Training with beginners

[135711]

Has any rated fencer ever trained themselves?

[attila]

Not that hard. I did it , and I'm not the rocket science kind of guy.......

[D'Artagnan1673]

Well, I am just a meager E, but I've taught myself a great deal of what I know in epee.

Still, I believe that you must have some kind of foundation to keep yourself grounded. If you've already been given instruction, then that may be all that you need. Also, its good to get a few lessons and work real hard to remember everything that your instructor says.

I've got just a few things that I am really workign at improving myself with at the moment. I am working to increase my footwork, point control, and distance. The thing that is going to be the hardest is the point control. I am having to work fairly hard to reverse a problem wiht me being lazy in my grip. I've gotten to where I don't keep my hand at 3 o'clock when I lunge. I've noticed that I am missing a fair number of otherwise crispy performed stop thrusts because of the angle my blade is going at. On thing that I do to work on this is to practice the full arm extension with my epee in hand. I find that the more you work at something, the easier it gets to do it when it counts.

[DJ Apostrophe]

I got my D (at a fairly weak competition) in epee in february. My girlfriend taught me basic footwork last summer and I started competeing / going to clubs on my own around last july. I have taken all of one lesson... I feel like I am progressing decently, but I am going to begin taking lessons soon as my creative juices are being exhausted finding what it is i am doing wrong...

[135711]

how did you train yourself? i find this ABSORBING!

[Purple Fencer]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Originally posted by 135711:
<strong>how did you train yourself? i find this ABSORBING!</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">By what Carlos Fuertes calls "fencing by remote control." Meaning you do your best to pick up things as you go. Your technique won't be the best, but you could learn enough to scrape into an E or a weak D. That's how I got my E foil and sabre ratings, since I haven't been able to afford lessons (which should change in the near future)

[Jisahn]

Earning a rate after only one lesson?! What luxury! The local competitions here in Central Florida are usually quite decent. Last April, my pool consisted of two B fencers (both of which are certified coaches) and other, lesser rated invidivuals I've seen fence in past events.

Still, with my meager 2 years of blood and sweat, I finally managed to make it past the first round of direct eliminations, only to face a B rated south-paw (who later went on to win the competition).

Me thinks that a rate looms far ahead for yours truly

[attila]

HI

If you are after doing it this way there must not be any instruction nearby. I live in the boons and without a teacher I took my game to both a "B' in both foil and epee.
first compete more than you practice, and when you practice do it like at a competition.
when you fence at competitions seek out and analyze what the best fencers are doing. And if anyone is getting a lesson from a good coach drop what you are doing and take notes. Work on the weknesses of you game at home. Beg borrow or steal a video camera and record and analyze your form. I used to take a camera set it up and go through a routine. stop. rewind and analyze.record again . analyze and adjust. ad nauseaum.
travel alot. The bigger the tournaments the better.

[Gav]

The plus to teaching yourself is that you will probably pick up a highly unique style.

The minus is the same thing.

This will normally allow you to succeed in the low to mid levels of a tourney but limit your progress into the higher levels. THose at the low to mid levels will often find you hard to fence, those at the top will simply have a bigger range of countermeasures (they've probably had lots of exposure to lots of styles).

As someone has already mentioned get loads of experience, prefferable at the highest level competitions you can attend. Do not be discouraged you will in all likelyhood be creamed at first.

[135711]

i've met them before, i can't say that i like them very much, if you're going to a salle, i think you should take a few lessons from the instructor, otherwise you're using his students to learn. it's okay once in a while to fence around, but the lessons are important. the only person who can correct your mistakes are the coaches.