Fencing clubs

[Jonny Boy]

I feel like i am the only person to fence propely at my fencing club does enyone else feel the same?

[Zilverzmurfen]

No.

But then I don't know anything about your club...

[parrythis]

Do you fence better than you spell?

[Shevy]

Your pushing it to far rabbit stop. Your already in trouble withe Dave. Stop know.

[Schiavona]

Originally Posted by Shevy

Your pushing it to far rabbit stop. Your already in trouble withe Dave. Stop know.

Rewritten, your message would read thusly; You're pushing it too far, Rabbit. Please stop. You are already in trouble with Dave. Stop now.

Peach, did the public schools compleatly give up on teaching grammer?

[epee1]

Originally Posted by Jonny Boy

I feel like i am the only person to fence propely at my fencing club does enyone else feel the same?

If you aren't becoming a better fencer by being there than you have to find another salle. It does you no good to fence down to someone else's level - you only get better by continuously stretching your limits.

[mrbiggs]

Originally Posted by Jonny Boy

I feel like i am the only person to fence propely at my fencing club does enyone else feel the same?

Both of the clubs I fence at have quite a bit of not-so-good form. (Like not moving the back arm when lunging in foil, not like doing something REALLY bad.) Personally, I just fence my way and do my best, despite what the people around me are doing. Oh, and my coaches do teach good form. The students don't always implement it.

Oh, and sometimes I fence in a certain way to make a point. For example, I saw a fencer in my club, younger and less experienced than me, with his back arm down. As is common with inexperienced fencers who drop their arm too soon, he couldn't really lunge, and he just hopped to finish his attacks. (He didn't fleche, either.) I asked him to fence, and beat him 15-1 with nothing but good distance and an extended arm. I waited until he had cooled off (it's frustrating to be beaten like that), and told him why it had happened, and now he can lunge well again.

Kinda off-topic, but a good story nonetheless.

[CvilleFencer]

Johnny Boy, grammar issues aside (I am the last person to give anyone grief over that...) I do not feel that way at my club. However as one of the coaches I feel that I am a stronger fencer than a great many of the fencers in my club with a few exceptions, so I know a bit of where you are coming from. I am lucky in that I have another salle that I think of as my "competition" or "training" club about an hour away that is very strong and I can go there and get my ego beaten in (and with any luck learn something new amongst all the feeling sorry for myself or tears of shame brought on by my crappy fencing) at least once a week.

If you are one of the top fencers at your club, you can look for other clubs in the area that you can travel to that are stronger, or just different, in your chosen weapon. Even if you can only make it once or twice a month it can be very useful (a good number of the better fencers at my "training" club travel an hour or so further once a week to take lessons and fence at an even stronger club with even more experienced coaches so it makes a great trickle down effect. They learn from one of the better coaches in the state, bring it back to their club, which I go to and try to pick up as much as I can and bring back to my club. At least one fencer at my club travels about an hour to fence with us and takes what he learns back and teaches it to his club... You see how this goes right?).

If you are able to do this, you can use your "training" club to learn new things and identify problems with your fencing. You then go back to your normal club and work on these things by treating your bouts with your clubmates as drills. Work on only hand touches, try to deliberately distract yourself to simulate being surprised in an action (I like to sing and stare off the side of the strip), do footwork only or impose bladework limitations on yourself or one of a zillion things depending on what you need to work on in your fencing. In this way you can still grow as a fencer, your skills will improve and the level of fencing at your club will improve (at least if you are willing to share what you learn with your clubmates).

I often see a lot of fencers during open fencing go into every bout like it was the round of 2 at a WC. I tend to think this is a mistake if that is all one does. Open fencing should be used to refine your skills and work on new things. Sure, sometimes fence bouts with intensity, but don't forget to work on things to keep you crisp and sharp and to add new things to your game. Anyway, there are a few suggestions for you. Hope that helps or gives you some ideas.

[ThatReallyHurt]

Originally Posted by Schiavona

Rewritten, your message would read thusly; You're pushing it too far, Rabbit. Please stop. You are already in trouble with Dave. Stop now.

Peach, did the public schools compleatly give up on teaching grammer?

Rewritten, your message would read thusly; Peach, did the public schools completely give up on teaching grammar?

Peach, did the public schools completely give up on teaching spelling?

[CvilleFencer]

Come on guys, this is a discussion forum, not a spelling be or a "lets see who can prove they were the teachers pet in English class" contest. Besides, I thought it was generally considered a point of forum etiquette to ignore online spelling/grammar mistakes. If not it probably should be as it is a bit petty and wasteful of bandwidth. I sometimes find some of the truly horrible posts such as the ones with zero punctuation or capitalization to be rather obnoxious, but even for me this is taking it a bit far. Spelling and grammar mistakes happen. Let it go...

[Alain]

At my club I don't feel the same way as you Jonny. As suggested, it might be a good idea to try other clubs (and also competitions) in the area to get some more experience. You shouldn't look down on beginners - instead, use them to try out new moves; rather than just toying with them, work for every hit and you'll get more benefit. Good luck

[Schiavona]

Originally Posted by ThatReallyHurt

Rewritten, your message would read thusly; Peach, did the public schools completely give up on teaching grammar?

Peach, did the public schools completely give up on teaching spelling?

The Nuns pounded proper spelling into me, but the drinking I did in college washed it all away!

[Schiavona]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

Come on guys, this is a discussion forum, not a spelling be or a "lets see who can prove they were the teachers pet in English class" contest. Besides, I thought it was generally considered a point of forum etiquette to ignore online spelling/grammar mistakes. If not it probably should be as it is a bit petty and wasteful of bandwidth. I sometimes find some of the truly horrible posts such as the ones with zero punctuation or capitalization to be rather obnoxious, but even for me this is taking it a bit far. Spelling and grammar mistakes happen. Let it go...

I was poking fun at the "you're in trouble" post, not the one that started the thread. I learned that compleate was correct not complete, though both were accepted. Those wacky Nuns!