New Compilation Video Topic

[CyrusofChaos]

hey guys. as you know soon i will be on a very long plane ride with little to do and i was thinking that i would try to entertain myself for some of it by making a new compilation video. i have been itching to try video editing on my new computer so its time to hit me with some topics. i do not want to do a video on parries unless it is only a part of the video like it was when i chose to look at point in lines. if there is something that you guys suggest that i feel like i have enough new footage to make a video of then i will do it. i would prefer to only use videos from this past world cup season because in sabre fencing footage older than that can be a bit dated. i would also be happy to make another evolution video if any of you feel that some portion of a fencers game has changed significantly

to recap: suggest topics for a compilation or evolution video that do not heavily involve parries. if you have a third idea of something that would be interesting that i havent done yet i would be happy to try it. go!

[epeeslasher]

Okay, how about counterattacks against a march with a closing parry at the end? (It's only one part of the move)

[Fedor]

Analysis of the Korean sabre fencers would be awesome.

[cfgrs]

I dunno if it's a bit too weak/vague, but maybe something about just the en-guard stance? My personal point to ponder has always been with regards to the back heel (up vs down), but there are a couple major decisions/preferences (stance width, height, blade position, etc) that distinguish different fencers and, I should imagine, have their different advantages/disadvantages.
I dunno, just been thinking about it a bit, lately.

[dramamine]

hey guys. as you know soon i will be on a very long plane ride with little to do and i was thinking that i would try to entertain myself for some of it by making a new compilation video. i have been itching to try video editing on my new computer so its time to hit me with some topics. i do not want to do a video on parries unless it is only a part of the video like it was when i chose to look at point in lines. if there is something that you guys suggest that i feel like i have enough new footage to make a video of then i will do it. i would prefer to only use videos from this past world cup season because in sabre fencing footage older than that can be a bit dated. i would also be happy to make another evolution video if any of you feel that some portion of a fencers game has changed significantly

to recap: suggest topics for a compilation or evolution video that do not heavily involve parries. if you have a third idea of something that would be interesting that i havent done yet i would be happy to try it. go!

Hmm... the use of redoublements/reprises/remises in foil? Some fencers, like Baldini, Kruse, Glonek and Kleibrink do some very slick remises and redoublements. They are definitely something worth learning about for most fencers.

[rudd]

Hmm... the use of redoublements/reprises/remises in foil? Some fencers, like Baldini, Kruse, Glonek and Kleibrink do some very slick remises and redoublements. They are definitely something worth learning about for most fencers.

This gets my vote.

[Bonehead]

This gets my vote.

Yeah, this would be pretty cool to see.

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I'd be down for the attack in prep w/ close out that was suggested above.

[eac]

Two suspicions:
1) Andrew is going to do it entirely about sabre, since that's what he likes and knows best;
2) At least half of the final list of topics proposed will not make any sense to do as compilation videos in the first place because most people don't understand sabre nearly as well as Andrew does

So, Andrew, it might make sense to make a list of topics you have rattling around in your head that we could vote for.

[Fedor]

I like the en guard idea. I've watched so much saber video I can pretty much tell who the fencer is just by looking at their en guard. That'd be a fun game, no?

There seems to be a classical stance, such as the one employed by the Italians, namely Ochiuzzi and Montano. The Russians, Spaniards and Americans seem to be more free in their stance, with weight far forward (Morehouse, Marti, Pina, Kovalev, Pozdnyakov) so as to attack as quickly as possible. I think my vote of coolest National en guard goes to the Koreans. It seems to be mathematically precise with all of them. Not a lot of variation. Weight forward, back straight so as to 90% of the time attack quickly and the 10% of the time they have to retreat, they're balanced enough to do it in time. Overall though, my favourite en guard out of any saber fencer is by far Veniamin Reshetnikovs. Relaxed in the lesser bouts, focused in the higher.

[Michael_Z]

I vote for analysis of the Koreans

[CyrusofChaos]

Two suspicions:
1) Andrew is going to do it entirely about sabre, since that's what he likes and knows best;
2) At least half of the final list of topics proposed will not make any sense to do as compilation videos in the first place because most people don't understand sabre nearly as well as Andrew does

So, Andrew, it might make sense to make a list of topics you have rattling around in your head that we could vote for.

so to address these in order, yes i would prefer to do a sabre video, firstly because i have much more high-level sabre footage and because even though many people asked me to do an epee video when i actually did one i was practically assaulted by various people telling me that i didnt know what i was talking about. so for the ones who want a foil or epee video i will decline on those grounds

i am not doing a video on en guard positions as i dont think very much needs to be said about them: if you are on defense in foil and sabre you have an en guard where you are leaning more forward than you usually would and if you are attacking your weight should generally be farther back, with some exceptions

i do not want to do a video on attack in prep with close-out because to me it is a counterattack that is poorly timed which is why we add the close-out in the first place. i understand that squirming and close-outs are necessary in foil with the timing so ridiculously long but sabre fencers should not be encouraged to use the close-out and instead work on their timing. in competitions i add it for security but in practice i try to use the close-out as little as possible to work on my timing

as for a list i can tell you a few things that i have been thinking about for a while:

1) a compilation video of attacks out of the first zone, where on the ready fence the attacker will push the defender out of the first zone and what to do from there

2) often times what will happen in the middle of a bout is that both fencers will stop waiting at the same time and you get into a situation where they both bounce in and out a few times, but nemcsiks current fencing and james williams' old fencing do/did a good job of exploiting the timing in this second zone which most fencers will simply bounce a bit and finish together

3) the last topic i have been thinking about is a video on more french preparations, in which one or (rarely) both fencers will not start by moving forward, but instead start by taking a step back, standing there, or something else. this is not done solely by the french but i would say that i have generally seen french fencers use it more often than fencers from other countries

i would be happy to do any of these, although i think i would have a very difficult time doing the 3rd option. if someone wanted to give me something more specific about what aspect of korean fencing you want me to examine i would be happy to but i dont want to just look at the game of an entire fencer, the video would be really really long

[Inquartata]

I was going to say "footwork preparations", so I vote for #3, sort of. Not necessarily just the French ones, or maybe the Bauer ones would be more accurate as all of the teams he has coached seem to do them; but footwork preparations off the line in general.

And no, I didn't just pick the one you said would be the most difficult. Although I can completely understand the suspicion that I might.

I am always on the lookout for these, and have stolen all the Bauer ones as well as some from Tim, Yakimenko, Becca Ward and others, with various degrees of success. So I am keenly interested in perhaps finding out why the ones that work work, what I might be missing on the others, and so on.

[epeeslasher]

i do not want to do a video on attack in prep with close-out because to me it is a counterattack that is poorly timed which is why we add the close-out in the first place. i understand that squirming and close-outs are necessary in foil with the timing so ridiculously long but sabre fencers should not be encouraged to use the close-out and instead work on their timing. in competitions i add it for security but in practice i try to use the close-out as little as possible to work on my timing

Just for the record, this is like the worst thing you've ever said. Even more so than when you basically said, "Well I don't like parries, great fencers don't need them."

I don't think the highest level fencers would be using these techniques (and they do use them, over and over again) if they were truly useless.

[CyrusofChaos]

Just for the record, this is like the worst thing you've ever said. Even more so than when you basically said, "Well I don't like parries, great fencers don't need them."

I don't think the highest level fencers would be using these techniques (and they do use them, over and over again) if they were truly useless.

oh... did i say they were useless? i think they are very effective. what i said was that the close out is added because of lack of confidence in timing and i dont want to make a video in order to encourage that. i think i also said that i do the close out in competition so saying i think they are useless is not even close to accurate because i dont

[KShan5[PrFC]]

Just for the record, this is like the worst thing you've ever said. Even more so than when you basically said, "Well I don't like parries, great fencers don't need them."

I don't think the highest level fencers would be using these techniques (and they do use them, over and over again) if they were truly useless.

I kind of agree. Attack in prep w/ close out is most certainly a timing action, much more so than a blade action. However, the close out is not just for extra safety, it is a deliberately set up action based on getting your opponent in the right distance/blade position. The complete dismissal of all blade actions as anything but cover ups for crappy timing/distance is disturbing. While practicing, sure just focus on the footwork/timing aspect of it, but to claim it's just sloppy fencing is flat out wrong.

[eac]

The parry comments and the closeout comments are two of my favorites on the whole forum, because they have the hallmark of someone who's paid attention to what's actually going on and not the conventional wisdom, and come up with something that's true but not widely acknowledged. These insights are rare, but it's even more rare to see someone state them publicly and run the risk of random users with a different weapon in their username calling them stupid.

For topic voting, I would go for #1, as I feel like it would bridge the biggest gap in my own understanding as a sabre-layman, but I would enjoy any of them.

[prototoast]

I think we're long overdue for a blooper compilation.

[Bonehead]

I think we're long overdue for a blooper compilation.

Yes! A reel full of stupid mistakes and dumb hits. It would be nice to be reminded that even world class fencers are human too.

[bigdawg2121]

I did the comment on attack-in-prep with closeout interesting because it seems to contradict much of what I have observed personally. If one only includes actions that are actually counter-attacks punctuated with the close out to ensure one light then I'm inclined to agree. If one considers actual AiP situations where an assertive action is made into an agressing yet preparing fencer (the guy moving forward but not really attacking yet) often the only way to signify that the timing has been stolen seems to be getting to the blade on the closeout; this seems to be true even in situations when the attack still puts a light on a machine. What seems to happen, a least to me, is that making the closeout after AiP is sort of a way for the fencer to say, "hey look, I had enough time to make an AiP and STILL find their blade- they couldn't have been attacking that whole time!". However, given that Andrew doesn't believe AiP exists outside the first zone* I could see getting arguments here.

*personally the most and maybe the only thing Andrew's ever said that I find to be disturbing and relatively confusing.