Hand first

[Delcan]

I have a club. With one student. Well... Actually, I find myself in a town with no fencing club and the closest I can get to fencing is training a mate of mine who has always wanted to learn (but lives in a town without a fencing club!) I've never trained anyone before but we do what we must just to hold a foil.

Anyway, I've been training this guy for a while now (on and off close to three months with lots of extended breaks.) One of the bad habits he is picking up is pulling his hand back before extending it in an attack.

Most times the extension happens with the step or the lunge. But this, I think is a separate issue. One I constantly correct by telling him, "Hand first."

My question: Is there a drill I can use to reinforce extending the hand without first withdrawing it? Is it something that will correct itself with experience?

I don't ever remember this being a problem for me when I first started so I'm not overly sure how to fix it. Any assistance would be much appreciated.

[Mergs]

This may fall in the realm of "Zen and the Art of Fencing", but one way I have used is to put the student on guard and tell them to close their eyes. You then instruct them not to lunge until they fell the weapon going forward. You then grasp the tip of the weapon and pull it forward. As soon as it is about 3/4 of the way extended , the student should lunge. If they try to anticipate it, slow it down. Get them to feel the weapon "pulling" them forward. Either that, or smack'em with a 2x4 til they do it right. IMHO.

[edew]

Originally posted by Delcan
I have a club. With one student. Well... Actually, I find myself in a town with no fencing club and the closest I can get to fencing is training a mate of mine who has always wanted to learn (but lives in a town without a fencing club!) I've never trained anyone before but we do what we must just to hold a foil.

Anyway, I've been training this guy for a while now (on and off close to three months with lots of extended breaks.) One of the bad habits he is picking up is pulling his hand back before extending it in an attack.

Most times the extension happens with the step or the lunge. But this, I think is a separate issue. One I constantly correct by telling him, "Hand first."

My question: Is there a drill I can use to reinforce extending the hand without first withdrawing it? Is it something that will correct itself with experience?

I don't ever remember this being a problem for me when I first started so I'm not overly sure how to fix it. Any assistance would be much appreciated.

Is this in foil, sabre, or epee?

Actually, I guess it doesn't matter. Do some drills to emphasize the utility of having the hand going out first. Do it by getting him to attack you. Then, instead of parrying his extension, attack into his attack. If his hand stays coming out first, it's his. If he pulls back, it'll be yours. You may even be able to close his attack out after you hit him. After he gets hit often enough, he'll learn. Or quit.

[Sildar]

edew and Mergs both gave good advice. I'm constantly telling my students to make the lunge feel like the weapon is pulling them into the lunge position. Have them practice extend and lunge slowly a few times, then gradually let the speed increase. If you have beginners do things full speed right away, everything you just told them flies out the window and it turns into a mess.

[Delcan]

Thanks for the responses. The assistance is appreciated.

Edew, the weapon is foil. I know the drill you're talking about. I remember it being used on me once upon a time. So maybe I did have this problem but it was never explained to me. Doesn't matter. I'll try it in the next training session.

Mergs, I must say your post was very interesting and opens up another line of thought for me. I think my mate believes that he must "load" his weapon to get some power into it (ouch for me!) He probably needs to concentrate more on placing the point on rather than trying to drive the foil through my chest. Anyway, I'll give your method a try as it seems interesting.

Sildar, I try to start slow and build speed if I believe his technique is correct. The problem is that he pulls his hand back even at the slowest speed. Hopefully, Mergs' and Edew's drills will help out and I can build speed properly.

[Catlady]

Does he pull back even if you have him do extend and lunge as two different actions?

I know in an actual bout you want it all to flow and include acceleration at the end, but maybe if he starts doing it like that he can train himself to do it as a fluid motion too.

Other than the suggestions made by the more experienced, all I can say is have him really focus and make a conscious effort to start the extension before lunging and really focus on keeping that hand out there.

[sabreur]

Another issue may be that he is tightening his shoulders and upper body as he attempts to accellerate into the lunge--this often causes a fencer to pull the hand back. You might try to get him to "feel" his upper body as completely relaxed--my coach says, "The feet roll, the hand relaxes."

Regards, MR

[pkt]

I remember my maitre d'armes tell me that it is not 'hand first'. It is, in foil and epee, 'point first' and in sabre, blade first.

BIG difference.

Delcan,
also emphasise the use of the fingers to manipulate the weapon...
Feel the weapon with the fingers - sort of like Obie won teaching Luke Skywalker with the blast shield down...

Teach them to caress one another with the blade, they should be able to do it as if their blades are part of their hands.

OK, this last one is a bit of a tease, but not far from the truth.

PK