Let’s use an analogy that we all have experience with. Imagine you’re driving in the rain. The windshield wipers are fanning across the windshield furiously, with large drops plopping in your view so fast that the blades can barely keep up. Traffic is heavy and you’re...
For the most part, the things in our lives only have as much power as we choose to give to them. When you face an opponent, you have options about how much weight you give to that opponent. What you bring to the match is not just about your skill and technique,...
The moment when a fencer gets a new rating is an exciting one. After working hard and continuing to grow, they finally push past their old rating and up to the next level. Like anything in sport, or anything in life, a rating captures a single moment in time....
Everything in fencing takes longer than you think it will. Just as we have to practice footwork and hand position until we get it, we also have to practice patience. One virtue that you need more than almost any other in fencing is patience. The first big jump...
If you think that the only thing that would impress your fencing coach is your medals, you will be disappointed. The greatest fencing coaches are not impressed by fencers who win medals and show their power on the strip. The greatest fencing coaches are impressed by...
Scoring a point in fencing in most cases requires accuracy, and precision with the blade is critically important for fencers. The point is to get the point where you want it to go. That point gets there through a combination of the lower body and upper body movement....
Most of us brag about the wins that we achieve, but we ignore the losses that cripple our confidence. It’s a vicious cycle that turns us around and around, pulling us away from the real potential that we possess. It should not destroy a fencer to lose a match, it...
Taking a team to the highest level of fencing is a task that’s filled with tough decisions, long hours, and much sacrifice on the part of everyone involved. Getting there takes a team effort, and it takes a fencing coach with vision like Alexander Gorbachuk....
Understanding the dynamics of international fencing is fascinating for those of us who work primarily on the youth sports level. It is so incredibly different, from the methods of training to the rigor that is required. The stress of this level of competition takes...
This is the story of one coach who went down in the history of Japanese fencing and world fencing through perseverance and strength of character. For the world, one moment of Olympic Gold can seem like just one moment. For Alexander Gorbachuk, that one moment is the...
