Why I keep teaching....

[thebigriddle]

Alright, we all have our bad days. Not sure how many teach fencing classes at university, but you can say it is challenge. Try teaching to bunch of unmotivated students. For those teach fencing or are instructor. Do your students expect fencing to be different then what it really is?

[swordsen]

Most students expect it to be like what they see in the movies. If they don't get over that they tend to quit fairly quickly. Or migrate off to SCA groups.

[Sabresque]

In a way yes, I've found that. And a lot of the time those kids are the ones who think they can run around, slashing blindly in the air and poking everyone's eye out. There are always the other kids though that really want to learn, though, and they make up for the other guys.

[jBirch]

thebigriddle,

Gee Gods, I've been there and I hate it sooo much. I mean, why should we feel that it is our duty to teach these people rather then their duty to want to learn?

I always make the mistake of thinking that all of my students are as fanatically interested in the nitty gritty details of fencing as I am. They get really interested in flashy, mostly useless movements like 9 parry or infighting, so sometimes, showing that and then letting them experiment for a while works. So too does wiping them off the piste with simple basics.

Sometimes I get so fed up that I just simply refuse to teach anything. If they're using club equipment, I just refuse to open the locker. Usually, after a week or two, the interested ones are back asking questions and the others kinda get sucked back or leave. It's kinda childish, I know, but it's the only way that seems to work consistently.

It used to be that students had to work hard to impress upon an instructor that they wanted to learn or else the maestro would just refuse to let them in the door. <sigh> I often find myself wishing we could go back to that system.

[Sildar]

bigriddle-

Some things I've found that make teaching easier on you and the students:

Tell them up front when they come in what to expect. For example, I let everyone know at the beginning of the semester that I'm showing them a more traditional style of fencing which will require a lot of work on basic technique and they won't be free fencing until they've done months of drills. That usually weeds out the Conan wannabees and the pokers and leaves me with people I want to work with: the patient ones who actually want to learn skills.

I've found that many of the students actually like it if I'm a bit more strict in class. By strict, I don't mean abusive or inflexible; I simply don't hesitate to call people on it firmly but calmly if they aren't doing something they know they should be, or if someone is goofing around or slacking off. The people who don't find fencing fun if they have to focus and put in the work aren't the kind you want around anyway, so once again it will drive away the people you don't want and attract the sort you do want.

In short, I've found that you don't do yourself or your students any favors by watering down the lessons or trying to make fencing into some sort of "info-tainment;" give them the fencing education you wish you had received, and teach them as best you can, expecting discipline without being a petty dictator or getting sadistic. The trick is to find the right balance of expecting their best while being willing to work with those having trouble. The people who want fencing to be something other than what I teach are the ones I don't waste my time with; I'll refer them to other organizations which offer something closer to their interest (other clubs, the SCA, etc) and then it's up to them to learn what I teach or go find a style that they do like.

[thebigriddle]

that sounds reasonable, I guess after doing this for six years you get frustrated at seeing the same thing. Trying to find those that can commit themselves that really want to learn. I don't want to have push someone. It generally make for bad blood.

[Tomas N]

Hello all,

I share the same frustrations as thebigriddle. It's tough to keep a fencing club going. When I'm feeling my most melodramatic, I call myself a fencing missionary, trying to just get one or two converts a year.

The one thing I've learned over my "coaching" career is that just being a competent teacher of fencing isn't enough to keep students (college students at least) interested in fencing. Think about varsity sports on campus. The students at my college who are on the football team live and breathe football, not because the coach is great (which he actually is) but because they totally buy into the fact that football is important. I realized this past summer while preparing for the school year that I haven't tried hard enough to make the fencers in the club think fencing is important.

This year I've done some experimenting on a couple of fronts. These don't relate to how I teach fencing directly, but affect the overall atmosphere of the club. For instance, I've been sending out emails once a week telling everyone what the game plan for the week is. I think that doing so has given the students in the club something to look forward to and to get excited about. I've had pizza nights where we watch some fencing footage or a swashbuckling movie (We will have several more of these when the 2003 WC DVD's arrive). We've done doubles fencing, just to spice things up a bit. I try new games to keep things fun. I've been encouraging (forcing) the kids into competition. I've made the club much more welcoming to female fencers. I've allowed kids from local high schools to fence with us. At least so far, these techniques have helped increase the club's membership and have kept attendance very steady at about 15-18 a meeting. I feel that we could actually have a club with 25 or so regular members, but that's probably the limit of what I can organize.

To summarize, right now, I'm in a mental space where I think that I've exhausted the extent to which the good word about fencing can be spread through line drills. I think that to keep a club at a college or university going, there has to be an esprit de corps. There are lots of ways to generate that camaraderie. Hopefully, what I'm doing will get more of the members to join the USFA, go to competitions, and become lifelong fencers. But like any missionary, I'll be satisfied if I can just convert a soul or two along the way.

Tomas

[swordsen]

You know, whenever I get tired of the slashers and the lazy hanger on at the club. When I've had it up to the eyeballs with those who expect to be perfect in a day, and will argue with you about how great they are, how much more thye know then you do aftern their two weeks of fencing. Everytime I am aobut to heave it all aside and quit messing with the morons, I'll have some kid (or adult) come come runnign up to me after a bout saying "It works! It works! That move we did last week really got that guy!"

And about then I forget the idiots and remember why I am doing this.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

when I started, I thought that I was the best. I challenged the instructor to a duel (he was an A), I never got close. That humbled me down a wee bit! It might work for you trouble makers.

[big poppa]

This is my final year of coaching high school fencing. Iv'e done it for five years and im sorta burned out. I feel much of what has been said on the board on this subject. When i return to teaching it won't be in a high school . I will return to a tradional approch. Those who wan to fence will , those who want to slash won't last past basic footwork. Even now in my high school I have returned to basics : footwork, drills and more footwork. The interested remain and work and improve . the less committed don't. A tyrant no, but little more strict yes. Picture how strict a Karate club is now I understand why it is set up that way.