Thank you for the Music

I'm sure that all fencers have a ritual that they go through before they start a competition, or even just a normal match. This is sometimes done for comfort, out of habit, or for inspiration. Inspiration is something that means different things to different people. With me, it can vary between creating a fierce mood, or calming me down. To do these things, I listen to music without fail before a competition. Here are some examples of what I find inspiring in music.

• Bat out of Hell
• Go the Distance
• I'm still Standing
• Eye of the Tiger
• Everything I do
• For Crying out Loud
• God of War Montage

These are just a few examples, but they seem to follow a set pattern of inspiration.

The Melody of A Blade

I purchased a new foil yesterday, and I used it whilst I was fencing (obviously). I was surprised to find that most of my attacks were landing, and all of the techniques I used were almost flawless. I then switched back to my other foil, and suddenly, my attacks seemed to fail. So, I wonder whether the foil affects how you fence. My philosophical and common sense screams NO!, but I have to consider it. Maybe it was just a pyschological effect; better foil, better style, but I'm still not sure. Musashi says that the weapon does not matter, if you are good enough. So maybe it does matter before you are not good enough? Do blades matter, or don't they? I'll consider his for a while, and then come up with a good answer...

Seeing is Believing

Where should we look when we fence? There is so much to take in, and yet we need to focus on one aspect. Where should we start? Study this image, and find the face. When you have found it, study fencers as such:

REALISE THAT THE THING YOU ARE LOOKING FOR LIES NOT IN THE BODY, OR THE HANDS OR FEET, BUT THE FENCER ITSELF.

Lessons

It is said that we all learn a lesson; in victory and defeat. There is no such thing as mastery, only bettering yourself, and because of this, there is a lesson in everything. This is my lesson for today:
Today was the day that I fenced in the Norfolk County Junior Championships. Most of the people who turned up were from N.A.F, and there were a few others. I was in the U16, along with six others. Included within the six, was the opponent I beat two weeks ago in the DE, 15-11. I don't think I felt nervous then, just a quiet reminder that I had only beaten him once. I didn't want to get complacent for the poules match. Evidently, he felt differently. Every victory for him seemed to be magnificent, and he frequently told uninterested spectators that her was doing well. Me and him were the last poules match. What did I feel then? Confidence? Determination? I can't say. I don't remember feeling anything. Remembering the technique I used last time, I entered the match, and came out of it a victor, 3-1. He didn't seem fazed by it, but something had changed about his attitude nonetheless.
The DE started, and I found myself in the final, facing none other than the same opponent. This is then where emotions began to gather. There was a desire to beat him, a desire to win, a determination to prove myself and an anxiousness that I would fail. I then realised that these emotions did not matter. None of them would help me on the piste, only hinder my performance. I tried to crush them out, and the DE began.
After two periods, I was in the lead 8-3. I knew that I had the psychological advantage. All I had done was hit him, and exploit his own technique, and suddenly, he had excuses for walking onto my parry ripostes. Amongst them were slippery shoes, a bad foil, and a sore leg. Inwardly, I knew that he believed he had lost. For the final period, I expected him to go all out to attack, but he continued with his previous technique. I think that he knew that he had lost. Some part of me thought that this was bad. The 'Hagukare' tells you to burn with mad death when the time comes, but this acceptance disturbed me a little. However, I was satisfied with a victory of 13-4. I was satisfied, as I had shown once again that gaining points with a bad technique is no substitute for gaining fewer points with a good technique. So, as a winner of the U16 Norfolk Championships, I feel that there is a lesson for everyone.

• Always try to better yourself, and you will find that your opponent will then be bettered subsequently.
• Even when things look bad, there is always a victory somewhere.
• Burn with mad death when the time comes.
• Utilize your opponents weaknesses, and attempt to mask your own.

So, I have learnt a lot on this day. Also, well done to all those N.A.F fencers who took part and had victories of their own. Thanks for the partaking, and the support.

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.