Single person drills

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

What drills can I do at home without a partner. My club doesn't do drills on a regular basis, so that is not something that I am very good at.

[neevel]

Footwork comes very obviously to mind. It's something you can never be too good at, and you need to practice off-strip. Getting your basic form down pat is critical, of course, but there's more than that. The ability to keep you default step size small (more precision and more opportunities to react), to adjust size and tempo as needed, to quickly change directions, to disguise direction changes with check-steps, to vary the tempo in the middle of a footwork action (a slow-fast lunge can do wonders for feint attacks)-- these are of immense value, and the ability to understand and use them is one of the things that distiguishes good fencers. Your footwork, and the variations in distance and tempo you can create with it, are every bit as much a part of the tactical exchange as your bladework. In fact, as you improve your footwork you will almost certainly find you bladework improving. You'll be better able to place yourself at the right distance and with the optimal timing to execute whatever blade action you have in mind.

The first step is to make sure you know how to do basic form right. Otherwise, your practice will simply serve to burn-in faults that'll be tough to fix later on. You probably have a sense of what the essentials of form are. Some things that often get overlooked at smaller clubs are keeping your weight mainly on the balls of the feet (the heels can be in contact with the floor, but without much force on them), and executing your advances and retreats by propelling yourself with a small push (from the back leg for an advance, the front leg for a retreat) rather than just stepping. And small steps! Large steps are evil! (well, except when they actually are the appropriate thing to do, but you get the drift).

Once you're clear on what's correct in terms of form, a full-length mirror (the cheap, under $20 ones from Home Depot or the like are perfect) is an excellent training aid. It'll provide immediate visual feedback, and allow you to develop a feeling for what's right.

After you've reached a point where you can close your eyes, do a few minutes of basic advancing, retreating, lunging, recovering, and then open your eyes and still have your form looking dead-nuts in the mirror, it's time to get to the fun stuff. Begin playing around with tempo and direction changes (for example the final motion of an attack or riposte should generally be delivered with an accelerating tempo change). Work on altering the tempo of a single action (such as an advance or a lunge) mid-course. Think about how you might set up an attack with a series of direction changes, rather than just pushing forward. Practice making quick distance-breaks with enough control that you can immediately continue on with whatever footwork is then called for. Recall an action that an opponent used effectively against you, and come up with footwork that would be part of a counter to it. You want to develop a sense of how it can be possible to establish a kind of rhythm and flow to the movement on strip, and then change it when it suits you.

In addition to honing the technique of your footwork, you will also be building up your endurance. Being able to maintain a given level of exertion throughout a full-time 15 touch bout can be as important as anything else. An inspired tactical idea isn't much good if you're too worn out to execute it.

-Dave