Advice, Please

[DE_Strip_Tease]

I lost my chance at getting my C rating at the Scenic City Open on Sunday and I was a little miffed. And I have had this realization that i have to either "get really good" or not...so I'm taking any advise people can give. any at all. What you have found that helps you get that much better.

[fencergal33]

Yes......we all get a little "miffed" when we miss a new rating by only a few points. The feeling does really suck. Unfortunately, you have to remember......it's just a letter. A lot of ratings is being in the right place at the right time, and as long as you are practicing and having a good time, the letters will come eventually.

[Mr Epee]

I lost my chance at getting my C rating at the Scenic City Open on Sunday and I was a little miffed. And I have had this realization that i have to either "get really good" or not...so I'm taking any advise people can give. any at all. What you have found that helps you get that much better.

In all seriousness, have you considered practicing?

The best advice in the world is useless, if you don't follow through.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Hours of footwork, dummy work, bouting, conditioning. Train like Joseph!

[Fencing Jesus]

Joseph of the multi-coloured bath robe?
Yeah, train like that guy.
He ended up being the Sultan of Egypt.
Not bad for a little jewish fella.

[Peach]

-Drill (alone and with a partner, footwork and bladework)
-Lessons (write down what you learn, and practice it)
-Focused bouting (For instance: Only attacks to wrist. Only indirect attacks. Using only a specific footwork pattern. Focusing on one weakness of your opponent. Focusing on beating them at their strength.)
-Cross training (aerobic and strength, focusing on the general areas and the parts of your physiology where you need improvement--endurance? speed? power? balance? quads? core? hand?)
-Tournaments (go to all the ones you can reach, whether high-level or low-level. Treat all of them except the ones you have chosen as your main events as training opportunities. At high level tournaments, watch your opponents and write down their habits, strengths, weaknesses. Write down what works against them and what doesn't, and the score when you fence them. At lower level tournaments do focused bouting.)
-Respect your training cycle. Build rest into your week, your month, your year. Plan to peak for your designated events.

[RebelFencer]

I lost my chance at getting my C rating at the Scenic City Open on Sunday and I was a little miffed. And I have had this realization that i have to either "get really good" or not...so I'm taking any advise people can give. any at all. What you have found that helps you get that much better.

Well, I can only speak from personal experience..but I hate losing. Again, I hate losing. I will do anything I can to prevent losing in tournaments. This is the mentality you're going to need. Watch how people who are consistantly finishing in the top four fence, try and take stuff you like about their style and apply it to your own.

Practice-wise:
"How you train in practice is how you'll compete in a tournament." Intensity is the most important thing you can develop. Don't confuse this with trying to win every practice bout, you should still try new techniques, etc. But when you try these, you need to practice them 100% with tournament-like intensity. Private lessons are for getting the techinque down, bouting is for making it work. Above all else, listen to your coach and ask him for help when you need it. Watch how more successful people in your club train and try to mimic it.

Cross training:
Endurance: Run a couple miles a day, 3xweek.
Weights: Full body workout with high reps and lower weight. You want to build strength, not muscle bulk.

It'd be a lot easier to do this stuff if you have a membership to the y or something.

good luck.

Edit:: Also, in order to fix your technique you're going to have to go back a few steps in order to fix them. Think of it as taking a couple steps backward in order to take many steps forward. It's frusterating when it happens, but once you take those steps forward it's more than worth it.

[RITFencing]

Have you considered keeping a journal? I believe there's already a thread on that subject, so I won't elaborate here, but I found that it really helped me out.