Why Trying Out Different Coaches Can Only Help Your Fencing

Not every coach was a world champion. Not every coach was even a high-level fencer. 

But EVERY coach has experience in this sport that you don’t have! And every individual has experience to share which could mean the difference in securing touches, understanding an opponent’s tactics, or even winning entire bouts. Learning from multiple coaches’ experiences is CRITICAL to high-level fencing.

With the multitude of fencing hotspots in the world, there is no single dominating style. From the specialized technical Hungarian form to the brutally physical Korean approach, each variation has its strengths and weaknesses to offer. The advantage of being in the USA and at Tim Morehouse Fencing Club is the wide spectrum of styles exposed to you. This means you can pick and choose certain aspects which suit YOUR genre of fencing. 

Additionally, if you can identify your opponents’ school, you have a HUGE advantage fencing them! 

Strip Coaching

Your coach won’t be with you at every tournament. Working with multiple coaches increases the odds that one will be at your event and has a good handle on what you are and are not capable of as a fencer. 

In terms of style, some fencers THRIVE off a high-energy strip coaching presence with continuous cheering and yelling. Others require a calming coach to keep them level-headed. Your personality type and your coach’s might mesh well in lessons but conflict during tournaments when pressure and anxiety are at peak levels.  You need to find the best approach on both the lesson strip and the real strip.

Ideas

Coaches can have personal preferences on how to execute technical actions. There is no “perfect” way to parry, attack, counterattack, etc. Even if a coach gives you a technical correction you might not agree with, just having this change in your arsenal is invaluable. For example, one coach might teach a shallow and efficient method of parry which will just barely keep the opponent’s blade off target to minimize excess movement. While this might work for some adversaries, you will need to adjust your defense a little against that 6’6” fencer. Be versatile!

Expression of ideas is also a benefit from multiple coaches. Each student learns differently, and one coach might be able to explain a fencing method better than another. My first coach always told me to use my fingers more when attacking, but I didn’t understand what that meant physically (and proceeded to keep using my entire arm to attack.. because fingers are part of the arm, right?). It wasn’t until I had a much more eloquent coach demonstrate in-depth that I finally understood it years later.

While you eventually will need a main coach, learn what you can now from everyone! Be hungry for knowledge. Expand your fencing experience and repertoire by trying out different coaches. Find the ideal one who fits YOUR style the best to accelerate your fencing level! 

Video Replay: What You Need to Know!

Fencers might not be familiar with video replay on the local or regional level, but we are fortunate enough in the USFA to have this system in place at every NAC. 

Having a second referee (and usually, a crowd) on your strip can be intimidating and overwhelming. Here are the basics you’ll need to know about video replay and the rules that go with it so you can be prepared going in!

When You Will See Video Replay:

In points events (Div 1, Junior, Cadet), video replay ALWAYS starts in the top 16. In the younger age categories (Y14, Y12, Y10), they will at least be in the top 8 bouts. 

Ranking events (Div 2, Div 3, Div 1A) typically do not see video until top 4, though recently this has expanded in some events to top 8 (for Div 1A) given strip availability.  

Video replay is used in 15 touch DE bouts (or 10 for Veterans/Y10 fencers) and never in 5 touch bouts with exceptions for college championships (NCAAs, Ivy League, ACCs). It is also used in 45 touch team finals. 

The Rules:

You are given 2 WRONG video challenges in the bout. If you challenge a call and it gets changed, you KEEP your challenge. This means you could theoretically have 100 video challenges if the bout is incredibly difficult or the referee struggles. Team matches allow one wrong challenge per each of the 9 matchups.

The referee is allowed to look at the video replay on his/her own with no penalty to either fencer. They may do this as much as they want as it is in everyone’s interest to make the correct call, but obviously the athletes’ and coaches’ confidence in the referee’s ability wanes with the number of times it is checked. 

At the deciding point (14-14, 9-9, 44-44, or in tied priority overtime) the referee MUST look at the video before making the call. This applies to both two light AND one light calls in case there was a penalty like covering / crossing feet in saber, or one fencer was off the strip. 

After the Bout:

The fencers and coaches may not look at the video replay DURING the bout, but after the match is over (provided there is not another one starting), you may go back and peruse the touches at your leisure. I HIGHLY recommend this, whether you win or lose, because it is immensely developmental and helpful. 

The replay ONLY records the few seconds before a light goes off, so the endless bouncing around in between epee and foil touches is condensed to just when the action happens. If you have a USB, with permission, you may download the touches for your own viewing. 

Now…

Now that you are familiar with the basics of video replay, you’ll be better able to handle the responsibility! Keep practicing so you can make it into those video rounds and use your newfound knowledge!

How and why to study bouts on Youtube

Almost a year ago, as we were all finding new routines of a summer in lockdown, instead of baking bread, making a jungle of houseplants, or going on long relaxing walks, I found myself watching tones of Youtube videos.  Being ever mindful of my father’s admonition that “screens will melt your brains,” I justified my binging by watching, not aimless content, but World Cup finals of my favorite fencers.  Now, I’m going to share a few pieces of advice that I wish I had at the start of last year.  

First piece of advice: watch on a computer with a screen larger than your cell phone.  It’s important to get as many of the details as possible, and watching on a phone just doesn’t cut it.  Additionally, the Youtube phone app skips forwards or backwards in ten second increments as opposed to five seconds.  While that may seem trivial, those five seconds can mean the difference between skipping through the dead space of fencers resetting or skipping into the middle of an action and losing all context.  

There are a ton of channels on Youtube.  I’d recommend starting with fan favorite channel “Cyrus of Chaos,” then move into the FIE Fencing Channel (Their bouts are less well organized, but they have more of them, and commentary besides), and Fencing Vision.  There are a few channels specific to each country – channels from France, Russia, and the Asia-Pacific, although these channels have the draw backs of often being untranslated or in different alphabets.  

There are a few important hotkeys to remember.  Spacebar is the pause button.  Period is the command for “one frame at a time FORWARD,” and comma is the command for “one frame at a time BACKWARD.”  Using period and comma in conjunction with spacebar will allow you to really zero in on the exact moment a fencer starts their attack, or the precise technique they use to execute their motion.  Many videos from the FIE channel will already have high frame rate slow motion replay, although the replay doesn’t always start at the right time or have the right angle to really understand what’s happening.  We also have the arrow keys: right arrow will skip forwards 5 seconds, left arrow skips back 5 seconds.  I’ve found that skipping forwards in 5 second increments will often cut out all the dead space in a bout, letting me watch the best parts of a match.

As a fencer myself, I can say that just by watching high level fencers I was often inspired by their tactics, their execution, their form and ability.  I clearly remember the first moment that I saw 2x World Champion Sofia Velikaya deliver an incredible low-line attack that inspired me to mimic her for years afterwards.  High level fencers are all the time watching and learning from their rivals, their teammates, and from youtube itself.  Now, you can too, with just these few simple hints to get you started.  

Self-Analyzing Your Bouts on Video

With the current dearth of competitions, you may feel like your improvement level has plateaued. Hopefully you’ve been keeping up physically (as enticing as your couch with all its cushions may be), but how do you advance yourself (figuratively) mentally? 

One way is to examine your actions in a real bout. If you have video of yourself fencing in a tournament (thank you, loving parents!) then you can do this for any pool or DE match. If that’s not accessible, you can always set up a camera or recruit a cameraperson during a practice bout! 

Here are the things you should look for:

1. What was your best / worst move?

Pick a match and track both yours and your opponents’ points. Keep a tally: how many attacks did you land? Where? How many parries? How many did your opponent hit? This is a very simple way to explicitly recognize your strongest and weakest actions. 

2. Mistakes: tactical or technical?

Almost every point against you can be classified as either a tactical or a technical mistake (unless it was by pure luck, in which case the opponent might be practicing voodoo to get that one light). 

On the tactical side, fencing is like a hyper-complex version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Every action has something it’s strong and weak against. Did you perform a good action, but your opponent just played the counter? This is a tactical error. Wrong action, wrong moment.

The technical side is how you execute your action. Did you read the right parry and it was insufficient? Did your attack keep missing by inches? These are technical errors. Keep your hand higher on the parries or take one more step to stretch your attack! Plan how to correct the technical issues early rather than train the same mistakes over and over again. 

Establish why your action didn’t work! Note your needed adjustments!

3. Analyze any “tells” on your actions

This is one that’s VERY difficult to perceive on the strip but easy to view on video. Did one of your attacks get repeatedly parried by that opponent? Did you get counterattacked to the wrist a dozen times? (Note: not as effective in foil) 

Since you KNOW what’s going to happen, watch the touch in slow motion (unless you’re a vet fencer… then maybe you can watch it in normal speed). What did your opponent see you do that made them decide on that action? Did you move your body before your hand? Show your parry too early? Look at the bout from your opponent’s point of view.

Analyzing your own video bouts gives a new perspective on your fencing that you would never be able to see otherwise. If you inspect your independent actions and note what you did well and what you need to sharpen, you’ll form a stronger mental plan for your next fencing bout. Deeply scrutinize your actions to improve your long-term bouting game tenfold! 

Making The Most Out of Bouting Time at Practice: (Hint: It’s not all about winning every match!)

Tim Morehouse Fencing Practice

Bouting is a critical part of a complete and well-balanced training program but just like footwork, bladework, lessons, and drills, bouting requires an intentional and diversified approach to yield maximal results.

The first big thing to mention is that trying to win every bout at practice and caring too much about practice bout results is a major reason why a lot of people get stuck at a certain level.  

I had this problem during my freshmen year of college. My ego and pride drove me at practice to try to win every single bout against my teammates.  As a result, I wasn’t spending time working on new moves, putting myself into uncomfortable situations and honing new skills.

The result, I got pretty good at winning practice bouts because I knew my teammates’ weaknesses and could pick them apart, but then, who cares if you win at practice if you are losing at tournaments? I had to really look at my goals and realize that winning bouts at tournaments was vastly more important than winning bouts at practice and I had to reshape how I trained.

I’m not saying you should NEVER try to win bouts at practice but winning isn't the only thing. Bouting time is also about doing your research and experimenting with your game.  

Types of Bouting at Practice:

1. TO WIN! (Go All Out!)

2. Against certain types of opponent

3. With a Particular Emphases on Parts of Your Game

4. To practice new moves

5. Final point

6. Situational

7. Scouting an Opponent

8. Warming Up

1. TO WIN!
This is the most obvious type of bouting, one I’m sure you’ve all practiced. If this is your goal, make sure to put forth your maximum effort to mimic the competition environment of an actual tournament. When I started fencing at the NY Fencers Club, the practice bouts were always extremely intense. Sometimes new people at practice would get upset and say “Hey its practice!” Those were usually the guys or gals who couldn’t take the intensity at tournaments either. One way to add intensity to your practice bouts is to add stakes. Start a pool with your teammates where everyone buys the winner a Gatorade or put something small on the line. 

2.  AGAINST PARTICULAR TYPES OF OPPONENTS
In this type of bout, you’ve agreed with your partner that they are going to fence in a certain way to allow you time to practice against a certain style.  It is up to you to figure out how to “solve” this opponent’s style. The key thing to remember here is that there is more than one approach to conquering an opponent.

Here are some starting points for this type of pouting:

• ·Have your opponent attacking aggressively 90% of the time so you can practice your defense and/or stay aggressive and pick your spots for…

• Have your opponent defending 90% of time and only attacking 10% of the time. Note: your opponent can constantly make moves in the middle and/or your opponent can pull out of the box and force you to make long attacks 90% of the time.

• Have your opponent take a lot of risks

• Instruct you opponent to not do a lot and just try to score on your mistakes

3. WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON PARTS OF YOUR GAME
Practice is the right time to try out things you might not normally feel comfortable doing (yet) at a competition. You can focus on just attacking or just defending, on being very aggressive and/or being more passive and letting the game come to you.

Starting each bout by declaring a focus can be very helpful. 

4. TRYING NEW MOVES BOUTS
If you’ve read our article on “Designing Winning Fencing Moves” then you know that at some point putting your moves to the test in a practice bouting situation is essential before giving it the ultimate test in competition.

In a bout where you try new moves, you shouldn’t do the same move over and over again. Rather, you should mix them in with your established moves. Ask yourself, does this new move make my other moves more effective? Less Effective? Etc.  You should also try your move against a variety of opponents at different levels to see how it does. See if you can find trends for the type of opponent/level it works against. 

5. SITUATIONAL
You can set up particular bout scenarios. Here are some examples:

• Fencing with a big/small lead that you have to hold. i.e. You are up 13-10.

• You are down by a certain score

• Bring yourself to the end of your strip and get comfortable fencing almost off the end of the piste.

• For Epee, you fence with priority or without priority in an overtime minute

6. FINAL POINT
This type of bouting could also fall under the situation category, but I think it bears special mention. Often times the difference between winning and losing comes down to 1 point. The score is 4-4 or 14-14 and you’ve got to pull it out. There are some people who have mastered the art of scoring that last point and like anything, you need to get comfortable in that situation.

See Columbia Coach Michael Aufrichtig’s Tedx on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfYxp4djCNM

7. SCOUTING AN OPPONENT
When I first started going to International training camps, I didn’t want to get embarrassed by the international fencers so I’d fence them hard and show my entire game. If you’re scouting a fencer, it usually involves trying to see as much of their game as possible without showing too much of your own.

As I developed, I realized how important it was for me to try to gain as much information as I could from my opponents without giving away my main tendencies. So, with new opponents, I’d always watch when moves that worked and then I’d stop doing them.

I remember vividly how Christian Bauer would have his fencers fence us at training camps. You could tell they were fencing us under certain rules. They would rarely do a move in the center so we couldn’t find their middle game or timing there and they would always pull us down the entire strip when they were on defense so they could get as good a look at us as possible on the attack. 

When they were attacking they had a pretty clear rule to NOT FINISH. That’s right, they would push us down the strip just out of range and try to get a really good look at our defense and how we would respond. If we counter-attacked, they would step back or parry. Basically, they would try to make their attack last as long as possible so we’d either have to try to “take over” or do something desperate.

8. WARMING UP
When I’m getting ready to compete, the way I warm is really important. Generally speaking I’m looking to break a sweat and I’m looking to “try out” different parts of my game. Similar to a pilot going through a check of all parts of the engine. I’m doing long attacks, long defenses, fencing in the middle, going fast, going slow. Etc. I’ll usually finish it out by fencing a variety of opponents at 100% to ensure my engine is ready when I hit the pool or first DE bout.

How Many Bouts Should I Fence at Practice? 
Finally, it takes winning 6 bouts to win a tournament if you start in the round of 64 and a tournament bout is much more taxing than a practice. When I was training, we generally tried to fence 8-10 bouts to 15 during our bouting time. Remember, every extra bout adds up over the season. 

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