out that a beat to the blade confuses 'em, do that. If you find out that they telegraph their attack, change the distance or parry. If you find that they always fall for an inside feint, feint-disengage. This is the chess part of the game and if you can do it for even one move, then you're going to dominate the match.

"He who thinks fastest, laughs best"

Take it easy and have fun.

[D'Artag-NOT]

1) Watch the distance--a lot of beginners fence too close.

2) WORD to those who advised you to finish your attacks!

3) Do NOT get into the habit of looking at the box. The box is for the director, not the fencers. Fence until the director calls "Halt" rather than glancing around at the sound of a buzz (possibly leaving yourself vulnerable to attack!).

4) Move, move, move. You've got the whole strip. No need to confine yourself to the middle 1/3 of it.

5) Relax and let yourself have fun. Every tournament is a learning experience--the first tournament, more so.

[nm_demon]

Originally Posted by D'Artag-NOT

1) Watch the distance--a lot of beginners fence too close.

Alright. I'll stay back and chill, then try to get them after they're used to me backing up

Thanks everyone, once again. I'm off to the match (bout, right ? ) now !

[nm_demon]

Woot! Got second place! Jaja!

[wflaschka]

Originally Posted by nm_demon

Woot! Got second place! Jaja!

Wow, we're good! j/k -- I'm sure you had something to do with it. Congrats on your result!

[Demothenes]

hey ya'll I don't have anything to add to what's been said but I'm also a new fencer (3 lessons so far) but I love it and I'm addicted already, it's most of what I think about. Anyways, I just thought I'd say hi to everyone and introduce myself (Matt, pleased to meet yuh).
-Matt