Bad Habits

[Bunny Of Doom]

I have a problem with bring my back hand forward when I make a long lung its gotten smack pretty bad but i still doin it. Also last bout i got pissed at my self becouse i let the guy get an easy touch so i hit my self in the face with my bell i dont no if its gonna become a habit i hope not. whatever i bet u guys dont care.

P.S. I do sabre so yeah...

[Inquartata]

Liz? Is that YOU?

[The0ne]

1. My crappy slow reposts
2. rushiing in
3. footwork, footwork, footwork!!

[D'Artagnan1673]

I have a near fatal habit, one which I will not disclose until after tomorrow. I'd hate for someone in the Houston area to read this and have a major advantage over me.

[Grey]

Recovering backward instead of FORWARD after a lunge. I find recovering forward more useful in most cases... except for some exceptional ones.

[D'Artagnan1673]

Personally, I do not think that recovering forward is the best way in most cases. There are plenty of situations in which any of the three recoveries are proper, those being the forward, middle and backward. I would hesitate to say that any one is the best; certainly not the forward since that brings you closer to an opponent's riposte or counterattack.

[Grey]

Its rather situational based. Mainly I attribute it to following Aldo Nadi's teachings (the advantages he named) and partly to rise up to a higher level position to evade flicks. Unfortunately in my country, flicks are a common sight compared to thrust.

[D'Artagnan1673]

Grey,

For flicks, I can see the advantage of a forward lunge since that would displace the distance. The unfortunate thing about following Nadi is that he fenced a long time ago and that fencing has gone through numerous changes since his day. I do not know what country you live in, but to my knowledge flicking is pretty common around the globe. We all have to deal with it.

By the way, welcome aboard!

[Grey]

Thanks. Actually I'm from Singapore but thats off topic anyway. I find Aldo Nadi's teaching extremely applicable to modern fencing. As for the upraised position of the left hand... I would say it is more of taste and preference rather than anything else.

As to the forward recovery, it is mainly due to the fact my opponent usually does not know the proper technique of flicking. Another reason is also partly because fencers I meet are too used to attacking after the opponent lunges. On occasional situations I prefer to stay in the lunge position and assume En Garde on the upper body. Thats when I find recovery to any position too slow/dangerous to execute.

[D'Artag-NOT]

I have so many bad habits it's hard to know where to start, but basically mine are:

1) Failing to retreat after my attack is parried
2) Failing to commit to the attack--extending my arm, then pulling it in
3) Overthinking on the strip instead of Just Doing It.

I have managed to overcome my tendency to tense my shoulders, however.

[Army Fencer]

Beating myself up over bad habits.

I think I would have worded your poll a bit differently. Instead of trying to STOP bad habits, I try to find good habits I should be doing instead. If you focus on the negative, you perpetuate that bad activity.

That being said, my worst habit is beating myself up. If things don't go according to how I want them to in a bout, I'll start a very negative internal dialogue. When I decide to be patient and focus on the fencing instead of what I am doing wrong, I fence infinitely better.

[ThaProfessor12]

rolling my back foot when I lunge , not all ways thinking of a strategy

[gojujay]

Bad habits?

FULL extension, stupid!

Good parry, but you forgot to RIPOSTE, stupid

Calling myself stupid

[rbbloom3]

I have a problem with advancing and leaning forward instead of lungeing

[SäbelFechter]

Like a lot of you, I have various problems with my technique that need working on. One really silly thing I sometimes do however when my opponent tries for a toe hit is I lift my rear foot which does no good at all . It might be because most of my weight is on my front foot at the time. (Wish I used a different name when I signed up here as epee has been my main weapon now for the past year & a half.)

[Andromeda]

Yeah my worst habit is that I tend not to repost after a parry. I parry alright, and then retreat... but I have been really trying to focus on scoring on parry reposts to hopefully get rid of that bad habit!

[Phoenix]

Andromeda, just ask a friend to help with "moke bouts" or do it in the air. just do some advances and parry reposte. Do it long enough and concentrate, next time you should be able to get it.

[RAF.]

Originally posted by MyraTrue
everything! Seriously, it seems like I've got more bad habits than anything else. I lunge too far... I sometimes accidentally do the splits.

There go those splits again!!!


I tend to smack the floor (with the foil, that is) when I do something dopey.
I too, tend to lunge too far, and too often.(Not enough hits on an advance)
I'm a bit impatient, and try to predict my opponents next move, rather than wait another micro second and react properly to their actions.
I guess I could go on,and on but why bore you? So, who's next!!?

[RebelFencer]

I sometimes zone out and get caught "sleeping"...this mostly happens at practice though.

[Reebek]

Over lunging to the extent that my back knee slams into the floor. I'm not sure which knee will fail first...

Only happens in bouts, never in drills.