Newbie here....

[Karinka]

Good day!

Need some advice here. I just started fencing in December "by default". I took my son to fencing practice at his club and the instructor talked me into staying for the night's footwork and a brief lesson. I really enjoyed it. However, prior to this time, I had stayed away as I have two things going against me...no depth perception and slow eye hand coordination. My coach says he can work with me on these things...and I have been attending practice a minimum of 2 nights a week...sometimes 3 with private lessons in between.

I know it has only been 9 weeks, but I just don't feel like it is "clicking" at all. I'm having a hard time with ripostes and just simple attacks. I can parry...but then I freeze.

At what point should I consider throwing in the towel? I am 47 years old...so I do understand the learning curve of older fencers. I am in good shape otherwise....102 pounds....with no other health problems other than the eye problems.

What do you guys think? I feel with as much time as I am putting in, I should be seeing more progress.

Any input is appreciated.

Thank you kindly!

Karinka

[JackOfHearts]

I think you should stick with it. I've seen people who are a lot younger then you that have fenced for quite a bit longer that still have problems with parry-ripostes. If you really enjoy it, stick with it. It'll "click" after enough practice, just keep listening to your coach. You can do it.

[Zilverzmurfen]

Yes, listen to Jack!

Please don't throw in the towel just yet. Allow it some time. Believe me, it takes some time for the movements and coordination to 'click'. (At least it did for me! )

Please give it a couple of months, let's say, the spring term. If you like footwork already chances are you'll stick with the sport, 'cause we all hate it!

And you're not too old as this is a sport for life. Given, you will probably never be an olympian champion, but then again very few of us will. As long as you enjoy it -- welcome to this fantastic sport!

[larry hurdiss]

Hi, karinka...
lol...i will " see you, and raise you a bunch"....
i am also a beginner, and you are a kid, compared to me...
almost nothing "clicks" yet, except my foil....usually when it shouldnt...
like you...i have a teen taking lessons, and i got hooked,..........
i agree with Jack and our Svedish smurf....'
hang in there....what have you got to loose...and what else would you rather be doing....
it actually does seem to be getting at least a little better...now if the teenagers would just "show a little respect" for my age....lol....
enjoy it~!!~

[Fencergrl]

Karinka,

Give it some time. I started fencing in my early 40's and I still have a tough time with some drills. I love fencing. It makes me feel great and I miss the sport when I take breaks from it.

If you are enjoying it, keep doing it. You'll be surprised how you'll progress over time. I’ve been fencing a couple years. Usually at tournaments, I am one of the oldest women fencing and finish at a respectable placing.

I chose this sport because it was one of the few that had people in their 50’s, 60’s and beyond compete. Many sports you can’t compete this late in life.

So if you enjoy the sport keep going. It’ll “click” for you… just give it time.... 9 weeks is nothing.

[larry hurdiss]

Hi, fencergrl....
lol....now you're just sayin that to make me feel good.............;-)
i must admit i was releaved when my instructor/ coach reassured me that i wouldnt be bouting opponents a fraction of my age....phew ~!
lol
my wife and son and i will be heading to your neck of the great Canadian woods to ski in a couple of weeks....i graciously allowed that i would give up on trying snowboarding another time.....last Christmas' lessons cost me some un-fun back surgery....lol..
so far fencing has only been a slight ankle sprain....;-)
and the gym is lots warmer.....
TY for your comments....i enjoy your posts...

[Fencergrl]

The skiing is great in BC this season.... mainly because we've broken all records for the month of January.... Raining 29 days out of the 31 for this month with something like 250 mm of rain...

Being a Westcoaster it didn't seem THAT bad... most of us here like the rain because it means snow on the mountains.... for me, I just like the rain (and miss it when it's been too dry).

This snowpack will likely give us a nice long ski season (into May/ June).

As for bouting fencers a fraction of your age... it's not too bad. Those under 20 don't have much mental "toughness".

Also younger folks will take one look at you and really underestimate your abilities. 5 points isn't much time to figure out you are wrong until you're shaking hands....

[Inquartata]

Fencergrl has the key: stick with it as long as you enjoy doing it.

Fencing has a compartatively long, flat learning curve compared to a lot of sports, because it requires so many faculties to be working and developing at once. But we modern Westerners seem to have come to regard anything that takes more than a little time to learn as scarcely worth pursuing. If we try something, we expect to be good at it immediately. I see this mostly with young fencers, whose age exacerbates the problem: after all, if a 20-year-old puts six months into something, that's what? 2.5% of his entire life to that point? We get novices in who seem to think that they ought to be ready for the Olympics within a month or two, and when they aren't they just lose interest.

And then, we don't all learn at the same pace. It was years before I mastered enough of the game to consider myself even an adequate fencer...by which I mean before I reached that point where enough of the basics became ingrained in muscle memory and I stopped having to think about them while doing them....when I could focus on the actual tactical fencing. But the important part was that I didn't care, because I was having so much fun doing it that I didn't much care whether I was doing it well or not. As long as I was enjoying myself and improving, however glacially, that was all that mattered. ( And too, sometimes one cannot see one own improvement; one is too close and too obsessed to make an objective evaluation. )

I can give you my attitude in a nutshell. If offered a choice between being made unbeatable for the next three years---World Championships, Olympic gold medal, the apogee of success, but followed by the inability ever to fence again---and the ability to fence for a lifetime without ever winning another bout, even against the rankest novice...I would choose the latter.

If you enjoy it, don't worry about mastery or success. Those will come superveniently. And if they don't....so what?

[Karinka]

Thank you for the frank and honest replies. I appreciate your input.

I DO enjoy it (fencing), so for now I will let that be my criteria. I feel better now and will stop putting so much pressure on myself. Even my Coach said I don't trust myself enough.

Tomorrow is another private lesson in the a.m. and a group lesson in the p.m. I am going to print out your replies and keep them in my fencing bag as a reminder to keep things in perspecitve.

Thanks guys....thank you kindly....
Karinka

[Coup de Grace]

Hang in there. Remember, this is a game. Don't forget to have fun.

Like many I started late as well. It takes time to un-learn (dis-learn?) things we have always done without thinking about it. Before I started fencing two years ago, I would move my feet forward like a normal human. Now right before I take a step foward, my right arm mysteriously extends first. It is quite a converstation piece entering an elevator

Seriously, it takes time. But if you stick with it, with appropriate levels of humor, you will get it.

Welcome to the steel addiction.

[larry hurdiss]

To All of you "veterans"....Coup,,Inq..and fencergrl.....my TY's also...
i am also brand new.....and just loving the heck out of it....
i may never be "great"...in anyone else's estimation....but i am thrilled to just keep getting trying,
LOL...
i did give up on snowboarding after 3 days of the worst beating i have even taken.....
talk about STEEP learning curves....;-)
i'll stick with fencing...
[ fencergrl..we will be there from Feb 11-18....enjoying your snow ~!]

[La_Fee_Verte]

Stick with fencing. Period. The world can use more of us. You can't fix everything at once, so don't try. And of course, you can never fix the past. Every time you learn something it lets you learn something else. It's like a long trip up a never ending mountain. Every step up let's you see a new vista that wasn't available before. You can always step down and revisit a former view knowing what else you can see further up.
As my coach says, "relax, relax." Try fencing one time as if it didn't matter. No today, no tomorrow. Just now. You will be amazed. Welcome to this most amazing of passions.

[Karinka]

Well...tonight I went to group with all of your replies tucked in my bag...and just decided to have fun..."as if it didn't matter"...and I was able to slow down, and yes...have fun. I have a long way to go, and as larry hurdiss stated,I recognize my lown imitations and may never be "great"...but now I am going to enjoy the "journey" rather than fight a timetable.

La Fee Verte.....do we have the same coach? Mine tells me to "RELAX!!!!" all of the time too!

Thanks again to those of you who replied. You have given me the motivation to stick with it. I appreciate your time.

Karinka

[larry hurdiss]

Well done,,,,Kat !!
as someone once told me....
if you arent having fun....why do it!!!!
has your child introduced you the the series of "Swords n Sorcery" books....
"the Wheel of Time".........??? lol
in it ...the hero ...of course...becomes a master swordsman...after much training....
but the comment that sticks the most in my mind...( when i stop panicking about being threatened by 3 feet of cold steel ),,,,is the attitude of the "Aiel"........[ fierce lady fighters...with short spears..]....
they,,,,,,,,"Dance the Spears"..............
and longer..ago...my first ski instructor told me in fractured German...to
"Dance the Mountain"...
lol........
and .........lastly.....from Garth Brooks....
" when you have the chance............i hope you DANCE! "........
lol
( now if i can only remember that in my next lesson ;-).)

[Fencergrl]

Just be aware of the tension in your body when you fence. Relax when you feel yourself tighten up. Your movements will become more fluid and faster. I find I enjoy myself more when I'm relaxed.

I find visualizing being relaxed while fencing helps. I do this when my body is completely relaxed (such as when I'm about to go to sleep or meditating during yoga). When I feel my body totally relaxed I visualize fencing and having smooth fluid movements (I find this is also a good time to review my lessons).

[BrianH]

Good advice, FG. I'd like to add that learning to relax on the strip carries over into stressful situations in real life too. I learned to recognize shoulder and neck tension and deal with it in fencing first, then while driving, in meetings, at funerals, etc.

I began fencing in 1980, and still enjoy it tremendously, regretting only that I can't do it more often for logistical reasons. Yes, it takes longer to recover from training and bouting, but it is worth every ache. Since I also teach, I am motivated to train enough to stay ahead of my students; it's so great to say "But I'm three times your age, and I can do it!".

Stick with it, Karinka, and I think you'll find it is worth it. Good luck to you.

[Karinka]

again for your responses. I am really concentrating on trying to "relax" on the strip. It is hard though when you are trying to concentrate on proper hand movements, getting the feet to slow down while at the same time watching what your opponent is doing...but I am keeping your replies in my bag and rereading them when frustration sets in.

I spent the entire day at a Championship event that my son and some of his friends attended. A WHOLE day of nothing but fencing (from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm). What a great way to spend the day. (I just wanted to pick up a weapon and fence myself!!!!)

Monday night...another night of "dancing with the swords"!!! Can't wait.

Thanks again.
Karinka