I'm a fencer, I'm a parent of a fencer

[zenpharaohs]

Why are you fencing the other coach...in all three weapons?

I think it's because the salle just started up and there is no other experienced adult fencer there when I am there? During the weeknights I hear they have more adults, but it's still a tiny salle at this point.

On the Saturdays, after the kids have the foil class and lessons, they have time for a more advanced foil class which nobody is coming to on Saturdays. So to fill in the time, I fence with the coaches, in whatever weapons we feel like. Pretty soon my new left handed gear will arrive and I'll probably work on that too. I'm not trying to compete, although they are encouraging me to see what "veterans" competition is like. I'm just fencing to be sociable and enjoy the fencing. It beats sitting around staring at each other by a long chalk.

If this coach is trying to sell you lessons for your kid...he appears to be doing a good job.

Actually, we will see how my son likes it. I actually think the real thing is that this salle is just about midway between my house and my brother's house, so my son and my nephew are both going. Both are only children, and so they are sort of halfway between cousins and brothers; and so anything my nephew does? My son wants to do.

As far as selling lessons, yeah, they are in business. But also Lasha has suggested that for me he knows a really good sabre coach at another salle which happens to be closer to where I live than his salle. So he is not just trying to sell lessons.

My kids always saw me teaching classes or giving lessons more than they saw me fencing...I guess this drove home the point that I was the teacher and not the fencer.

I fenced occasionally at the club...sometimes I won but I also lost to some of the better, younger fencers...it didn't seem to matter because I was the coach.

I wouldn't presume to teach a class at this salle, or anywhere else there is an available well trained master. In fencing, as in many other things, I believe that the first training is often the most important, especially with respect to fundamentals. And although I am really good at some fundamentals, and some advanced aspects, I do not have a complete and polished all around game.

I don't mind fencing anyone at the club. At the moment though, none of the students who are there when I am are close to my level yet. Maybe on the weeknights they have some strong fencers who would beat me, but so far not on Saturday mornings.

As I said before, at seven he doesn't need a master, he needs someone to spend a lot of time with him going over boring repititions of basic fencing actions...and some how making it seem fun. How many lessons is he getting from Lasha? You could probably do more...explain to him that your lessons are just practice to get him ready for his real lessons.

I agree that I am more available than Lasha, but not by all that much. I do agree that I could conduct basic work with my son, but I think it's possible that my son wants to spend our time together in more various ways.

I think I will see if my son brings up wanting to fence at home, and deal with that if it comes up.

[MdA]

.......

I agree that I am more available than Lasha, but not by all that much. I do agree that I could conduct basic work with my son, but I think it's possible that my son wants to spend our time together in more various ways.

I think I will see if my son brings up wanting to fence at home, and deal with that if it comes up.

I think you hit on the key here. You said that he is doing it because his cousin is fencing. In order for him to become a fencer, it must become "his thing" and not his cousin/brother's thing. It is even worse if fencing becomes "Dad's thing" more than his own. If this happens...you will have a hard time.

At this age you need to figure out a way to make it fun....and integrate it into all the other things a seven year old wants to do...as you say.

My advice is don't go overboard with your own fencing and try to drag him along...in my experience it doesn't work.

Like I said, I was the teacher helping other fencers....and they wanted some of that attention. They saw all these other young people that were really into fencing and I was helping them.

[zenpharaohs]

overboard with your own fencing and try to drag him along...in my experience it doesn't work.

Not much chance of that. I hadn't touched a weapon but once in the past nine years (Alumni meet at my old school) until my brother and his son started going. I went the first time just to watch my son's lesson, without any equipment. But my son had already exposed my history as a fencer and so everyone encouraged me to fence.

It's not like I was reluctant, but the main reason we were going was to see if my son enjoyed it; which he does.

There does seem to be a bit of mission creep though. Today Lasha asked me to fence my brother in epee. This frees him up to work more with the kids along with the other coach, so I thought that was a good idea. Plus, I get to absolutely thrash my brother, who is actually quite promising for someone with such little experience. I am not that surprised since my brother has many years of high level equestrian training so he has very good legs, balance and body control.

I talked to my son last night about which was more fun, karate or fencing? He said without hesitation "fencing". I asked him why? His answer was essentially that karate has more discipline, and fencing the students get to "do things". Further conversation revealed that what he meant was that in some of the typical kid fencing game drills that the kids get to be more than just followers, where in karate, the class instruction is mostly in the "Simon Says" format.

Another thing I think he likes about fencing is that sometimes we go to lunch with my brother's family afterwards, whereas with karate it's usually just getting dinner with his mom on the way home. As an only child, he always likes things that involve contact with other kids. The kids these days are so tightly scheduled that even though we didn't pack his schedule and left him a good deal of free time, none of the kids he knows have any free time of their own to spend it with him.

So I don't know if his enjoyment of fencing will get disambiguated from these other aspects any time soon. It's OK with me though if he fencing ends up as something he enjoyed doing for various reasons at one point in his life. It's been like that for me too.

[pinkelephant]

Now the thing I have come across sometimes is that people who have won the national team championship sometimes are called national champions (in fact there is the sort of famous case of the three epee fencers from the Philadelphia Athletic Club who were U.S. national champions in this way - and rightly so since they won more bouts than the one sabreur who convinced them to be a team so he could compete...).

However, we do fine this from the link of one of her coaches in the U. S. Fencing Hall of Fame:



So it looks like it could be those Championship Women's Foil Teams she may have been on.

As to the current Veteran rankings, she appears to be #1 in women's foil 40-49, and #2 in what is called "combined"..

There's also people who have won various age limited or collegiate championships who I would consider entitled to call themselves national champions, but in this case I think it's the team championships.

Oh come on. I was in the Women's Foil team that won the British Team Championship in 1979. I have also won the Individual British Veteran's Women's Epee Championship - I wouldn't dream of calling myself a National Champion on either count. My son has similarly been in the winning team for the British Men's Epee Team Championship twice, and has won the British Universities Men's Epee Championship (individual). In neither case would he call himself National Champion. The real one is the only one that matters

[zenpharaohs]

Oh come on. I was in the Women's Foil team that won the British Team Championship in 1979. I have also won the Individual British Veteran's Women's Epee Championship - I wouldn't dream of calling myself a National Champion on either count.

I have often come across people described as "national champions" who had won team championships. Sometimes it seems like in the middle of the twentieth century Hungary must have had national sabre championships on a weekly basis to account for the number of Hungarians I have heard referred to as "Hungarian sabre champion".

I don't feel that strongly about it either way. The only time I personally care what sort of championship someone has won in the past is if I beat them.