This is one of my favorite drills to use with young fencers to help them develop their "footwork sense" when it comes to making different sized steps. There are a lot of different variants and "Add ons" once a student has down these basic steps and I will share in future videos.
Beginner, intermediate and even advanced fencers in all weapons need to develop the ability to use various step sizes in their footwork to be successful. Various situations and moves in a bout call for different sized steps and rhythms.
This drill is great for helping students improve their ability to change and mix up their step sizes because it provides the fencer with “feedback” using a weapon on the floor as a tool to help them identify when they have and haven’t done their footwork correctly!
This exercise will be especially helpful for teaching students to pick up their feet as they move and to use their legs dynamically to push forward or back as them move instead flat footed steps.
Additionally, students should start each movement from a strong and still En Garde position and then try to finish each movement by being back in a balanced position when they finish. This last part is key!
Our rule of thumb at TMFC with our coaches is that students should finish a lunge in balance or complete a footwork sequence and then hold that position at COMPLETE stillness for at least a "1 Mississippi" before getting out of position. If a student shakes or fumbles at the end of movements, this is a normal progressional stage. Make it a challenge to get completely still as soon as possible after completing a movement and as always: CELEBRATE PROGRESS!
This exercise can be done by a student by themselves, with a coach or partner and this is also a great foundational exercise for coaches teaching classes. The sound of a saber being kicked provides the coach the ability to "See" all the students doing the exercise correctly or not.
In future lessons, we will add rhythm changes and half steps and also talk about the "Flare" and "Fun" that can go into an exercise.
