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[Mla H Harkness]

I am instructing new Fencers , We have a Ten Week Coarse, I was hoping some of you can give me a Ten week break down of what to teach and when to teach it.
I.E. week 1) Lunge , week 2) parry.
it would be a great help
Thanks

[Pescados666]

Shouldn't you start with basic footwork/on guard stance and how to hold the weapon before you get to the lunge?

[AndrewH]

I was about to reply and tell you to do your own work, instead of relying on a message board to tell you how to teach your class.

But then I noticed you're from Port Moody, where I used to live, and I decided to go easy.

The most important element of fencing is footwork. From day one you need to get the en guard position, advance, retreat, and lunge ingrained into everyone's muscle memory. Do lots and lots of footwork, take it slow and make sure everyone is doing it correctly before speeding up.

Once the footwork foundation is there, you can give them weapons, but don't let them start fencing each other yet. Do footwork with weapons. Then, you can start teaching parry positions. Find or construct a dummy that will let them practice disengages/parries/attacks without actually having to hit someone else.

At this point you could actually let them start hitting each other. Start with some bladework drills, lots and lots of parry-riposte drills. The riposte needs to be an automatic response following the parry. Also, now would be a good time to introduce beat attacks. Once they have some basic blade actions down, start doing the drills while moving, slow at first, then get faster.

Finally, you can let them start bouting. This is a risky proposition because I guarantee you, as soon as they step on the strip and get to actually fence, everything you taught will go right out the window, and a re-enactment of "star wars" will proceed. Supervise closely and remind everyone that the point of fencing is to hit the other person, not to hit their blade.

At the end of the course, if you think it's possible, hold a small tournament. It'll let everyone put their newly learned skills to use and give a taste of competition, which might draw some people into continuing after the class is over.

Also, I think it should go without saying that a good portion of each class (more at the beginning of the course, less at the end but still a minimum of 1/4 the allotted time) should be dedicated to cross training and conditioning. Good activities include sprints, shuttle runs, suicides, stadium stairs, agility ladder, push ups/sit ups/crunches, etc. Playing a game of soccer or basketball is a good substitute so long as everyone gets involved.

Hope that gives you some idea of how to structure things.

[tdwg83]

I am instructing new Fencers , We have a Ten Week Coarse, I was hoping some of you can give me a Ten week break down of what to teach and when to teach it.
I.E. week 1) Lunge , week 2) parry.
it would be a great help
Thanks

My 6 week course for 1 hour a week

1) Intro - Possibly advance/ retreat depending on class
2) Advance/retreat - Play distance game
3) Lunge - Play distance game again
4) "Attack" - Play game with attack (foam swords)
5) Intro to ROW - to explain why and when to use the attack
6) First experience with steel blades

Sometimes a small and quick group is on an excellerated program. I might be teaching a more indepth course this fall and might structure weeks 7-10 as follows:
7) parries 6 and 4 w/ reposte (sp?)
8) Combinations attack with parries learned-solidify lessons thus far
9) Possible controlled bout stressing attack, parry and reposte
10) Intro to disengage???

Be wary of trying to take a group too fast as it will grossly affect how well they are able to learn. This all depends on the students. If some excel you really can't get them ahead of the rest of the beginners as they divids your attention too many ways.

[Tomas N]

I am instructing new Fencers , We have a Ten Week Coarse, I was hoping some of you can give me a Ten week break down of what to teach and when to teach it.
I.E. week 1) Lunge , week 2) parry.
it would be a great help
Thanks

You may want to look through the Canadian coaching manuals. There are many books out there that lay out lesson plans. You may want to look at something like Elaine Cheris' Fencing: Steps to Success.

Tomas

[Pescados666]

Also, are you teaching foil, epee or sabre?

[oiuyt]

Playing a game of soccer or basketball is a good substitute so long as everyone gets involved.

Adding a second, or better, third, ball to the game helps involve more people in my experience.

Not only because there are more places to be involved at any given time, but less-experienced, less-athletically gifted, and less-assertive people seem more willing to try when a) the sole ball's not the primary focus of everyone's attention, b) it's no longer this well-known game that some people are REALLY good at, but rather a fun variation that resembles a well-known game.

Haven't tried it with basketball, but this approach works well with soccer.

-B

[Pescados666]

We used to play a game called 'proletariat' in our class. One or two people start out with a foam softball sized ball. If only 1 person is it, then they can move with the ball, as long as only 1 person is it. If more then 1 person is it, then they can't move with the ball.
The people who are it have to throw the ball at the people who arn't it. The people who arn't it can run from the ball or catch the ball. If the people who are it are passing a ball, you can grab the ball in mid pass and throw it away from the people who are it. Slapping it away doesn't count.
Once you are hit by the ball, you become it. You can pass the ball around between people who are it and try to corner the people who are not. Once everyone is it, the game is over.

The catch rule for us was, as long as we had our glove, since it was the beginning of the year that we started this and not very many people had paid for their glove yet, we could catch the ball. If we didn't have our glove, we couldn't.

This game got to be quite epic in the midst of playing.

[RITFencing]

Just a bit of advice: Intro classes are about retention. You won't be able to teach them to fence in 10 weeks, but you can get them hooked on the sport.

Make sure they're having fun and feeling like they're learning something, and try to get them to come back when that tenth class is over. You don't have to be a technical stickler, because that pristine lunge won't mean squat if they decide fencing isn't fun.

[Jay Young]

Make sure they're having fun

This is very important. When I was learning how to fence (9 years ago), at the end of every class lesson, we would free fence. Our instructor (I won't use names, but she was a VERY distinguished fencer and coach) taught us just enough on the first day so we wouldn't get killed or hurt someone else. Each day we all progressed and those of us that did well could see our progress. Those that had more difficulty didn't see and progress but still had a blast at it. I had a friend that was not coordinated at all, but he signed up for the beginners class 3 times in a row because he had so much fun.

[SEM Fencer]

You also need to take into account the AGE of the people in the class. What you teach, and the amount of detail that you provide, really depends on the what your students are capable of absorbing.

For instance, my college students, because they are already mostly fully grown and somewhat comfortable in their bodies, maybe have trained in other sports, etc. are much more receptive to fairly detailed instruction.

10 year old boys, otoh, are completely different animals -- literally. A 10-week course for them is, in large portion, spent keeping them safe and entertained with long pointy sticks (with a few bright stars, if the fencing gods are smiling on you). You really can't get in depth with them in a way that you can with older students. The level of coordination and attention just aren't there, and they generally aren't even physically strong enough to actually fence at this age anyway. We've all seen the itty bitty y10 fencers that are barely taller than their weapons, and who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, much less advance, retreat or lunge without falling over... It can be frustrating to teach this age, although very cool to see them grow and progress.

Another suggestion is to consider YOUR fencing education. How were YOU taught. What worked, and what didn't? What was the sequence? How much time did you spend on each element? What do YOU find to be the most important element of the game? In what areas do you believe your beginner instructor dropped the ball, so to speak? If your current coach isn't your beginner instructor, how/what/when does he/she teach beginners? You need to assess the answers before you can begin to build your curriculum.

[mrbiggs]

I am instructing new Fencers , We have a Ten Week Coarse, I was hoping some of you can give me a Ten week break down of what to teach and when to teach it.
I.E. week 1) Lunge , week 2) parry.
it would be a great help
Thanks

I've been trying not to do this, but I can't help it.

Look, if you want people to put effort into helping you, put effort into your post. First, "help" is an awful thread title. 80%-90% of the threads on any internet forum ever involve some sort of help. Put a title that allows people to understand and reference your thread, such as "help with summer camp" or "help with lesson plans." The information in the thread title is there for the entire community, and it's very important that you are specific if the forum is to be any use at all. (Both for this thread and in general).

Second, proofread your posts. Look words up if you have to. "Coarse" is an adjective, and the capitalization and punctuation in general are awful. I know it's possible you're not a native speaker or you have some other legitimate excuse, but the more professional your post, the more professional the answers will be. It's well worth any extra time it might take you to compose the question, even if you have to look up words or rules.

Third, give us your ideas. It's not our job to write a lesson plan for you from scratch, and since you were hired for this I assume you have SOME knowledge of how to do things. Create your own plan, and I don't mean "week 1: lunge." I'm 99% sure you're not spending the entire first week on just the lunge. And if you are, you should tell us, because that's not a very good way to engage the students or spend your time. If you give us what you have, it makes it a lot easier for everyone. It's much quicker and faster to add or correct than to begin from scratch. This idea will also increase the quality and quantity of replies, as people in the know aren't always willing to sit down and write an entire 10-week lesson plan, but they're far more likely to give advice such as "don't teach the lunge first."

[Allen Evans]

Definately check out the coaching manuals on the Canadian website. While they are geared towards one on one lessons, a little bit of thought could turn them into a good cirriculum guide for a group class. That "little bit of thought" should be your job.

And I'll second Mr. Biggs here. Everyone is willing to help, but only if you're willing to do a little work, too.

AE

[SEM Fencer]

Okay, so since Mr. Biggs and Mr. Evans have said something, I feel better about my original internal response to the OP, which was:

Not to be rude, but if you need to ask this question on a public forum, do you really have the skills necessary to teach a 10-week fencing class?

[aamct2]

The first place I'd start would be talking to assistants (if you have any) and your superiors (including your former coaches and other coaches in your area). Use your assistant coaches to pool your knowledge of fencing together, look back at how you learned to fence, and contact your former coaches for refreshers on how you learned things. While you're pounding this out, grab a 10-week calendar and try different ideas.

Once you have a general plan, ask again on this forum to help you work out any details you're shaky on. The more specific the question you ask, the better the answers you get here.

Things you should consider (in no particular order) are:

1) What age group?
2) Are they going to be fencing after this 10 weeks? If so, where and how?
3) What weapon?
4) How large of a class? How many coaches?
5) How often are you meeting during this 10 weeks? How long is each practice?
6) What goals do you have? To get them hooked on fencing? To teach them a rigorous instruction for future classes? To get them bouting as quickly as possible? etc.