Every fencer hits the moment in their career when almost everything they do feels wrong. New actions as well as old and trusted actions. Nothing feels quite right. Some fencers will keep trying, grinding through the frustration. Others will want to move on to...
Recently I read an article by Italian fencing master Giancarlo Toran about the importance of the salute in fencing. His reflections on tradition, respect, and what the salute reveals about character deeply resonated with me. I've borrowed some of his ideas here and...
January 1st arrives with familiar declarations: "This is my year!" "I'm finally going to get serious about training!" "I'm more motivated than ever!" The young fencer posts inspirational quotes on social media, creates detailed training schedules, and attacks their...
If you've been at enough competitions you know this moment by heart. The score is 14:14. Your fencer lunges, gets hit and misses her touch, and immediately - without even a split second of hesitation - points their weapon at the referee. The arena goes quiet. Well, as...
The picture above is a real registration schedule for a Y10 fencer that I came across recently. Twelve competition events in 7 very big and significant tournaments between October and mid-January. That's basically every other weekend for three months straight, often...
Screenshot A mother of a beginner fencer came to me recently and signed up for ongoing group classes. Then she watched some private lessons and asked if her daughter could take them too. "Yes, of course," I said. "Actually, private lessons are a necessary part of...
A few years ago we had a fencer with an interesting habit. Before every bout she performed the same routine: adjusted the mask three times, tapped the guard twice with her left index finger, took four steps back, then advanced to the en garde line. She'd been doing...
Talk to any fencing coach and they will tell that the difference between successful fencers and others lies in discipline. And that's exactly right, but what most coaches mean is a different type of discipline than what fencers and parents typically assume. Let’s look...
For years, I could recite the USA Fencing event rating table from memory. Ask me what rating a fencer would earn for finishing 12th in a B3 event, and I'd answer instantly: D rating. Everyone in the fencing world knew that the large rated events must have at least 64...
Talk to any fencing coach (actually any sports coach) and you will hear many stories of overtraining. They all watched a promising young fencer collapse during what should have been a routine lesson. Not from exhaustion—from sheer mental fatigue. This athlete had been...
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