Newbie

[LisaP]

Hello Everyone! I am a newbie here and looking forward to discovering your world of fencing! Yesterday I just had my second class.... YEAH!!!

I am curious if you all have any suggestions on how to practice on my own. My biggest fear is picking up bad habits while on my own and bringing them into the classroom. Any tips &/or help is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

[poor_nizzie]

Welcome to the madness, childishness, and genius that is the forum!

[Go? Fencing?]

Welcome! You're absolutely right about the danger of practicing bad habits. I suggest that since you've only had a few classes, you ask your coach about what you can do at home. He/she might have some ideas of things you can do that are less likely to form bad habits, or could suggest some general exercises to work on muscle groups.

[RITFencing]

Hi! Welcome to the forum and all that. You and Go? are right, it's very easy to pick up bad habits. If you have a friend who is a more experienced fencer, you may be able to get them to help out with things between classes, or if you talk to your coach you may be able to come into the club a bit more often. Perhaps they run multiple beginner classes concurrently?

Once you get a handle on the very basics, it will become much easier to practice at home. However, if you REALLY want to do something that will beenfit your fencing and can't get any guidance from a coach/experienced friend in your off time, you can always do some aerobics, calesthenics, stretching, jogging, other exercise. I don't know if you know a lot about exercise or what kind of shape you're in now, but some stretching, jogging on a track, treadmill or other surface that's easy on the knees, and some other light exercise, or maybe some yoga to help flexibility, might prove very beneficial not only to your fencing but to your health.

Happy fencing, and I hope you stay as in love with the sport as you are now!

[LisaP]

Thank you all for your kind welcome!

[I_luv_saber]

Welcome! Your starting foil I assume . Ah well... we have plenty of time to convert you to the true path later !

Yeah... not much new to say other than what has been said. Just do basic exercising (but no, or little weights IMO), especially cardio and other such exercising. Other than that, just have fun! Hope you become as hopelessly in love with it as I have!
-Jared

[little_old_me]

By true path, he means the one without those silly lamés.

[I_luv_saber]

Originally Posted by little_old_me

By true path, he means the one without those silly lamés.

No, no, I mean the one that actually allows cuts! And a saber lame is cheaper than one of those metal strips you silly people need to fence on!

[Go? Fencing?]

*sigh* By true path he means whatever weapon (or weapons) you're drawn to. Pay no attention to these weaponist bigots!

[RITFencing]

Originally Posted by Go? Fencing?

Pay no attention to these weaponist bigots!

But we LIKE it when people pay attention to us! Ooh, ooh, look at me! *jumps around*

[Wiz7896]

I'm a kendoka but this should still apply. After you get the basics down and you can practice at home, just do the same move/attack over and over, as much as your muscles can bear, pay close attention to everything. Your footwork, where your looking, if you moved the sword perfectly, if it's not perfect do it again, and keep doing it till it's perfect. This way I have avoided bad habbits completly almost all of my Kendo career. And the two times I picked one up, I got rid of them in a week or two.

Good luck to you. I wish you tons of sucsess!

[RITFencing]

Now there's a bit of a trick... doing the same move over and over, "perfectly" can lead to you becoming very predictable in your distance and tempo. If you're going to practice footwork at home, you have to realize that the perfect distance and tempo for the actions are the ones that work in that situation. It's very mutable. If you want to do a lot of footwork and target practice once you have a bit of a handle on the basics, then mroe power to you, just remember to vary the size of your steps (from small to very small) the distance of your lunges and the tempo at which you do things.

[WordRider]

Welcome to the forum LisaP1

saberspiritTerrance

[Wise-Epeeist]

Originally Posted by LisaP

I am curious if you all have any suggestions on how to practice on my own. My biggest fear is picking up bad habits while on my own and bringing them into the classroom. Any tips &/or help is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

Be very patient with your progress.
Your concern about "picking up bad habits" is justified, but don't let it keep you from trying anyway. Yes, it's difficult to practice something correctly on your own before you've been taught it properly ... and in fact, if you repeat inappropriate actions, you'll need to relearn what your brain has memorized. But you can (and should) practice the simple stuff you've already been introduced to in class, like getting comfortable in the fencing stance and developing the perfect single advance and retreat.
Every little effort helps.
Patience.

And welcome!

[Gamling]

Welcome to the madness, childishness, and genius that is the forum!

Absolutely.