competition

[glowstix]

i'm probably entering my first tournament soon and was just wondering...so i had a few questions on competition...

1. how soon did you guys start competing after bouting in your clubs??
2. what are realistic expectations for a first tournament??
3. how many tournaments did you enter before beginning to get decent results (4th, 5th, etc..)??
4. how do you prepare for a tournament in days/weeks leading up to it??
5. how am i supposed to use the experience from a probable thrashing at the hands of a more experinced fencer to benefit me??

thanks

[labouche]

Originally posted by glowstix
i'm probably entering my first tournament soon and was just wondering...so i had a few questions on competition...

1. how soon did you guys start competing after bouting in your clubs??
2. what are realistic expectations for a first tournament??
3. how many tournaments did you enter before beginning to get decent results (4th, 5th, etc..)??
4. how do you prepare for a tournament in days/weeks leading up to it??
5. how am i supposed to use the experience from a probable thrashing at the hands of a more experinced fencer to benefit me??

thanks

First of all: Don't sweat it, just have fun! I did my first tournament about 4 months after I started but a lot of people don't even wait that long.
I wouldn't put you expectations too high. Like I said, just have fun. In my former coaches first tournament she only got 1 touch all day and she had so much fun she's been fencing for more than 20 years.
I didn't win my first medal until I had been fencing for more than a year.
I wouldn't worry too much about preperation either.
Really everything you ask can be summed up in: JUST HAVE FUN!!!
Good luck,
la bouche

[Peach]

Originally posted by glowstix
1. how soon did you guys start competing after bouting in your clubs??
2. what are realistic expectations for a first tournament??
3. how many tournaments did you enter before beginning to get decent results (4th, 5th, etc..)??
4. how do you prepare for a tournament in days/weeks leading up to it??
5. how am i supposed to use the experience from a probable thrashing at the hands of a more experinced fencer to benefit me??

1. I went to my first competition a few months after I started bouting. It was pretty funny.

2. Realistic expectations for a first tournament are to expect to show up and fence. Get there before close of check-in, with extra weapons and body cords. Try to get a touch in every bout. If you win one, whee!! If you medal or even win the event, try not to let it affect you because one tournament doesn't mean much. Your job is to go and fence. Watch other fencers. Steal ideas. See how referees do it, and figure out what you have to do to make sure they see what you're doing. Remember that local tournaments are not always the same as national competition, whether in the quality of the fencing or the quality of the refereeing.

3. Decent results are hard to quantify and predict. It depends on where, when, and whom you're fencing. If you have many strong fencers in your division then you may not get decent results until you've been to your first national event, but you'll be a better fencer. If you don't have anyone good at your first tournament and you win, you may find national competition very daunting. Some fencers take months to get their first decent result, while others do it immediately. The idea is to get good enough that you get decent results consistently.

I got a third place medal in my first sabre competition, but there were only four of us entered . I earned a classification at my first NAC, but women's sabre wasn't very strong at that point. I've won some tournaments and I've come in last, and those results didn't necessarily come in the order you'd think.

4. Everybody has different preparations for tournaments. I try to get plenty of rest, slack off on the endurance work and weight-lifting a few days beforehand, and eat reasonably. You can't get any training effect from a heavy workout the day before, because the recovery *after* heavy training is when the body's strength and speed are acquired. My last practice before a tournament I usually bout at tournament intensity until I can feel that I know what I'm doing, then I quit early and go home and pack.

5. Try to figure out what the superior fencers did right and what you did wrong. Stay and watch them fence, and see what it looks like from the side. If you are at a friendly tournament, ask your opponents later on what you need to do (competitors at our local sabre tournaments are usually very encouraging to beginners). Pick one thing to improve.

It helps if you set a reasonable goal (show up and fence, get touches) rather than having unreasonable expectations of yourself. That way you won't be preoccupied with "failure" and will be more interested in figuring out how to do better the next time.

[BrianH]

Glowstix,

I found it useful to keep a fencing journal in the early days of my competition (1980), recording my results and my impressions of what worked and what didn't. If a specific technique was successful against a fencer, I kept a record of it, and tried to build on it the next time we fenced. Over time, I had a pretty good idea of tactics that worked for me.

Looking back, I see that I lost more than I won the first few years, but persistence and analysis changed the results, and I had a satisfactory competitive career even though I was never a national champion. Being over thirty when I began, I had some realistic expectations about my humble place in this great sport. And some personal rules. One of them was to always have respect for the sport, my opponents and the many people who help put on the competition. The prime directive was to have fun. Fencing was always for me, for my sense of control over my body and mind, not a path to glory.

It has also been therapeutic. If you are thinking about something else (girlfriend, job, grades, boss) while you're fencing, you'll lose the bout, and perhaps get hurt in the process. You have to learn to focus, and that carries over into other aspects of life.

Good practical advice from Peach. From me: stay hydrated.

BH

[Army Fencer]

Regarding #3:
I didn't win my first bout until 6 months after I started fencing. It took me 2 more years to get decent. Eight years after I started, I'm finally earning national points.

Regarding #5:
The more you fence better fencers, the better you will become.

BrainH, I still keep a fencing journal and it helps me immensely.

Since you're just starting out, relax and have fun, because there should be absolutely no expectations from yourself or anyone around you.

[Black Jeebus]

I was in my first competition two weeks ago. I was happy with myself for winning a DE in the D&Under Foil, then the next day in the Open Foil (with no less than 7 C's and a B) I came in dead last. I fenced in my second tournament just today and was pleased with myself as I beat some people who I had lost to two weeks ago. I again won my first DE and got knocked out in the second round, but this time it was in an Open (thats all they had for foil this weekend) with many of the same people from the one two weeks ago. I managed to attain my goal which was to finish in some place other than dead last.

As far as the tournaments go I have really enjoyed both of the ones I have been a part of, and I am looking forward to going to many more. Though I am a newbie in fencing I do know about tournaments like a fencing tournament (I took Taekwondo for a few years) if you just relax and have fun you can learn a lot about whatever sport you might be participating in at these events. Just keep your eyes open as to what the other people are doing, watch and learn. And for pete's sake keep track of things you try that do and do not work, if something isn't working, try something new.

[Tireur]

1. how soon did you guys start competing after bouting in your clubs??

Within a month.

2. what are realistic expectations for a first tournament??

Depends. Beginner tournament, NAC or in-between. Where is it?

3. how many tournaments did you enter before beginning to get decent results

Depnds on what you mean. I made it to the third round at my first..
I was in the finals six months later and won my first two weeks after that.

4. how do you prepare for a tournament in days/weeks leading up to it??

Nothing special. Maybe a little more intense footwork for a week or two, but, then a day or two of rest, just before.

5. how am i supposed to use the experience from a probable thrashing at the hands of a more experinced fencer to benefit me??

Keep it in perspective. I see too many beginners beating their heads against the wall and crying their hearts out because they don't beat people who been doing it for years

I'm old (48) and gray, so all these kids think I'm a pushover. And can't understand why the geezer (who really should be eating milquetoast in his wheelchair) beats them.

Watch the more experienced fencers and keep perspective. Where you fence may not be as strong as the other places you fence and this can cause a minor shock.

[Katman]

1. how soon did you guys start competing after bouting in your clubs??

At the University of Houston, if you don't count the beginner's tournament, most fencers begin fencing (SWIFA) after graduating the beginner's class (4 or 5 months). Any fencer at UH is free to go compete in non-SWIFA tournaments whenever they wish, though it's rare that they do.

2. what are realistic expectations for a first tournament??

I'm going to echo everyone else: depends on the tournament. It also depends on how much of a fencing genius you are. If it is your destiny to win every tournament, then you shall, young grasshoppa.

3. how many tournaments did you enter before beginning to get decent results (4th, 5th, etc..)??

I learned to fence at UH, so the majority of my tournaments for a time were SWIFAs. That's a team tournament, however, and I assume you're looking for individual results.

I began competing in open tournaments about 6 months ago. I fence foil and at my first big open I came in dead last. At my second (biggish) open I didn't come in dead last, and at my third tournament (E and under, D1 event) I captured sixth. It wasn't as strong as the other tournaments I'd been to, of course, but to answer you in a very round-about way: 3.

4. how do you prepare for a tournament in days/weeks leading up to it??

I practice in the weeks and practice a bit more in the days. The less you have to worry about your physical condition then the more you can worry about your weaknesses and the other fella you're fencing.

The night before a tournament I sacrifice a noble chicken sandwhich to my belly-god followed by the ancient ritual of a good night's sleep.

5. how am i supposed to use the experience from a probable thrashing at the hands of a more experinced fencer to benefit me??

Ask them for commentary on your fencing (most fencers are happy to give it), then add it all to your fencing repertoire and keep it in mind as you practice/bout. Even without the advice, the experince alone will improve your fencing.

[CarlKnoch]

1. After fencing for around 3 or 4 months in beginners classes my wife and I entered our first tourney. An open that was a tune up for Summer Nationals.

2. To not score more than a handful of touches and to come in close to dead last if not dead last. (Yes this depends a lot on the type of tourney, however the stress and excitement of the first tourney will more than likely make you fence really poorly.)

3. What are decent results? If you mean before placing in the top 8 in opens, then over a year. If you mean placing well in Unrated tourneys, 5-6 months.

4. Prepare? You're preparing all the time. I don't change anything except to get more rest the week before.

5. Try to pick something that you're doing that he's taking advantage of, or something he's doing that you can't stop. Then work on those things in practice. More than likely he/she isn't the only person who will use what they are using against you.

C