Suggestions for new fencers

[Juri Arisugawa]

Hello. My name is Juri Arisugawa. I am new to the forums, and am relatively new to fencing as well...I've been doing so for 6 months, and while I'm quite aware I have much improvement needed in my technique, I see myself as a decent fencer. I can assume that rather practiced fencers frequent this board, and as such, was wondering if anyone here would be able to give some tips for beginners, or those just looking to improve their technique generally. My main problem areas involve parrying. I have some difficulty against those with strong parries. Any suggestions/tips would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Oh yes...is there a way to use custom avatars?

[jusplainfencing]

hi and first off welcome welcome welcome....now i really dont have much advice as i dont know that much lol but there are alot of people on here that know their stuff so maybe they will help ya out nut other that just wanted to say welcome .....

and oh yes their is a way to customize your avatar but you have to have so many posts i believe.....

[PeterGustafsson]

Arrigato!

In order for us somewhat more experienced to give good advice, we need to know more about you.

1. Any parry in which this is expecially common?
2. Does it involve same-handed bouts, or does it happen in lefty-righty situations?
3. Which weapon do you fence?
4. Does it mostly happen when you are fencing very strong fencers compared to you?
5. How good handstrength do you have compared to those that you usually fence against?
6. Do you often get hit when attempting to do ceding parries?
7. Compared to those that you usually fence against, are you short, average, or tall?
8. Of all types of attacks that you do, which tend to give the best success rate?
9. Do you do handstrength excercises?

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[Dav3ey]

Completely off topic: Your web site looks terrific. And while I'm not a big blog follower (so I don't know if this is common or not) I think your "[no one cares]...[1 person cares]" counters are very clever. Kudos to whoever though up that -- maybe you!

Back to fencing:

Six months is a great time in fencing -- you're starting to develop a style and may consider trying out the other weapons if you haven't.

Remember that, while you will go on to learn lots of techniques, most points -- at all levels -- are scored with techniques you already know: the straight attack, the disengage, and good old parry/riposte.

You mentioned that you're having trouble other people's heavy parries. Here's my thought:

You might be "over-committing" to your attacks, which is to say that you may be lunging in a way that takes you out of balance and makes you unable to recover/retreat quickly enough if your attack fails. (These attacks may be long enough to be successful often, though.) Remember that an unusually heavy parry is commonly slower than average, so you should actually have more time to react. If you're getting touched, you may be out of balance.

Against these people, try a half-lunge to start. Don't expect to score, but expect to have enough time to recover and retreat. If this works, make a longer attack next. (This is also good strategy in general to disguise your maximum attack reach.)

[Aoife]

and oh yes their is a way to customize your avatar but you have to have so many posts i believe.....

100 posts.... easy peasy

[135711]

keep fencing

[Juri Arisugawa]

Originally posted by PeterGustafsson
Arrigato!

In order for us somewhat more experienced to give good advice, we need to know more about you.

1. Any parry in which this is expecially common?
2. Does it involve same-handed bouts, or does it happen in lefty-righty situations?
3. Which weapon do you fence?
4. Does it mostly happen when you are fencing very strong fencers compared to you?
5. How good handstrength do you have compared to those that you usually fence against?
6. Do you often get hit when attempting to do ceding parries?
7. Compared to those that you usually fence against, are you short, average, or tall?
8. Of all types of attacks that you do, which tend to give the best success rate?
9. Do you do handstrength excercises?

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

Hajimema****e. =b

To answer your questions...
1. Well, it actually occurs when I'm fencing against a beginner. Rather than doing her parries correctly and simply moving the tip away, she slashes downwards, making it hard to go in for a ripose.
2. It is occuring in same-handed bouts.
3. I fence foil.
4. Most of the people I fence are a bit stronger than I am, but, as said, her 'swinging parry' adds quite a deal of strength.
5. I don't believe that my handstrength is that good. I often have handcramps after fencing.
6. I'm not aware of what a ceding parry is, my apologies.
7. I am average/tall, at 5'6".
8. I am usually successful with a riposte/counter-riposte. I often am simply parried away when I try to lunge.
9. And lastly, no, I do not know of any, nor do I do, any handstrength exercises.

I hope this helps, and thank you to those who commented on my website. Yes, I did make up the "no one cares" comment links on my own.

[KC]

Ok if they are parrying way too hard (which they are) try and keep it simple, disengage or coupe'. The more you get in and hit the more they will parry harder making it easier to disengage or coupe'.
Tempo could also play a role in your attack, making a brief pause in your advance and allow them to react, then attack after their reaction or riposte to their attack... But these are just suggestions... All in all I like the advice of "Keep Fencing" and keep it simple!

[Juri Arisugawa]

I apologize, as I know forthright this will sound amateurish, but...what is a disengage or a coupé?

[KC]

OK... A disengage is a feint attack in which you start attacking at one line, see the attempted parry and (tightly) circle UNDER the parry and hit in the opposite line. Imagine a cork screw motion instead of a circle beginning as you move in for the hit and not after your lunge is completed.

A coupe' is a "cut over" same concept except that when the parry comes at the attack you cut your blade OVER the opponents attack and hit in the opposite line. Use your writs for the cut over, do not withdraw the arm a slight bend is permissable but be careful not to withdraw the arm too much or you will lose the ROW...

On both of these actions there can be no blade contact, any blade contact and your referee will call the action parried.

This is my simple account of these actions but ask your coach to show you he will better be able to explain as will many on this board.

Good luck!

[pkt]

Juri,

Welcome to the pit of snakes. Just kidding. welcome to the brotherhood and sisterhood of fencing.

Having read all the posts in this thread I come to the realosation that
1. You should read the glossary at this and other fencing sites. This way you can get acquainted with some of the fencing terms.

2. There is lots of information in these 6 pages or more of this forum. Obviously some are good and some not so good. Try to read them.

3. If you are having trouble with beginners, I'll repeat for yur benefit what i wrote in another thread: Beginners don't see most of the actions that the opponent does, so they react instinctively. so never try compound attacks on beginners. They do NOT react in the expected fashion as a more experienced fencer would. So go in for the simple direct attacks. Once you have established the effectiveness of your simple attacks, then you can try the more complex attacks.

4. With beginners, as Dave3vey suggests, try playing with the distance first. Remeber, when your coach says, 'Keep distance.' there's another side to the coin: You can also take the distance away from your opponent. The best example is, assuming you have seen samurai movies: the attacker comes in with the katana raised high over his head, the good guys steps in with a cut to the stomach. This is what I meant. In other words, play with the distance. Beginners see distance better than the finer moves like disengagements and coupe's.

5. One thing I know about women fencers is that they like to parry downwards, like you mentioned. One of the Canadian women foil champion did this most effectively. So effectively that she was champion for quite a few years. The only thing one can do is to step in, draw the sword hand back, bring the point of the foil up and jab/stab. This sometimes may end up in a strong hit to the thigh of the attacker. But most times hits may land where they belong. This is not elegant fencing, but it works.

6. On eof the most importatn and most difficult thing to learn in fencing is "Relax" when you fence. The shoulder should be relaxed. Your muscles when not in use should be relaxed.

7. Read Musashi Miyamotos' 'Book of Five Rings' on strategy and mental work. Or Sun Tze's 'The Art of War'.

If the World Champ is at the peak of Fujiyama, at 6 months, you're at ground level. You have a lot of learning to do. Keep your mind open. Try to fence as many people as possible. If you have yet to fence in a tournament, try one. It is at tournaments that everything come together. People fence at a different level in tournaments.

Good luck and enjoy yourself.

PK

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Juri Arisugawa wrote:
------
To answer your questions...
1. Well, it actually occurs when I'm fencing against a beginner. Rather than doing her parries correctly and simply moving the tip away, she slashes downwards, making it hard to go in for a ripose.
2. It is occuring in same-handed bouts.
3. I fence foil.
4. Most of the people I fence are a bit stronger than I am, but, as said, her 'swinging parry' adds quite a deal of strength.
-----

I am an epee fencer, but I think that I have an idea on how to solve this particular situation. I assume that you are both right-handed - otherwise, just change directions below.

Beginners often use too much force, and it causes them to be too slow. Use this.

1. Do a straight attack to her lower torso.
2. Be aware that her downwards parry will come.
3. When her parry is about to hit you blade, rotate your blade counterclockwise around her blade. You should end up with your blade right above hers, in about the same position as before the rotation. Be aware that she should not hit your blade, so that you do not lose right-of-way. Keep moving forward during the entire rotation.
4. She is not hitting a hole in the air, while you continue forward to hit her valid target area.
5. If you miss (unlikely) at first attempt, advance so that she can not attack without pulling back her arm first. This tends to overwhelm beginners.

Note that this does not require that you use handstrength at all, while she uses her own to her own detriment.

-----
5. I don't believe that my handstrength is that good. I often have handcramps after fencing.
-----

You are probably holding the weapon too hard. Learn to hold it without cramping up. Common mistake among unexperienced fencers.

------
6. I'm not aware of what a ceding parry is, my apologies.
------

Parry where you pull back your weapon - ask your coach to show it. Especially useful for not that strong fencers.

------
7. I am average/tall, at 5'6".
------

This should give you several options - ask your coach how to use your relative tallness to its fullest extent.

-----
8. I am usually successful with a riposte/counter-riposte. I often am simply parried away when I try to lunge.
9. And lastly, no, I do not know of any, nor do I do, any handstrength exercises.
-----

Beat drills - one fencers repeatedly performs a batte against another who just presents his/her weapon. Change after a time.

Weight curl - hold a barbell, adjusted for your handstrength, in your hand and lift your wrist from hang-down to a position where your palm is as close to yourr forearm. Start the movement with knuckles down and palm up. Do not twist your wrist during movement.

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[Zilverzmurfen]

"5. I don't believe that my handstrength is that good. I often have handcramps after fencing.
-----
You are probably holding the weapon too hard. Learn to hold it without cramping up. Common mistake among unexperienced fencers."


The above is true, but may I also suggest you make sure the grip is the right size for your hand?

Best of luck and welcome to the wonderful world of fencing, Juri!

[MiguielGuido]

Not that this has anything to do with your parry problem... but something that im coming to learn right now is the important of the basics in fencing. I havent been fencing that long (about 7 months) and ever since i picked up epee (about 2 months ago) ive realized that for the first 5 months of fencing i skirted the basics and picked up some really bad habits. So i would tell you to stick with what you know right now and dont worry to much about winning bouts by trying things you dont know how to do correctly. Anyway hoped this helped



Mig