It used to be that contact between the fencer’s blades was the expected part of any bout – many felt that without engagement at the start it was impossible to actually fence. The development of sentiment de fer (the ability to sense the opponent’s intentions through contact with his or…
Last week we discussed how to develop continual pressure on an opponent through continued, forward moving attack. This week we look at the other side of that scenario – what to do when the opponent is chasing you. The first and most important rule is to stay relaxed under the pressure…
If you owned a car that could only drive at one speed, say 37.7 miles per hour, how useful would that be? Or maybe one that could only drive at 99 miles per hour, regardless of the speed limit? What about an airplane or a boat or a motorcycle or…
You are out on the piste in the midst of a critical bout in the Upper-No-Place Open. You just scored to bring the score to 2-2, and scoring the next touch makes you (1) the first to three hits, an important point in the bout, (2) up one on…
Understanding fencing requires that you understand the idea of building blocks. As children we played with wooden blocks of various sizes and shapes, plastic bricks, legos, Lincoln logs – all of which kept us engaged because we could put them together in various ways to make something the same or something…
A stop hit or stop cut is a simple offensive blade action executed as counteroffense to land before the start of the final action of the opponent’s attack (in right of way weapons) or within the 80 millisecond window of possible lockout times in epee (1/25th of a second, or 40…
Surprise is the creation of unexpected conditions that (1) hamper or defeat the opponent’s actions and/or (2) facilitate successful actions by the fencer. Surprise may be strategic or tactical. Strategic Surprise involves changes in conditioning and physical performance, technical skill, tactical skill, or mental skill from one mesocycle (a training cycle…
This is the second posting supporting our work on systems. To refresh your memory, and to say anything I need to say that I didn’t say last time, a system is a combination of actions, chosen based on your tactical doctrine, that naturally work together to maximize the potential of…
The modern fencer faces a very complex tactical environment. It is not enough to know blade technique and footwork – risk assessment, statistical influence of hits in the bout and the pool, timing control, distance control, retention of the initiative, energy and hydration management, management of the fencer’s psychological state,…
… to do the same thing, but in different ways. Over the past year we have discussed on several occasions the reality that there are many cases in fencing where the same movement pattern is used to achieve the same basic goal, albeit with a different name. Today we are…