In my opinion, you need to have a number of things to succeed in fencing. You need to have commitment, you need to be open-minded, and you need to be determined. Skill, patience and speed will come later, as well as dexterity, control and, most importantly, adaption. Adaption is one of the most important skills a fencer needs to learn. People I know will try a move out, and find that it works on an opponent. However, they wil continue to use this move on different opponents. In a direct elimination at a recent competition, I saw one fencer lunge, and hit his opponent. When they started again, he lunged again, and was instantly parried and riposted. In this situation, I hope I would think Alright, I need another attack. Unfortunately, the fencer in question just kept doing the same attack, and kept getting parry riposted. I think the term, flogging a dead horse is appropriate. The fencer's logic must have been: I hit him with it once, why isn't it working now? The simple answer: He knows what you're going to do.
Fencers should try and be like a ball., always on the move, constantly changing angles and not stopping. If an opponent is beating you, stop and think about the following:
- Why aren't my attacks working?
- Why are his attacks working?
- How do I need to adapt? Is it possible?
- Do I have a back-up plan if it fails?
In this way, you shall become the unfettered orb.
2 comments:
The fencer's most effective weapon is not their sword; it's their brain.
I agree with this too. The foil is only as powerful as the fencer who wields it. And the fencer is as powerful as his unfettered mind makes him.
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