Good drills for my little brother

[Lord Gorlock]

Howdy. My little brother is 10, and he started fencing around the same time I did. We do footwork together and will fence occasionally, but I was wondering if anybody had any drills specifically for kids around the age of 10. Are they old enough to go ahead and do the same things I'm doing? I have no experience coaching kids at fencing, so input is welcome.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Play hackey sack and ping pong.

[LeftHanded]

Play hackey sack and ping pong.

Some people may read this and think it is a joke. It isn't. These really help coordination. The key for young children is that it has to be fun. Whether that is through lots of praise or throught the very nature of the activity. If it is presented like a game then children are more open to accept it rather than if it is a drill where a more mature person or student can see the benift.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Some people may read this and think it is a joke. It isn't. These really help coordination. The key for young children is that it has to be fun. Whether that is through lots of praise or throught the very nature of the activity. If it is presented like a game then children are more open to accept it rather than if it is a drill where a more mature person or student can see the benift.

No joke.

Its also been shown that coordination exercises early on increase athletic potential later in life.

[the ancient one]

Kids love games. Format any drill as a game unto itself.
Twirl a short rope around and hold a small object behind it.
Challenge him to grab the object without getting hit by the rope, and then to put it back.

almost anything is good. at age 10 it is more important to
have fun
have a sense of success
develop confidence
develop a positive self-image

avoid
drills with a high failure rate
avoid
requiring perfect execution of all elements simultaneously, focus on one thing at a time; maybe the feet today, the hand tomorrow and ignore the feet etc..


with my 8 year old twins we get en garde and call out as we
parry 4-6-8 lunge. sort of like a secret handshake. just once time on the way out the door on the way to school. it takes about 10 seconds and you can see the steady improvement week to week.

just make it fun.

[Epee Scherma]

I've been teaching my sister who is 11 years old. Before this year, she has had a fairly inactive lifestyle with little sports involvement. So I spoke with my own Fencing Master (this guy) on how to go about this endeavor. I've learned that all activities must be done with the following things in mind:
1. Build mind-body connection or motor control whichever you prefer to call it.
2. Build passion for physical exercise.

With all that said, I concur mostly with everything said here. Here is an outline of what I do with her every week:
3-4 tennis sessions. session = (1 to 1 1/2hrs)
We take turns serving and returning the ball. It's relaxed and easy. Even if she hits the ball way out there I generally am very positive. We even run into other courts just to keep the ball going back and fourth. Occasionally I intersperse some technique advice. For example she twists her wrist when she serves occasionally and completely chops the ball so I help guide her with making the proper swing.
Observations: It's been about 5 weeks of this and she is most enthusiastic about tennis because of the positive atmosphere I've created and I've seen her accuracy and timing improve significantly.
1-2 basketball sessions. session = (1/2hr)
Generally its an anything goes type of atmosphere. She even tries to hold my arms back to get the ball but I let that fly. Why? Because that's what makes this fun. This is someone who has had little to no sports experience until now, and if I started saying she can't do this or that the fun is taken away at this time. In the last five minutes we practice dribbling skills such as bouncing the ball between the legs or making figure eights.
Observations: She become more aggressive and competitive. However, I think it will take a significantly longer time before I notice any change in her motor control.
1 swimming session. (1 to 2 hrs)
She does whatever she feels like. Occasionally I assign a challenge, like swim to me using X stroke and then back to the wall. For most kids swimming is a heck of a lot of fun, so its no problem to accept the challenge.
Observations: None so far, I've only recently started this weekly swim night. I look forward to seeing what it does.
3-4 days of Fencing. (2 hrs)
I give her a lesson (20-40mins depending on her energy) once or twice a week and run a footwork conditioning once a week (the one from Elaine Cheris' book). Then she fences with other people in the club or does a great deal of fencing inductive exercises like glove/tennis ball games. For some examples of these exercises I recommend http://shop.fencing.net/product_p/fb-mis.htm because the fencing inductive exercises are most important to develop timing and motor control necessary. The general attitude of fencing versus her other activities is much more demanding. But by creating an atmosphere of passion for exercise, she does not back down from the demanding challenges. In fact, it has put fencing on a pedestal which I learned through her fencing journal.

I've learned it really helps to get feedback if you have your student keep a journal entry about their thoughts on the exercise. Now I don't have her write an entry every day that'd be asking too much at that age. Rather, I ask her to write a quick response to a question I ask every couple of weeks. It takes less than five minutes I would suggest right after homework. This is especially a good measuring tool to see if passion for physical exercise is being built.

I see a great deal of challenges for her fencing in the future. Her current fencing environment is very poor, because there is no one her age to fence. So I will have to look into relocation.

Anyways I felt the need to respond to this particular comment:

avoid
requiring perfect execution of all elements simultaneously, focus on one thing at a time; maybe the feet today, the hand tomorrow and ignore the feet etc..
just make it fun.

Personally, I disagree with this because the student starts to solidify improper habits in their movements and its not very demanding. It's possible to make fun and expectations of perfection occur simultaneously. It's a matter of building an environment of passion for sport.

Finally, I just want to say to the original poster Lord Gorlock, that in my opinion what is more important than teaching the fencing to your little brother is to do a variety of sports. I see you're very focused on his fencing specifically. Rather than specialize at such a young age (which is quite common here in our country), skim through pages 3-5 in this book which addresses multilateral versus specialization in athletic development.

Good luck!

[Applesauce and Foils]

I'm sure your little sister appreciates all the time you spend with her. Most siblings like to split off and do their own thing so I think this is great. I fence with my little sister too and she loves being in it with me, and I with her. Its helped her with talking to older kids, she's not so shy anymore.