The Fencing Coach Code of Honor
The other day, I was fencing at a tournament at the Maryland Fencing Club, and noticed that the salle’s head coach, Greg Paye had placed the Desiderata displayed on his wall. As I waited to be called for my direct elimination matches, I read through the Desiderata a few times, soaking in the words and [...]
You Know You’re Going to Lose
This weekend I faced a teaching moment that came from an unlikely place. My sons were all taking turns at a video game. My oldest was playing his turn and was behind by two scores with the clock winding down. His younger brother commented (a couple of times) “you’re going to lose”. It wasn’t said [...]
What is a Simple Attack?
Here’s a video from the 1992 Coaches College where coach Ron Miller leads a lecture on the simple attack.
Using Non-Combativity as a Tactic
In the 2012 Milwaukee Division I Men’s Epee NAC, Benjamin Wieder was facing Jimmy Moody in the round of 32. Moody secured a 4-5 touch lead at the end of period one. Entering period 2, Moody proceeded to withdraw his blade from reach, fully understanding that Wieder’s forte was in his blade work. Wieder desperately [...]
From the Archives: Kogler Epee Traning Documents
Someone looking through some of our older forum threads for epee training information brought up a set of documents from a training camp in the 80s: I am looking for a copy of an old epee manual and lesson plan that was written by Aladar (Kogler) back in the mid-80′s (or so). A few years [...]
Yale Researchers affirm the Hot Hand in Sports
Having a “hot hand”, going on a run, being “on fire”. Across all sports there are examples where an athlete seems to suddenly be unstoppable – hitting every action, or nailing every shot from the field. The idea of the “hot hand” in sports is something widely believed, but there has not been any scientific or statistical proof to back it up.
Fencing Footwork Training Part 1 (Video)
This video comes from the coaching archives of the USFA Coaches College, led by Alex Beguinet. Covered in this video are the following topics: “Previewing” The orienting movement required whenever performance involves body transport is called previewing. The critical factor in previewing is the rate of the performer’s movement. For a particular rate of body [...]
Zen Warrior – Chess Master: Video
A new sport psychology video has been released that discusses the necessary psychological shifts between the analytical and intuitive (or active) mindsets during a fencing bout. Discussion points are led by Dr. John Heil with additional input from 2 time Olympian Jason Rogers. Discuss this video in the forums.
Getting Ready for the Fencing Season: Training
Resources for planning and measuring your fitness and training for the 2011-2012 fencing season. Now that all of the schedules for the North American Cup (NAC), Regional Open Circuit (ROC) and Super Youth Circuit (SYC) events are complete, most fencers and families will be working out their schedules to map out how the rest of [...]
The Effort Effect
“We insist on giving our best effort in everything we undertake. Furthermore, we see a huge difference between “good mistakes” (best effort, bad result) and “bad mistakes” (sloppiness or lack of effort.)” That was one of the Core Values & Beliefs for an Internet startup (MindSpring). The mindset there – work hard, solve problems, get [...]
