jean-louis michel

[BrianH]

Have you seen Calvert give two lessons at once? It's remarkable how he can work with different individuals simultaneously at different tasks. I only participated in a few workshops at which he taught, but was much impressed with the man. And it's true, he can tell some wonderful stories.

[DangerMouse]

I have actually taken a couple double lessons from him. It is increadibly impressive how he can have different actions going with both hands. Everyone else I've seen give a double lesson, both hands do the same thing or mirror each other. It's also fun to watch him get upset when one student can't keep up with the tempo of the other during a double lesson

[dot gard]

Well Dangermouse…. It is a delight to chat with you. It is indeed gratifying to find a like minded person who sees the intrinsic value in an old master’s teaching despite opposition and maybe sometimes even scorn from today’s modern fencers. I feel we can all learn from the past. After all…as I said before… their stakes were higher than ours.

Re epee….I regret I cannot comment. My coach was predominantly a foilist and a sabreur… I don’t recall him teaching epee, though he probably did. Back in those days… it was not a ladies’ weapon… so I never used one. Mr. Calvert is right… to change the grip at your level would be difficult. A pity really….you no doubt have the skill to prove a point. How do Mr. Calvert’s pupils fare in tournaments?

Two hours both ways is a long journey for a lesson…and I applaud you for sticking with it. Full marks for perseverance. As previously stated…. I also continually went back to my old coach after taking lessons in other parts of the world… and .. like you…. took what I wanted.. and discarded the rest….and…also like you… without argument. To argue was futile anyway….I merely got sympathetic disdainful responses. My coach was a Technical Institute instructor who finished work at 9pm and arrived home around 9.45. I used to catch two buses to his house on the other side of the city.... and then wait for my private lesson at 10pm… on two concrete strips outside his house with one outside light. 50 odd years ago it was the only time he could give me.. Lessons taken at the Jean Louis Academy weren’t quite so intense and much more comfortable, but not quite so rewarding. There .. in the middle of the night almost…I learned the real skills… the tactics…. the deceptions.

Yes.. I am sure Mr. Calvert has some wonderful wonderful stories. How I would like to yarn with him. Still teaching at 82… that is absolutely amazing. And what an impressive man he looks in the link photograph. Every bit the master. His students are so lucky…. for when he is no longer there… I guess that will be another last ‘bastion’ as Dominique says….disappeared. For will any of his pupils carry on and teach his techniques… in the face of modern non-acceptance? I sincerely hope so.

One wonders sometimes why the young are so disdainful of the older fencers when they can learn so much from them. I remember one occasion….I think it was at another of the Gilt Foil Tournaments mentioned in my last post…..a friend of mine… a veteran ex national champion who had spent many years fencing in Europe and was a qualified international president …..overheard the current national title holder chatting to a mate “I cant understand why these old fogeys keep coming back to try and fence again… they’re well past it… why do they bother” Well this one certainly wasn’t… it was vowed there and then to have this champion’s head on a plate the following day…which was done… in style. The current titleholder hardly knew what had happened. So my advice to all and sundry would be… never trust a veteran…. What they lack in speed… they make up for in guile.

Herewith another short story….. one evening.... I was having dinner with friends and one of the guests happened to be a young fencer visiting from overseas…who was very successful at his sport… and was in fact either the current Champion or … Under 20s titleholder of some European country … I cant remember what… though impressive . As he was sitting next to me I initiated small talk…. ‘Congratulations… you’ve done well. As a matter of interest…. what would you consider to be the fastest way to score a point?” He looked at me with some disdain….”The flick”. “Aha… I said “So the flick.. is faster than a lightening extension to the body?” “Of course” “So you think that pulling your arm back… and then flicking on to the shoulder… is faster than merely extending the arm a few inches.” Don’t think he answered that one…. However he went on to state…. “Of course you old fencers wouldn’t stand a chance in todays game…you’d be far too slow”. I merely smiled. He was so very wrong.

You commented on the rolling or rotating parry. This was where speed and manouvrability came from. You’d need a French grip weapon….come on guard in the center with thumb on top….to parry sixte… move your hand forward diagonally turning the hand in supination till the fingers are on top.. and the point still in the center. A light beat parry done with the wrist… extension.. and riposte high or low. Same with quarte….from the center… roll the hand forward in pronation, thumb to the side, point in the middle….beat parry with a flick of the wrist and extend. These movements will halve the time of the party riposte. There is, however, a small drawback to them…..most presidents see the beat… a few do not. The blade has definitely been deflected… but very swiftly. It didn’t happen often… but I think my worst incident was in earlier days in a bout in the World Championships …where on match point my French opponent launched an attack … I parried and reposted… she remised. The point was awarded to her. Has anyone else ever tried to protest to a Polish president who didn’t speak English?

Re footwork… well I guess to be static…. is to be a sitting target . The moving target is much more difficult to hit. My coach had a lot of admiration for Mahommed Ali.. and his ‘dance’ technique in the ring. Opponents didn’t know where he was.. in reach.. out of reach… difficult to tell. This also applies to our sport… if you don’t know where the target is…how far away…how close…how can you accurately judge the distance? Yet how come many of today’s fencers hardly move at all except to charge.. or attack. Maybe conservation of energy is the reason.. after all.. in these days of direct elimination… and 15 points…perhaps that is significant. We, however, had a final of 8 to contend with… not just a 15 point bout or two. But I guess… if one has been taught a relaxed style… there is no problem.

So the footwork is of vital importance…especially if it is undiscernable (not sure about that word). There should be no shoulder movement of any sort. I quoted the ‘cat’ technique before. I reckon all fencers should study a cat stalking and pouncing on it’s prey. Brilliant.

Another thought…deceptive foot and hand work can be used to effective advantage. Gradually draw the sword elbow closer to the body in a series of advances…and bring the back foot closer to the front one at the same time. This can make you inches closer to your opponent… who has no idea…. because the blades are still crossed in the same place. The same applies to putting your own target out of reach by the reverse of hand and footwork. The opponent is unaware that you are now several inches further back. Ah… but I guess this is common knowledge… so I will shut up.

Well again I have waffled long enough. I enjoy your replies Dangermouse. Thank you. At some stage I would like to chat with you about that old bogey… the tierce attack. Cheers.

[DangerMouse]

I actually have not found anything I've learned from Calvert to draw scorn. Most of the high level coaches I've worked with work from a very classical basis, even if they later focus on more modern strategies. As for the rolling parries, I've actually been taught this by two different coaches, Calvert and Bill Reith. Both of them come from a classical French background and both coach these parries from a en-guarde in 6.

As for grip choice, there are a number of top level epeeists who use French grips, so there is no point to prove there. Calvert only has a couple good fencers training under him right now. He coaches at a small club and the large club across town has a great reputation. However, the coaches at the larger club just didn't work well for me. Back in the 1960s, Calvert had a number of national champions training under him and was on the US national coaching squad for a while. He does talk about one fencer on one of the squads when he was national coach, Albie Axelrod, who fenced from a center guard and took so many fast crazy parries that the Russians at the time had no idea how to get through.

[HDG]

He does talk about one fencer on one of the squads when he was national coach, Albie Axelrod, who fenced from a center guard and took so many fast crazy parries that the Russians at the time had no idea how to get through.

Zhdanovich and Sisikin seem to have figured it out...

[Lefty]

Those were two athletes of the Soviet machine that trained as a profession compared to Axelrod who was out of shape and admittedly hated to train.

[dot gard]

Once again it is a delight to talk with you. I am heartened to hear that the center guard… and even the rolling parries…. are still being used … albeit on a small scale.

Your remark about Albert Axelrod and his lightening beat parry is fascinating… particularly if, as you say.. he used a center guard. Incidentally, I saw him win his medal in the final of the Rome Olympics …. (I was there moreorless as a companion to my country’s only entrant). It was a great final…. and I enjoyed every bout. I remember your man Axelrod well. He had a pleasant smile and was indeed a fast impressive fencer. His victory must have been a great boost to American fencing.

It was the Frenchman D’Oriola however who really fascinated me in that final….. another classic fencer who was a joy to watch…supple…fast… relaxed. His attacks came out of the blue… his ripostes swift and deadly. It has been written that he was one of the most perfect examples of the art the sport could offer. It was only recently that I learned that he was a pupil-friend of Michel Alaux….who took over as fencing master of the L’Association Jean Louis in Montpellier in 1947. . L’Association Jean Louis was the club that was set up by the old master himself way back in 1830 and more than 100 years later was considered to be ‘the conservatory of young champions’. Later M. Alaux became fencing master at the New York Fencers Club. One of his comments is interesting…. ‘Fencing is more than the constant charging of the opponent”.

As a matter of interest….I think I recall correctly ….Zdanovich who took the gold medal at those Rome Olympics…. and one or two other successful Russian fencers all finished up in gaol on their return home from one of their fencing trips outside the Soviet Union. Some misdemeanor or other….probably banned goods. Life’s tough.. isn’t it.

Re the center guard…. the parries etc…that I was taught and used….. it was not so much ‘scorn’ that they evoked…. I think ‘condescension’ is a better word. Ah.. but your country is many times bigger than mine… and we do not have such a selection of coaches…..styles and techniques available to us. But I at least had a choice.

Re the guard of tierce… mentioned in my last post… This has been a much debated topic over the past hundred years or so. Most fencers… including many old masters have thrown it out quite definitely. Someone has even reported that Jean Louis wanted to do away with it altogether. Strangely enough… that is not my recollection of my coach’s views…. which he must surely have acquired from his coach. At the risk of appearing sub-mental…I am sure he considered that tierce was a stronger and more effective guard than sixte. Maybe I recall wrongly… but I will say that I scored many a vital hit coming from the guard of tierce…. again... because no-one knew where it came from…. and.. apart from a downward beat … almost impossible to parry. A tierce low high attack is beautiful to watch. However, although I would think that Mr. Calvert’s opinion would mirror the majority reasoning, I would be very interested to hear his views on it.


To HDG. May I join your comments with Dangermouse. Yes indeed… Zhdanovich and Sissikin did manage to cope with Axelrod’s technique… but I would add that it was August….and stifling hot and sticky in Rome… and your man was 39 yrs old….. Zhdanovich was 32….Yuri Sisikin…..23. The heat was bad enough for us as spectators….lord knows what it was like for the contestants. 1960 was the year that the Russians first emerged as a fencing threat… their style and techniques were different. So Albert Axelrod coming in third place after a very hard exhausting day…. did extremely well.. I seem to recall that he also went through a barrage… though I may be wrong. Memory plays tricks sometimes.