How to study moves

[sophia*alexis]

Hey there,
I'm trying to study the moves of my opponents. Does anyone knows what to take note of? And how can I improve my footwork?


Alexis

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Originally Posted by sophia*alexis

Hey there,
I'm trying to study the moves of my opponents. Does anyone knows what to take note of? And how can I improve my footwork?


Alexis

Studying the moves of your opponent is largely a by-product of knowing the moves themselves. If you know what move they are using, then its downhill. For footwork, the most important thing is perfect practice in front of a mirror. Practice it when you're fresh, so that way you can keep your form.

Your brain sends signals to the muscles telling them to contract or relax. Footwork trains your brain to send these signals faster. More important then the training of muscles is the training of the brain to send these signals fast, and in the correct order. If your brain doesnt send the signal for your hamstring to relax, then your quadricep will have to work harder to counteract the force of the hamstring, therefore making the extension of your leg slower, and more tiring. This is why practice is crucial to endurance, because economy of motion is more important than overall endurance, but footwork practice develops both, making it a staple in the training regimen of any competitive fencer. In footwork, constant repetition of perfect footwork is the key to improving it, as it strengthens and speeds the signals your brain sends to your muscles.

Good footwork is the footwork that keeps you in distance when you need to be, and out of distance when you need to be. This would dictate that small and rapid changes of direction are constantly neccasary, as well as speed of the footwork. Rapid changes of direction are only possible when the body is in balance, and whenever you step, you are out of balance, therefore, minimizing the time your foot is off the floor is the key to balance. Basically, take small steps, and keep them close to the floor.

[sophia*alexis]

Thanks! Yeah...I frequently lose my balance when I lunge to attack. As a result, I tend to cross my legs when I'm doing my final attack. And my footwork is always consistent and large. Despite, frequent reminders from my coach.

[glowstix]

as far as studying the moves go, the things i look for is what happens before the "move" is done. what type of preparation is the fencer doing; how is he setting up his opponent to do the "move"; what type of action is he provoking out of his opponent.

i'll take a simple example in foil: suppose your opponent is good at inviting an attack into prepartion to set up his parry riposte. things to look for how he goes about drawing out the AIP from his opponent. is he just marching down the strip with withdrawn arm? is he attacking the blade then dropping his arm to invite the attack?? look for those cues and don't fall for them. look to create situations which takes your opponent out of his comfort zone so he can't do his "move" or whatever.

this is just one idea that i play with...

as far as footwork goes, it can't hurt to have some daily routine going. focus on form, go slowly, start simple and work up to more complicated sequences.

[sophia*alexis]

Thanks for yr response!
Yup, I've been trying to study and analyse their moves. It's quite tough as they're quite fast and I'm trying to relive those moments. I believe my study will be more sensitive as I gain more experience.

[Sciurus-Rex]

This is going to sound a little odd, but it might help you break down the analysis into more manageable chunks. It's based on something our band director told us while trying to impart some small ability to transcribe music heard as it's being played on one instrument: The first time you hear a phrase or composition, focus on the rythm and length of the notes only (and mark them with shorthand). On the second pass, listen for the tone of each note so you determine where those marks go on the scale.

So if you're overwhelmed by what to watch on the strip, break it down. Start with the fencer's footwork only; get used to the tempo he (or she) uses for advances, retreats, lunges, and the body language quirks that can help you predict a particular pattern. Then move your attention to the fencer's arm and blade actions, and how they're interconnected to that first set of data still stored in your head -- for example, when he extends during an advance, or how he sets up a compound attack. Finally, focus on learning his innate preferences, such as whether he's a natural six parry or four, and how he reacts when he's crammed for space on a quick remise.

Analysis by zone -- footwork, arm/blade, and natural reactive tendancies, in that order. It's helped me and a few others. It doesn't work for everyone. Might be worth a try.

[noahz]

Originally Posted by sophia*alexis

Thanks! Yeah...I frequently lose my balance when I lunge to attack. As a result, I tend to cross my legs when I'm doing my final attack. And my footwork is always consistent and large. Despite, frequent reminders from my coach.

Knowing your opponent's "moves" (I think "tactics" is a better word) is not going to help you unless you have the technique to properly execute whatever counter-actions you come up with.

You should try to correct whatever fundamental footwork / blade work mistakes you are making (i.e. falling off balance during a lunge, making parries too wide etc.), then come back to tactics/strategy. The level of technical "perfection" you need varies according to the level of competition you're at (club, local, national, etc), but at a minimum you shouldn't be stumbling / falling down and hitting the floor constantly during the bout.

The cavet is: if you know an opponent always robotically does the same action - say, an exagerated jump-forward-beat-4 thrust attack - then you can spend some time learning how to deal with that one action. However, I think you'll find that you're new skill won't be that transferable to other fencers - the time would have been better spent improving your overall technique.

[Inquartata]

There is an easy answer to the problem of taking steps that are too large and overbalancing: sit down. A lot of fencers simply do not bend their legs enough and try to fencing standing, or almost standing. Lower your center of gravity beyond what is comfortable for you and you will not be physically able to take long steps in the way you are probably doing now. It will also help with balance issues. Holding your torso erect and your head up will also help. ( Some coaches teach a forward lean. It's situational, though, not constant. And one must learn to walk before one can run. Adopting this 'raked' posture too early in your development is counterproductive, IMO, leading to just the sort of problems you're describing. )

[Elemental]

I find that training with a Metranone or similar audible time counter helps. Perfecting motions at slower speeds and then gradually increases speed can help you get used to the proper motions and mechanics of an action.

It worked for me at least.

[Cipher]

When first analysing an opponent I notice whether he prefers to attack or defend, if there is a preference. If there is a preference, then change your tactics to bring him out of his comfort zone. Once you are comfortable doing that, then I try to find how my opponent attacks and defends. Most often at my level of fencing (very low) attacks only happen in a few ways. The fencer either establishes RoW (F&S) and tried to deceive his way to a point, he attacks the blade to get a reaction which is then deceived, or he attacks the blade to put it out of line to get an opening. Defense is similar. Most often there is a preference for either counterattacks, parry/riposte, or distance.

Once you see what your opponent wants to do, then it is just a matter of figuring out how to not let them do it. I'm not sure that my tactical analysis will hold up as I progress to higher levels of fencing and my opponents' diversity of techniques increases, but that is what works for me at the moment.

As for footwork... do it every day... no matter what. If you want to get better you have to practice. You eat every day, you sleep every day, now you must do footwork every day. So it is written, so shall it be done. --- Make sure that you periodically get your footwork evaluated by someone that is qualified to correct your mistakes.

[sophia*alexis]

Thanks! What u guys mentioned makes sense to me now. I guess in being too focus to score a point, I have neglected other areas of development. Correction should be done first, following improvement in speed and technique. Thanks guys!

[BenTheEMOP]

One other suggestion, try practicing footwork on your non-dominant side. Do it with your left hand and foot forward if you are a righty and vice versa. This forces your brain to think about correct form and slows you down so that you need tot ake the time to clean things up.

It feels strange, but then when you switch back to your dominant side, your brain has had some time to process the actions.