ready to fence?

[saeras]

I've only been fencing for 6 monthes and I've only competed in one serious tournament , not including HS. I made it through the first elimination but then I got shut down by a lefty , but now I seriously want to try for a rating in a tournament next month for Cs and under, but I'm not quite sure if I'm ready since im so new to fencing. How long did you wait to fence your first tournament , and what was your placing?

[carlos]

You have to learn punctuation first.

[RebelFencer]

1 month.

[OROD]

It depends on what your goals are. Ask your coach. Ideally, if you're serious about getting better and eventually being a good fencer, you shouldnt start too early. When you're fencing to win you tend to develop bad habits. A good approach is to keep practicing, drilling, and taking lessons until you are solid in the basics. Again, your coach can help you know when this is. Then you can start competing. This can take different amounts of time depending on the person, I'd say dont start competing before 1 year of regular, serious training.

But again, that's just if you're serious. If you just want to fence to have fun then go compete whenever you want.


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[little_old_me]

I fenced for 3-4 weeks before my first tourny. I ended up 28th out of 30, but I read the score card wrong after pools and signed an incorrect score. I should have seeded around 20th in the DEs, instead I seeded 28th. My position didn't move as I fenced the 5 seed in my DE. I lost that 15-5. About a month later, I took 43rd out of 75 at my second tourny.

[rcmatthews]

man, if I had waited a year to start in tournaments, I would have only fenced in like 2 or 3 of them.

[felixduc]

It's a fun way to experience the atomosphere.

But, as someone said, also a great way to reinforce bad habits, which you will later have to spend time trying to break.

My coach wouldn't even let me fence electric before I had spent 6 months or so (a scholastic season) learning the basics. Then, the next season, we began learning about competitive fencing. We started on french-grip foils, too--we weren't allowed to use pistol grips.

I'd say get the basics down pat--your parries, lunge, basic attacks and defenses. You'll get frustrated quickly at a tournament if you're constantly parrying into the floor or making a mess of yourself (and not know why.)

[KD5MDK]

If you expect to get a rating at your second tournament, either pray to get really lucky, or expect disappointment. By remarkable coincidence, I did get an E at my second tournament. However, I took 8th place in a 15 person event and won my only DE because my opponent couldn't resist attacking my guard/forte. If she hadn't made that mistake something like 12 times in the bout, I wouldn't have won. That's called very lucky.

[hpfencing]

Originally Posted by OROD

It depends on what your goals are. Ask your coach. Ideally, if you're serious about getting better and eventually being a good fencer, you shouldnt start too early. When you're fencing to win you tend to develop bad habits.

In Amarica is seems everyone rushing into the competitive part of the sprot. maybe that is one of biggest weaknesses.

I know is some European Slaaes that i've stuied adn looked at, fencers don't even hold a blade for the first 3 months to a year as they only do footwork.

Do we push/rush into the competitive aspect, yes. Would we loose most of the fencing populatio if we didn't, yes....

[downunder]

Originally Posted by hpfencing

I know is some European Slaaes that i've stuied adn looked at, fencers don't even hold a blade for the first 3 months to a year as they only do footwork.

i thought this myth was well and truly dealt with?

[bigdawg2121]

I would say talk to your coach and do think about how you feel personally and do what you really want to do. I started competing relatively quickly all things considered, and for the longest time competing was my only real source of training and preparation for the big tourneys that mattered....while I'm not going to say that going that route is the best, it can work. Competing early won't preclude you from being a good fencer, so use your judgment.

[FeatherBlade]

I am going to my first local tournament next week and I am taking it more like to meet other fencers and see how everything works. Placing? If I don´t forget or get skewered I´ll get back to this thread next week
Anyway, been fencing less then 3 months...

[VELISARIOS]

I have fence for 6 months and then I have play in the tournament.

[Ramrod]

Did my first tournament after about 4 months. I don't remember the final placing but I got knocked out in the 1st DE and I'm sure it was in the bottom third. Took me about a year to get my first rating. I only fence twice a week though so there's not much time put into.

Having a job really interferes with my fencing time.

[jBirch]

I'm from the "compete early and often" school of fencing pedagogy. The ephemeral feel for "distance and timing", piste innovation and understanding *why* certain technical aspects matter are really best taught in competition (or the Russian school of pain=bad).

Big downsides are:

1) unrealistic expectations leading to frustration and compounding failure.
2) Early success reinforcing bad habits
3) Focus on what doesn't matter (flicks, fleche, etc...)
4) Ignoring your coach because you did well doing what they told you not to do. (So obviously your case is "special").

All of these are mental so if you approach competition with the right training mindset, you'll reap huge rewards.

James.

[OROD]

Originally Posted by jBirch

All of these are mental so if you approach competition with the right training mindset, you'll reap huge rewards.

The problem is that you learn those lessons through experience. If you're just starting out you wont know the downside of starting to compete early, so you cant really approach it with the right midset.


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[jBirch]

Originally Posted by OROD

The problem is that you learn those lessons through experience. If you're just starting out you wont know the downside of starting to compete early, so you cant really approach it with the right midset.
.

Right, which is why it's important for the coach to "brief" the fencer before they compete for the first time. Just blindly entering competitions can be very counter-productive if not done in concert with the coach's training plan.

Where I disagree with some other coaches is the idea that a fencer must achieve a certain level of proficiency before competing and that any results from your first competition mean anything. Rather, I think the reverse: that competition helps a fencer to achieve a certain level of competency more efficiently then training alone.

What I have noticed is that certain coaches want to protect their reputation and so only want to showcase fencers in competition who will represent the club well. Their poorer fencers are always left at home "until they are ready to compete". I disagree with this mindset.

Your advice (and others' too) is spot on, BTW OROD, and I hope I wasn't contravening the "ask your coach" sentiment here with my comments.

Hope this helps.

James.

[OROD]

Originally Posted by jBirch

Your advice (and others' too) is spot on, BTW OROD, and I hope I wasn't contravening the "ask your coach" sentiment here with my comments.

Not at all. It's just that often what you know and what you believe can be very different things, especially when you're starting out. The desire to start competing and have fun can overrule what you may tell yourself. That's why I think it's always best to go to your coach and lay out your goals and level of commitment and then say, "what do I need to do to get there". But, that's different for different people. For some it's ok to start competing right away and just go to have fun... they dont aspire to become a great fencer, or to win tournaments necessarily. That's cool. I'm just saying, if you ARE that competitive person and you CAN put in the time and you ARE WILLING to sacrifice now for the returns later, there's a certain way you should do things. Your coach can tell you what that way is.

And then again, sometimes you may disagree with your coach. Sometimes it's also ok to find a coach that fits better with what you're going for. But to get good, you need a plan, and you need to follow the plan. No one ever became a great fencer accidentaly.


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[Josedariom]

I dont know I competed in my first competition after about two months, but it was one age category higher and I felt that it was good for my first coach to do this but later on he kept it up an I kept learning but it also was not good for my confidence. In one competition, after not tranng for about two weeks, I got so nervous before the competition I made up a stomach ache so I wouldnt have to compete. I was about 13 years old, and now am 1. I have realized how stupid this was, but I have also realized how essential it is to feel prepared for a competition.

[KD5MDK]

How did you go from 13 to 1? Are you Merlin?