Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

Scott Allen Abf · 06-05-2003, 04:31 PM

It occured to me that being ableto live the "bullet time" effect in the Matrix movies would be VERY useful while fencing, eh?

Just stop and think about what you could do if suddenly your opponent was attacking at a fraction of his normal speed....

Artisan · 06-05-2003, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Scott Allen Abf
It occured to me that being ableto live the "bullet time" effect in the Matrix movies would be VERY useful while fencing, eh?

Just stop and think about what you could do if suddenly your opponent was attacking at a fraction of his normal speed....

How about naming an activity where it wouldn't be useful?

I see dead people · 06-05-2003, 05:50 PM

... when visiting a dentist

ShaggyShaw · 06-05-2003, 07:51 PM

The mind does have a method for this, but it only kicks in during times of extreme danger. Some people who have been in car accidents claim that time slowed down to a crawl, and what took 3 seconds to an observor, took 3 minutes to the driver. The mind accelerates to the point that everything else seems to slow down. So, the real question is, is there a way to control this method at will? My guess is there probabley is a way to do this, but the people who do it don't realize it (and become top fencers).

Yeah, it would be very cool... and maybe even do-able

Yeah, dentist chair would be a bad place for it... come to think of it, I think it happened to me last time I went there... I spent alot of time in that chair

rvergara · 06-06-2003, 04:01 PM

It can be done at will... All it takes is time.

I practice tai-chi, and after doing some meditation before a bout, you can feel the difference. I dont know if I guess the other's move, or if I see it and react a lot faster. The thing is that it helps a lot.

ian · 06-06-2003, 05:26 PM

you are so right about the tai - che my dad trained in San Fransisco for 12 years and he told me that you can control the speed of the mind. i know and have heard of people in martial arts being able to do this. anyone in our community know how?
share your thoughts

ian

Gibo · 06-06-2003, 10:04 PM

I had the slow motion experience once. I ended up beating the guy I was fencing (in practice) about 10-2, and we're usually about dead even. I could see absolutely everything coming and either get out of the way or just parry. I actually had a cool "Matrix-dodge" where I twisted out of the way of an attack and wacked him in the head

As far as I know I was moving faster than usual too, because nothing seemed to be going slower on my end. It was a really cool experience, hasn't happen since then (in 3+ years). Only problem was I had an absolutely terrifying migraine about thirty minutes later.

ShaggyShaw · 06-06-2003, 11:58 PM

what ian siad, I would be very interested in finding out how to do this... then again, I don't think there's a person on here who wouldn't be

rvergara · 06-07-2003, 04:14 PM

it can be done. have you heard of the martial artists who can catch an arrow in the air? the same stuff can be applied to fencing.
sometimes that mind state can be achieved accidentally, like Gibo said, before a migraine, or sometimes when you are hung-over.
but my tai-chi teacher says the way to get a more clear and useful "matrix mind" is trough meditation

***Craig*** · 06-07-2003, 05:20 PM

I've had a few bouts where the other fencer seems to be very slow and it seems like I have 2 or 3 seconds between decision points rather that the actual time of a fraction of a second.

It's a mental state of extreme focus and relaxation at the same time, and I've found it to be fairly difficult to achieve, but was able to place myself there once. Aladar Kogler has written a book or two on yoga and mental focus and those included some meditation techniques.

Another book that I would recommend was titled "Peak Performance"; I'll have to look for my copy of a couple of chapters to get the full reference down.

Cheers,
Craig

corinna2u · 06-07-2003, 05:42 PM

Craig...could you give an author to go with that book. I keyed in Peak Performance at Amazon to look at the reviews on the book but didn't come up with something by that exact name. Thanks...

corinna2u · 06-07-2003, 06:45 PM

duh...must have miss keyed it at Amazon.

Found 'Peak Performance: Mental Training Techniques of the World's Greatest Athletes' by Charles A Garfield. Seems to be out of print right now. But our library system has two copies so I will check it out.

While searching at Amazon, this book was given high reviews by 20 plus reviewers - 'The Mental Edge: Maximize Your Sports Potential with the Mind/Body Connection' by Ken(neth) Baum. Anyone know anything about this book? Maybe it would also help achieve the bullet-time effect.

nahouw · 06-07-2003, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ian
you are so right about the tai - che my dad trained in San Fransisco for 12 years and he told me that you can control the speed of the mind. i know and have heard of people in martial arts being able to do this. anyone in our community know how?
share your thoughts

ian

The secret is that it is all about training the mind to reach the combination of the alpha wave and theta wave in the brain that is similarly achieved through meditation. Fencing has a very great application for achieving this, because most fencing lessons are repetitive. It is only through conscious, consistent, focused repetition that you can gain this; however, most people drop out of fencing because they find that the repetition is boring; and those that stick with it do not not appreciate this -- they just think it is a boring task that they must do.

Another thing that hinders fencers in achieving this mental state is that they are more focused on winning than achieving this state of mind. When you are focusing on a goal such as winning, you lose mind as to what you need to get there.

Note: most people focus on training the body in fencing and not training the mind. In the highest levels of competition, where all competitors are equal in physical training -- the only difference upon who wins is by the mind.