Mind tuning

I fenced in the Norfolk Senior County Championships today, and I came across a very great challenge whilst I was fencing. In the poules, I fenced someone who I know doesn't have very good technique. To my annoyance, he beat me 5-3, due to the fact that he would constantly run forwards, twisting deliberately and lunging low to avoid being hit. What annoyed me was his victory due to bad fencing, not his victory itself. In the DE, I came up against him, and beforehand, I took a few moments to try and work out how to beat him.

It is a strange thing, and perhaps a hard thing, to change a style of fencing instantly. It needs to be gradual, and sometimes forced. For instance, I was told by one of my fencing instructors to keep my elbow tucked in and turn the wrist over more so that the thumb is at '1:30'. I struggled with this for a few weeks, and then tried to change back to my original form of outward elbow, thumb on top. I was amazed to find that I could not remember how I used to do it. So, was it possible to change my entire style to beat this person?

I don't suppose I changed the whole style. More or less, I just changed my form, and my attacks. Rather than my usual arsenal, I tried a more patient approach. I had nine minutes, so why try to end it in one? After the first period, the score was 3-2 to me. After that, we were never more than one point ahead of each other. Eventually, it was 9-8 to him. I desperately wanted to rush in and finish this, but this little niggling thought kept screaming NO NO NO NO NO NO!. So, I tried to keep calm (by the way Dave, C.U.P, calm under pressure is hard, but good). I scored the next two hits, and I knew then that something had changed in my opponent. Rather than his slow and steady movements, he had speeded up, and his non-fencing arm was rigid with tension. Something had possibly twigged in his brain, that he could lose this, and in my opinion, he abandoned what had been working without knowing it. He began to attack me more often having previously scored on the counter-attack. When he shouted at the referee, who had just awarded me the hit for scoring with a blatant parry riposte compared to his fleche, I knew that he was getting wound up. I won the 15-11, and ended up coming joint third overall.

The point of this blog is to show that everyone has what I like to call 'A Punishment Mind'. This is where the fencer gets into the mindset that if they get angry, they will ferociously beat down their opponent in a flurry. This may work for some people, but the calm way is almost always the best. Aggression is better than anger, and in this case, it proves itself.

The Trackless Road

Having seen the behaviour of fencers at competitions, arrogant and modest, fierce, angry and confident, I decided to see what a samurai thought of such behaviours. I personally dislike arrogance, anger and misplaced agression, as they often lead to bad fencing and bad habits for younger fencers. I consulted Yamamoto's book on The Way of the Samurai, and this is what he says:

At the lowest level of skill and ability, one thinks of himself and others as poor. He thinks this because he has mastered only a little. Needless to say, a person at this level is not at all useful. At the middle level , one is still useless, but he can at least understand that he and others have mastered only a little. At a high level, since a person has made something his own, he is proud of his accomplishment. And he is also glad of the praise of others. He grieves over the shortcomings of others. This kind of person is at least useful. At a higher level, one pretens to know nothing, yet others understand that he holds an upper hand. The majority of people cannot get beyond this level. Beyond this higher level, there is one further step: the level of the trackless road. If you travel deeper into the trackless road, infinite secrets will finally appear. Then you can never see the end of your mastery. Then you realise how lacking you are. You only have to go ahead with your intention of mastery in mind You go forward without pride and without humility

I don't need to explain this as it speaks for itself.

Obvious?

Our strangest thoughts usually occur when we are tired, so naturally, before I sleep, I seem to come up with weird ideas and scenarios. However, on Sunday, I came up with a question that seemed really obvious, but actually required deeper thought. The question was simply 'How do I beat people when I fence?'. I can think of how I would answer that, but there is probably an answer for everyone.

I asked someone today how they beat an opponent they had just fenced. The answer was 'I was just faster than them' I don't think that this was true. I think that the opponent just didn't realise that they were not reacting to their speed. There was nothing to do with speed. People claim that fencers are sometimes too fast, or too forceful to beat. If a fencer has reached a certain stage, they should be able to beat any opponent with any traits, in my opinion.

Thinking about this, I came up with a metaphorical scene. Imagine a test that you and someone else are sitting. You both finish the test, and are then given access to the answers, and the other person's answers. The people who claim that the fencers are too fast will look at the test papers and see only their mistakes, and the other person's correct answers. Other people will focus on their correct answers, and see only them, even though their other answers may be wrong. This is what I would do.

I have the answers, and so I would correct my own mistakes at first. Then, having looked at the other person's paper, I could see their mistakes, and I could then make good use of them. In the fencing world, this means exploiting their mistakes until your opponent is mentally and physically drained by your onslaught. Correct your mistakes, and exploit your opponents.