Category: Uncategorized

Pomme de Terre Info

Hey Everyone!

Pomme de Terre is coming up fast make sure you register on askFRED.net!  We will be sending quite a few fencers out to this event.  If you have any questions on hotel info, or if you are looking for someone to room with talk to Jeff or Eric and we will try to help you as best we can.  Classes that weekend (June 18-20) will be cancelled as all our coaching staff will be attending this event.

Poughkeepsie Journal

Did you catch the Article in the Poughkeepsie Journal last Thursday, April 15, 2010? In the Sports Section on page 6C, there is a picture and a small article about our Jr & Cadet Fencers qualifiing for Summer Nationals!

We’d like to see more of this coverage of our sport and fencers. If you could take a moment to call or email the Sports Editor, Dan Peitrafesa, at 845-437-4849 or dpietraf@poughkeepsiejournal.com and let him know that you support local fencers.

Confidence and the Fencer

So as I gave a lesson today I ended up discussing confidence with my athlete.  This got me thinking, “What is confidence?”, “What does it look like when you are fencing?”, “How do you get it?”, and “Are there any downsides to being confident?”



I got to think about these ideas during my long trip to and from New Windsor and thought I would share my thoughts on the matter.  So let’s start from the beginning… What is does it mean to be confident?  Meriam-Webster.com seems to have a couple of thoughts on the matter and they are:



1 : full of conviction : certain
2 : having or showing assurance and self-reliance


I personally feel that these are good descriptions of what it means to be confident.  It can be very easy to mistake someone who is “cocky” for someone who is confident.  I believe that there are a few key differences though.  Let’s talk about what a confident fencer looks like and how they behave.


A confident fencer would be someone who executes their actions without wavering.  What I mean by this is if they are going to make a beat four it is sharp, crisp and clean.  They can perform it at a variety of speeds and their positioning and balance are very good.  A confident fencer can perform their action(s) in a variety of circumstances.  I also think they have a better grasp of what their “game” is.  They perform their actions without fear of what might happen because they have the ability to handle a large number of responses.


In other words, what I feel I am describing is a fencer who has a good foundation!  Someone who knows their basic techniques, understands distance and timing, and understands control and how to be a leader.  This doesn’t mean the fencer has the best technique/distance/timing/control, but they know their abilities and can work well with what they have.


So now the question becomes “How does a fencer become confident?”  To answer this I would say that since confidence has a strong technical basis, technique is a great place to start!  Other places a fencer may choose to look at would be fencing theory, timing, and distance.  Most people can see gains in their physical ability very quickly, so technique lessons which involve a large degree of success is a great way to build confidence in an action.


So now, you may be thinking, this is perfect for someone who is starting out, but what if I am an A or B rated fencer with this problem?  I would tell you that there are several factors that may be involved.  First let’s look at your stressors.  If you have other problems in life aside from fencing, then these may have a negative impact on your ability or mindset and will cause you to feel like you cannot perform an action.  Another cause of stress could be self-inflicted.  You may be putting unreasonable goals on yourself, or you could be giving yourself goals that are not in sync with the reason you fence.  To fix this problem REMOVE YOUR STRESSORS!  This will be a big help although it may be hard to figure out at times.


Another way of fixing your problem is not to remove stress, but to rise above it.  Some people work best by conquering their demons.  This essentially means that you have found a way to handle more stresses at one time.  A great analogy is juggling.  Some people can juggle only one or two balls at a time, some three, others four or five.  If you can train yourself to juggle one more ball that is one more problem you have learned to handle and it will be very obvious to you that you have learned to handle it.  This tends to give people a big boost in confidence.  I would also caution that while this is a very easy sign to feel it takes time to learn how to juggle more balls.


Another solution which is very similar to the first is to take lessons or practice in an environment where you will have a very high rate of success.  Some have heard the story of the coach who would throw himself onto his epee fencers tips in the lesson (he would even kick the tip when they were going for a toe touch!)  This high degree of success will frequently give you a feel-good boost which can help you in changing to a positive “I can do this” mindset.


On to my final thought, “Are there any downsides to being confident?”


I would like to say “No”, however, I know that not everyone understands the difference from being confident and from being perfect!  If someone believes so strongly in themselves that they can never make a mistake, then they are fooling themselves.  Mistakes happen all the time.  If they did not we would be seeing a lot more bouts ending in a 15-0 win for someone.  This over confidence can be negative since it will create a false sense of correctness and the fencer will not have the ability to take criticism.  This student will also tend to not work as hard because “They can already do that action” or “They want more of a challenge”.  This leads to a deterioration of a skill because they are not practicing the basic elements which made them strong to begin with.  A classic example of “Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.”


Aside from the last scenario I would say that being confident is good, so long as you are still willing to admit you are human.  Confident fencers will make better actions and will have a more cohesive game because they can perform without second guessing their choices.  They understand that mistakes happen and they know how to make solutions or they can perform solutions given by a coach.  The most important thing is that a confident fencers understands their own abilities and they understand their own mindset.  In the end I think that the best way to obtain confidence is by gaining experience in your fencing.  Practice your skills and fence with as many people as you can.  You may have some tough times along the way, but if it was always easy then everyone would be confident!  Keep working hard, learn and redefine your boundaries, and you will stand out from the crowd.


Some final questions that I did not include above came to me as I was writing this.  I think I will leave it for you guys to answer…



Do you believe in your abilities enough to be a confident fencer?  Do you have what it takes to keep pushing yourself and to lose and regain your confidence (it will happen!) as you learn more?  I hope the answer to both is yes.

Scales for Foil and Saber

Here are the scales for foil and saber.  This is only one side of the drill.  A “banderole” in saber is also known as a “brush cut”.    Videos will be up soon.  Enjoy!

Foil Scales

1. Beat 4 Attack, Beat 4 disengage attack, beat 4 coupe attack.

2. Circle 6 flick to shoulder, Take 8 hit belly.

3. Stop hit chest, Parry 4 riposte to chest.

4. 6 chest, 4 chest, 1 belly.

5. Stop hit 6 chest, stop hit 4 chest, stop hit 8 chest.

6. Cirlce 6 engagement (with half step), beat 4 attack chest

7. Press 4 (with half advance), stop hit, parry 6 riposte

8. Beat 8 chest, Circle beat 6 shoulder

9. Counter Attack Belly, Counter Attack Chest, Beat 4 flank

10. Attack with lunge, 4 counter-riposte or 6 counter-riposte (dependant on B’s parry riposte)

Saber Scales

1. Beat 4 hand, beat 4 arm, beat 4 body

2. Change beat 3, Banderole-Flank

3. Counter-attack under the hand, parry 5, riposte to Flank

4. Parry 3 riposte head, 5 riposte head, 1 riposte head

5. Counter-attack outside of hand, parry 3, riposte head. Counter-attack under hand, parry 5,
riposte head. Counter-attack inside of hand, parry 4, riposte head.

6. Counter 3, point over, parry 1, head.

7. High counter 3, point under, parry 2, body.

8. Point, beat 2 body to right, change beat 1 head

9 Feint head, counter-attack under, over, beat 4 cut Flank

10. Attack head, riposte: either to Flank or by Banderole

Practice makes Permanent!

Hey Everyone!

I thought now would be a great time to talk about one of my favorite quotes from Maestro Ed Richards.  Ed often said “Practice makes permanent.”  His next line would talk about how striving for perfection in practice is what makes you better.  I think this message is universal for all sports.

When we do repetitions of a skill we cement that particular movement within our skill set.  If we are practicing the same error for months or years at a time, that error becomes a habit and that habit becomes difficult to change.  Constantly working on making the action better will lead to more success in the action while we are bouting.

One of the best ways to be able to constantly work on an action is to create scenarios where you always have to pay attention.  Mindless repetitions are the enemy!  We need to work the action against many different situations.  Let’s talk about a few ways to do this.

First we can have a partner (or coach) who can vary the way they make an action.  When someone changes their attacking speed and angle we end up paying more attention to our parries.

The other method is to practice against different people.  These partners will all have different methods of execution which is very similar to one person who can change up the way they make an action.

So the moral of the story is since “Practice makes permanent” we will add variety to the practice to simulate the most realistic scenarios.  This way we have better practice leading to better skills.  By doing this method of practice you will start to become the master of your actions… Permanently!

The fencing season-does it exist?

Hello all, as the New year has already started it’s already four months behind the actual fencing “season”. But what exactly is the actual fencing season? The idea of a fencing season changes for different people, from a high school team fencer maybe seeing it as the school year,  kids seeing it as whenever they want to go to class, and the competitive athletes who for them it never really stops.

The “actual fencing season” goes usually from September starting with the first NACs and international events, to the beginning of July, usually culminating with our Summer Nationals. Now a season really just tells us when the competitions will be, and from there we base our goals for that time frame. I think what is very important is the understanding of knowing what Your season is, because from there we get the time frame for our goals. What’s very important for those goals is to have some sort of start and end so we measure them, and it does n0t have to be the start and end of the “season”. You can base this off of the calender, or competition schedule, but it all depends on what your goals are and what you want those goals to bring about. Medals, points, a better physic, an ethic? You have to be an individual for yourself, and so does your season.

So what do you want out of this season, and when does it begin?