Behind Schedule

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Eh.... I'm a moderately not mediocre fencer who has been at it for a year and a half, I go to practice twice a week and am in moderately good shape, I'm a U. Am I behind schedule for getting my E? I'm prepared to be flamed here, so go ahead.

[CarlKnoch]

I don't think there is a "behind schedule" for getting your first classification. However, I'm not taking into account that you yourself might have a timetable for getting that E. Have you made a plan? Do you have a goal for when to get the E by?

I found that the plans I made early on where easy, and then when I revised the plans they became much harder.

I would suggest you make a goal for when, and then adapt your training schedule to make it happen!

Good luck!
C

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Well, my plan so far has been to get it as soon as possible. But thats easier said than done, considering that SOOO many events in the south will have 5 people, just one shy of being an E rated event,

[TooLoftheDeviL]

Well, my plan so far has been to get it as soon as possible. But thats easier said than done, considering that SOOO many events in the south will have 5 people, just one shy of being an E rated event,

Where in the south are you fencing?

[CarlKnoch]

Yah. Come up to Virginia or Maryland and you could probably get an E pretty fast. We seem to have lots of ratings rallys, Maryland especially.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Where in the south are you fencing?

I frequent tournaments in the TN and GA area.

[glowstix]

its easier said than done but just go out and fence and TRY NOT to think about ratings. the first tournament i really went out and just concentrated on "fencing" and not "ratings" was the one i actually earned the rating in. there really isn't any time table.

what i think you really mean is how you measure up against other people. this is not a good way but its an easy trap to fall into. you see other people with whatever rating who've been fencing for however long and you think you should be there too but there are other factors involved. don't worry about the other higher rated people on this board or in your club. just fence!!

[TooLoftheDeviL]

I frequent tournaments in the TN and GA area.

There's plenty of tournaments in GA with more than 5 people in them. Try going to the Atlanta Fencers' Club monthly tourney.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I didnt know they have a monthly tournament... it doesnt say so on their webstie.

[oiuyt]

I didnt know they have a monthly tournament... it doesnt say so on their webstie.

So much for that whole proper notice requirement for tournaments to be sanctioned and award classification changes.... :)

GA division website appears out of date and the schedule link doesn't work anyway. Perhaps the tournaments are listed in whatever newletter-type thing the division mails out to members? Mmm, GA div website does appear to have up to date results posted. AFC events listed are Jan 04, Oct 03, Feb 03, and Jan 03. Not exactly monthly events. Perhaps there are others which merely don't appear on the divisional website? That said, the events that are listed look solid. Actually, poking around a bit more I don't understand how you think that ANY of the events have only 5 people. Looks like there're plenty of opportunities to earn ratings in Georgia.

-B :)

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

what I should have said is that, whenever I do well at a tournament, there are only 4-5 people. Thats what I meant to say. But they do need to update their site.

[oiuyt]

Don't worry about the rating. If you're good enough to deserve one and you compete frequently you'll get it eventually. If you don't deserve one you shouldn't worry about not having it. If you don't compete frequently then THAT'S your problem. In any case it's not like the fate of the world, or even of your fencing rests on whether or not you have a rating (and then what that rating is).

Fence for fencing, let ratings take care of themselves.

-B :)

[Artisan]

Two things: obviously, improve your fencing; but also go to the toughest competitons you can find. Thats where more ratings are to be had in the first place, so you statistically improve your odds, and you will also improve your skills by facing tougher competators (if you fence with your head and are able to learn as you go)

Winning a small comp to get a rating is tougher than placing in the top 8, 12, or 16 of a larger "harder" competition.

At an A4 with 64 people, 48th place gets an E. You only have to place higher than 25% of the field for the E, while at a B2 with 25 you need to be 12th or better (48%) for an E.

At a C2 with 35 people, which would be a good turnout for a local event, you need to be 8th or better (78%) for an E.

At a U event with 6 people you need to win, and be in the top 84% If a D1 event with no rated fencers has 25 people, you still need 4th or better for an E (84% to 99.02%) )and 1st for a D (99.06%).


I also think that veterans events are a bit of a back door to earn C's, D's and E's. At a Vet's NAC there are apt to be large fields of low rated fencers entering comps along with many A's and B's, giving the event the quantity and quality to be a high classification event. If you were to split a 64 person A4 in the middle of the initial seeding list and make two separate tournaments, the top half would make an A2 easily, and the bottom 32 would struggle to be a C2 with ratings to the top 8 (1-Cs,3-Ds,4 Es), yet as a single A4, the bottom 32 would get (1-D for 32nd, and 16 E's for places 33-48). This effect levels out for A's & B's in the vets, except for the incidences of weird upsets where a potential top 8 or 16 finisher gets knocked out by a fencer from the bottom half, but then upsets can happen anywhere anytime - especially at epee.

At a corresponding Div 1 or 1a A4 event, there simply won't be any U's E's, or D's to fill out the numbers and be fodder for the middling fencer to get to the middle of the field. If you split it in half, you end up with two A2's or an A2 and a B2, and either will be a tough time for a new C to do well in.

[Craig]

Eh.... I'm a moderately not mediocre fencer who has been at it for a year and a half, I go to practice twice a week and am in moderately good shape, I'm a U. Am I behind schedule for getting my E? I'm prepared to be flamed here, so go ahead.

As others have said - go to more and larger tournaments. Email or call Gene at the AFC and get his tournament schedule. He'll usually be able to share either likely entries or the numbers from past events.

Also - if you are young (ie - you're not a post-college wage slave yet), then practice more than 2x/week. Do something physical every day or 6 days/week whether it's running a couple of miles, fencing, core strength training, or other fitness activities. The work you put in now will post dividends in the years to come in your fencing career - plus you'll win more which will make you enjoy it more.

Craig

[rtran]

At an A4 with 64 people, 48th place gets an E. You only have to place higher than 25% of the field for the E, while at a B2 with 25 you need to be 12th or better (48%) for an E.

At a C2 with 35 people, which would be a good turnout for a local event, you need to be 8th or better (78%) for an E.

At a U event with 6 people you need to win, and be in the top 84% If a D1 event with no rated fencers has 25 people, you still need 4th or better for an E (84% to 99.02%) )and 1st for a D (99.06%).

Nice numbers but they're not very realistic. You'll rarely see tournaments meeting the bare minimums for a particular classification so the percentages will be a bit lower. Also in the higher competitions (A2, B2, C1, C2), on average you will see around 2-4 new ratings being handed out with alot of these being renewals for the new year.

There's really no timetable for a new rating. I do however find this method of determining what rating you should be at to be pretty effective.
If you're beating D rated fencers at tournaments consistently you should be close to your E, it's just a matter of going to enough tournaments.
If you're beating C rated fencers at tournaments and reearning your E consistently you should be close to your D, it's just a matter of going to enough tournaments.
And just repeat this so forth for other ratings.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Hmmm... I've nearly gotten my E a few times, so I'm not far from it. I hope.

[D'Artag-NOT]

Eh.... I'm a moderately not mediocre fencer who has been at it for a year and a half, I go to practice twice a week and am in moderately good shape, I'm a U. Am I behind schedule for getting my E? I'm prepared to be flamed here, so go ahead.

To quote from Ordinary People (an excellent novel made into an excellent movie well before you were born)--

Behind what? The Golden Gradebook in the Sky?

Others have already advised you about strategies for pursuing your goal of getting an E, and it's fine to have goals. But from many of the posts I've read from you, DFP=H!, you just really love to fence. Please don't ever lose that in your quest to get a rank or meet some self-imposed deadline.

[MyraTrue]

Hmm... behind? Nope. I think when a fencer gets a letter depends on too many things to put a time one it. It took me 2 years, and I still haven't figured out how I got an E. I fenced 5 times a week and tournamented most weekends and it took me 2 years.

But I fight with not being a natural athlete, fencing without a coach, fencing a very limited numbers of opens and a lot of team events etc.

Don't be too quick to use a letter to define your fencing (I know, its nice to be able to tell people you have a letter when they ask that evil "oh, you fence. Are you any good?", but...). I know this is kind of me soapboxing, but I know I really really really really really wanted that E. I figured it was like turning 18 or 21 or something that is supposed to be a great marker, the beginning of something different. It isn't, nothing is different, you still fence the same, think the same, react the same. You just have a letter.

Instead, try to evaulate your fencing. Is it getting better? Even if it isn't the type of better that gets you more points. Are you more comfortable with your footwork, or do you have to think less and do you react more? If you're getting better, thats worth more than a letter (in retrospect).

but also, good luck in eventually getting your E. It'll happen.