Fencing Foil at South Denver

I am not a foil fencer. I don't look like one.

I don't act like one. But if I can't beat my high school aged foil students in a tournament, I am gonna be in trouble. I ended up in 6th place (out of 17) in an in house tournament. Mostly because I like to attack, am annoyed when I am parried, and my response is to drive forward rather than recover-retreat-counterparry-counterriposte.

Hangover Open in Denver

First off, I had a decent New Year's Eve/New Year's with my roommates and their awesome friends. I have kinda lost interest in the idea of NYE as a drunkfest hookup time, especially since it is so hard to get home on New Years whether you drive, look fruitlessly for a cab, or take the train. Halloween is much better suited as the pickup holiday.

Even so, my roommates and their friends loved shots of cognac, so I was pretty sauced the next afternoon when I fenced epee with the few enterprising adults and many in shape and well behaved high schoolers of the DFC Hangover Open epee event. I didn't fence badly, but I didn't fence crisply or precisely. Again, it looks like I know what I am doing, but for the last six months or so I have felt off my game.

It's weird, I spend most of my evenings in the fencing club, but only a tiny percentage of that time is devoted to my own training. I give private lessons, teach classes, work in the armory, referee tournaments, but not much actual practice for myself. I like to think of myself as a competitive fencer, but it seems I am doing less and less to justify that title.

Walking the Dog and Tunnel Vision

One of the interesting things about fencing is that not only does it combine fine and gross motor skills like many sports, but each is also asked to draw on a huge library of skills in the middle of the bout. To mitigate this, coaches will teach the fencers to focus on 2-3 key actions, actions with over 80% accuracy that will ensure victory... but what if they don't work? If they don't work, the fencer must go back to that library, which is only possible if he has the presence of mind to analyze the situation on the fly, and either replicate a solution from previous experience - or create one.

The problem with this is that there is a person on the other end of the strip with a metal weapon in his hand, and he's coming for you. Only the quarterback in tackle football, and maybe the defensive secondary unit faces a similar dilemma - how to match solutions from a wide body of knowledge to a specific high pressure situation instantaeously. Most folks in such a situation freeze up because they can only see what is directly in front of them - hence "tunnel vision."

Tunnel vision is a phenomenon of the mind and body working in concert against an athlete's, or anyone's welfare. It's overfocusing on the most immediate issue, instead of taking in as much information as possible and making an informed decision. If you are running for your life in an open field - tunnel vision is ok. If you are running for your life in a jungle, the jaguar on the tree above you can get you just as good as the one on your tail. But if your field of vision is clear, and your mind is open - you can avoid them both.

When coaching from the sidelines, especially in fencing, sometimes it's not as important to convince a competent fencer to try a certain action as to get him to see the whole picture. If a 4-8 parry riposte will be more effective than a simple 4 parry-riposte - telling him might help, if he can see when to set it up. But if he has tunnel vision, that may not be possible.

Some of my coaching, like "Walk the dog" is less a suggestion on what to do, but a way of mentally pulling the fencer out of the chase. His body is still on guard with weapon at the ready, his drilling and training have made immediate parries automatic - but instead of being consumed by the madness of the moment, his conscious mind has now regained control and his eyes are able to see the entire field instead of the fencer that has confounded him. Much like the Pro Bowl level quarterbacks able to pick the perfect spot and receiver to pass the ball to as men the size and speed of rocketpowered refridgerators try to smash him - so can a fencer with a completely clear mind execute common and uncommon actions with ease. After all if the fencer has done his job in practice, somewhere in his mind he has the solution to victory - a coach need only help him clear his mind so he can find it on his own.

Coaching - A New Frontier

This past weekend I directed epee for the GA Division Junior Olympic Qualifiers. It was an ok time, but very tiring. Floors designed for fencing shoes feel like hell when you are wearing boots. The benefit was that I got to hang out with my clubmates and friends, and see some very good fencing.

At the same time, I ended up coaching some of my female clubmates while our coach was with the men in DEs. The women's events were small enough to guarantee there would be no ethics issues with me coaching and directing. We have some quality up and coming fencers - but it seems that there is a fundamental difference in how young men and women mature in this sport. With the boys, they get the fire to win before they have the skill to make it happen. With the girls, they don't start developing confidence and fire until winning is almost unavoidable.

That little difference makes women so frustrating to coach. I am used to giving guys advice on how to beat unfamiliar opponents, "feint-disengage; draw the attack, then parry-sixte-riposte," etc. With the girls, it's stuff like, "eye of the tiger; don't be nice; win inside before you can win outside!" There was one phrase in particular - my fencer was in thrust distance, and needed only extend her point another inch to make an easy touch; yet she kinda hung out there in distance and got hit with a beat attack! I asked her what happpened in my patented concerned-but-the-anger-boils voice, and she simply said she couldn't do it. She knew she was close enough, my fencer just assumed the girl was better than her and it didn't occur she might have the upper hand, albeit briefly.

I know kids are supposed to have fun - but the girls are happy when they win and sad when they lose, so they are invested. How do you turn that investment into a fiery passion to win? Honestly, for a couple of them - that passion is the last piece of the championship puzzle.