Advice/Help!

[Nach0o]

After about five years, i have the opportunity to fence again. Of course i'm ecstatic, and im slowly getting back into the swing of things.

The only problem is my coach says that she is not seeing a "finishing action" during my bouts

She also said that i should think of my opponent as a target rather than an actual person, which i understand to some extent, but if anyone could elaborate on this it would be fantastic.

There is some language barrier between my coach and i, so sometimes she has some trouble with what she is trying to explain to me. This is one of those times.

Anyway, thanks a bunch for whoever helps the noobie out.

[oiuyt]

Just guessing here, but it sounds like you're not hitting as if you intend to hit.

You don't want to hammer you opponent, but you should look decisive, especially when finishing.

One of the common reasons why people don't hit when trying to score is that they're afraid of hurting their opponent/partner. I suspect that this is where the opponent as target vs as person bit comes from (whether or not this is the reason that you aren't committing to the finish it might appear to be a likely cause).

-B

[Inquartata]

She probably means that you are starting attacks/ripostes but not finishing them smoothly and with alacrity. In other words, she's seeing a hesitation in your actions; you aren't completing them, thus giving your opponent time to do something to counteract what you intend. It's very common, even ( at times ) in advanced fencers.

Sometimes one thinks too much. One expects the opponent to do something and one pauses to wait for it, or tries to, say, beat their blade unnecessarily midway through a simple attack, or looks for an expected response to a feint, when one should just finish and hit....

As for the "target not person" angle, maybe your coach is perceiving a reluctance to hit your opponent. Many beginners suffer from this reluctance at first, especially ( forgive me ) women, who are often anxious either consciously or unconsciously not to do something which might "hurt the other person". Are you fencing small opponents, fragile-seeming opponents, or good friends? This might lead to an undue solicitude for their welfare and cause hesitations in your attack...

[KD5MDK]

Are you finishing your attacks with lunges or advances? Lunges are more aggressive looking, advances often look like you've misjudged your distance.

[knave]

I teach a fencing class at a women's college and I have a lesson on the syllabus called "Hitting/Being Hit". Begining fencers who have nice, solid, commited lunges against a wall or a fencing dummy often will pull their arm or their lunge short and just barely touch their opponent (if they touch them at all) when actually fencing. To combat this, I line half of my students up against the wall and have the other half lunge and hit them for a good ten minutes, then they switch places.

This doesn't solve the problem for everyone, but it does help a bit. I suspect if I were able to do this more and had students that were motivated by more than 1 pass/fail credit hour, this might be more effective.

If you can find a partner who won't mind standing still in full gear for a while and providing a live fencing dummy for you, you could try the same basic drill.

The other possibility that I can think of is you're misjudging your distance. You can't lunge to hit where your opponent is, but where they are going to be (for example, if they are retreating a lunge that would hit an opponent standing still at a particular distance will likely fail as they move away from the lunge).