What's Your Excuse?

People who get good at making excuses rarely get good at anything else.
The inferior person finds excuses for failure; the superior person finds reasons to succeed.

adam

The Devil You Know and the Devil You Don't

Ya Gotta Have Heart

"Heart" is the thing that heroic legends are made of.
It's the thing that won't let you give in, give up or give out.
It's the thing that you grab on to when you're all used up, the thing that enable you to keep on going long after it's impossible.
It's the thing that says "To hell with the odds; no retreat,no surrender."

I wish I knew how to teach "heart."
Oh, I can tell you, theoretically, how to expose a student to a series of progressively more difficult challenges, encourage them, recognize them, and so on.
And sometimes tat seems to work.
But sometimes it doesn't.

That suggests to me that "heart" is something you bring to the table, yourself.
I think you either have it, or you don't, and I don't know why some do and some don't, or how to change it.

But I can tell you this: give me a student with heart, and I can teach them everything else.
Without it, no matter what mechanics I teach them, it won't matter.

adam

Midsummer Knight's Dream

Hello to All!

We've been away this summer, locking horns in a struggle of good against evil, of truth against lies, freedom versus tyranny, justice against oppression. As a chivalric test, it has been, at once, frustrating, exhilarating, depressing, energizing and exhausting.  And it has been costly in many ways.
At this moment, we have done all that we can do, and must await the decision of the gods.

If we prevail, then some things may change for the better; if we do not, we will have to determine what we must do to continue the fight.  Defeat is unacceptable.

Meanwhile, we have a brief respite.
So I thought it good to post this word just to let you know that, as the sage once said, the reports of our demise have been exaggerated.

We hope to have more articles of interest for you very soon.

In Ferro Veritas,


Adam Adrian Crown, M.d'A.

Becoming Engaged

If I had to choose a favorite exercise, one of the top contenders would be working on engagements.

I love engagements. They are so simple, and yet, so subtle, and so important.

Also, the nature of the engagement, and how to manage it, has obvious parallels to daily life that most students can easily understand and find useful.

This exercise assumes that the student already knows how to make and change an engagement. It is for perfecting the engagement, not introducing it.

There are several elements.

1. Timing, control, and the coordination of the hand and foot.

Begin the exercise by making an engagement on the presentation of the blade, without footwork. Depending on the focus of the exercise, this may be an engagement on either side of the blade, and it may begin on the same side, or on the opposite side. Most often, we'll start with an engagement in 6te, made on the presentation of the blade to the student's inside line, necessitating an engagement going underneath the blade.

When the student is able to do this fluently and smoothly, we'll add footwork, and require the engagement to be made on the front foot on an advance. This is where timing is important. In order for the blade to make contact at the same time as the front foot, it must begin to move BEFORE the foot moves. The student must learn to coordinate beginning the movement of the point, and then the movement of the foot, so that both end at the same time. For this part of the exercise, I'll present the blade for each rep, so that each engagement will be made in the same way.

Further variations include making the engagement on the front foot of a retreat, or on the back foot, either advancing or retreating. The purpose is to foster control of the timing of the movement of the point, independent from, but coordinated with, the feet.

Once the student is able to make an engagement in 6te, on either foot, in either direction, we begin doing the same exercises, but with an engagement in 4te, with the blade presented to the inside.

Eventually, we work on engagements in all guards, made from any other guard, on any footwork, in any direction. Having a very solid foundation making an engagement in 6te makes all the other engagements much easier, since the ability to control the blade is the important part. Once the student has the ability to control the point, it is a fairly simple matter to translate that to any direction of movement. Likewise, once they can coordinate hand and foot movements at all, it is relatively easy to expand that ability to include a wide variety of combinations of handwork and footwork.

2. The coordination and movement of the hand. This includes how we hold the foil, and how we use the fingers.

The development of the hand begins the moment the student first holds a foil, and continues as long as they fence. It begins with larger movements and becomes more refined as the smaller muscles in the hand strengthen and the student improves his coordination. We have a variety of exercises for the student to develop his hand; working on engagements is one of them. I often refer to these as "finding your point muscles." You must be able to manipulate the point as a part of your hand, and in order to do that, you must develop the ability to use the muscles that do that- which starts with figuring out what muscles those are.

It starts with hand position. In the guard of sixte, the hand must be supinated and relaxed, with a straight, relaxed, supple wrist. The foil is cradled in the hand, making contact with the thumb (on the side of the grip, NOT the top) and first phalanx of the forefinger (on the side across from the thumb), and with the fleshy part of the hand at the base of the thumb, with the other three fingers making light contact on the upper edge of the grip. In this position, the blade will be held so that if it had edges, they would be to the sides, making the widest part of the blade parallel to the ground. While making a touch from this position, the blade will bend upwards, not to the side or at any other angle.

I am well aware that this is different from how many people hold the foil, but am not addressing all the reasons for that now, instead, focusing on the engagement exercise. We will post further description and reasoning of this hand position separately, but this brief description is necessary in order for this section of the exercise to make sense.

Engagements and change of engagement are made using the fingers, not the wrist. The wrist remains relaxed, but does not contribute greatly to the blade movement. Using the wrist to raise and lower the point is one of the most common errors, so focusing on correct finger movement is important.

Another early error a student often makes is to allow the point to be moved by gravity, rather than by intent. For the change of engagement, the point must move nearly straight down to begin with, and beginners often simply release the grip and allow gravity to drop the point. This method of movement does not allow sufficient control of the point, either in space or time. Instead, you must use the last two or three fingers to "lift" the grip and lower the point, and then again, to bring the grip back into your hand. This lifting requires significant practice and development of the hand, so a beginner may not be able to do it at first. They should be shown correct movement and encouraged to emulate it, while paying careful attention to not allowing the wrist to move, as they develop the ability to have that level of control of their hand. They need to be able to use their fingers to both lower and raise the point.

Developing sufficient control of the point will also develop the ability to feel with the blade, which will be vital for making and controlling the engagement itself.

3. The movement of the blade from the guard position to the engagement.

Each engagement, and each change of engagement, has a particular, specific pattern in space. The student must know these patterns, and be able to control the blade during the entire path of the movement, not just describe it. They should be demonstrated frequently, and it may also help some students to draw them. Another thing that may help is to use your hand over the student's hand to move the blade through the path. The entire pattern of movement is important, not just where the blade ends up.

This is why each pattern must be practiced- making an engagement in each guard, and making changes of engagement from every guard to every other guard.

An added benefit of this practice is that the more time spent sword in hand, with careful, focused practice of movement, the better the hand will develop. Sentiment du fer is critical, and there is little you could do that would be of greater benefit than to etch these patterns more and more deeply, to incorporate them more fully and completely.

4. The direction and nature of the contact with the blade.

This is another area that deserves more attention than it often gets.

It is also the part that is the most obviously analogous to other parts of a student's life, to any relationship and specifically to any attempt to communicate with another person.

The engagement is what gives you the ability to read your opponent's hand, to feel where they are and where they are going. It allows you to feel the level of tension in your opponent's body, to note any change in that tension, and to feel any change of pressure or direction. This is all critical information to have.

The nature of the engagement also allows you to give information to your opponent- information that you want him to have. This is how you suggest to your opponent what you might be about to do, intentionally giving him misinformation, and how you encourage your opponent to do what you want him to do.

In order to gain or provide this information, your opponent must allow you to engage, and to maintain the engagement. You must be able to do so without superimposing your own tension, while controlling the movement and pressure so that it communicates what you WANT to communicate, rather than giving away information you would prefer that your opponent not have. Communication through the blade is the heart and soul of fencing. It is what separates those who have a connection with the sword from those who are simply playing at swords.

To begin with, in order for your opponent to allow an engagement, you must do so in a way that does not alarm him. You must offer contact in a way in which it will be accepted, just as you would start a verbal conversation. To start a conversation, you might ask a question or offer information. You would not likely begin by yelling or screaming, or slapping the other person.

This means that the engagement should be a small, controlled, soft movement. Contact with the blade should come up along the blade, to enable a gentle contact, rather than a perpendicular, bouncing contact, which rattles your opponent's hand. Your opponent should feel enough presence on the blade to know where you are, and to believe they are gathering information from you- as well they are, since you are providing information to them. If there is too little presence, they are likely to do something else, just as in a verbal conversation, too long a silence will cause the other person to say SOMETHING. You want to control this conversation, so keep it comfortable, with no awkward "silences." If there is too MUCH pressure, there may be alarm and discomfort, and your opponent may again feel like they need to do something, to change something. In fencing, and in conversation, if you press (or pressure) someone, they will disengage. You want them to allow the engagement for as long as you want to stay engaged, so keep them focused and involved in the engagement by controlling the tone of the "conversation."

Learning to control that moment of contact takes a lot of practice. It requires the ability to control the transition from "hard" to "soft," from tense to relaxed. You must be able to control both the movement of, and the cessation of movement of, the blade, with both precision and sensitivity. Plus, you must be able to do so from any guard to any other guard, while moving in any direction, remember? And, as always, while maintaining perfect balance.

5. The nature of the engagement once contact is made.

This, again, is about controlling the conversation. The nature of the engagement once contact is made will depend on what you want to do.

You may want to gain control of your opponent's blade, gradually increasing the pressure while changing the physical relationship of the blades, the angle between them, so that you have a stronger part of your blade on a weaker part of your opponent's blade, in such a way that by the time they realize this is what you are doing, it has already been done. This may be in order to emphasize your domination of the situation, or it may be to immediately facilitate an attack with opposition. Again, you want the optimal amount of pressure, that which facilitates your aims, without eliciting an unwanted reaction from your opponent. Like Goldilocks, not too little, or too much.

You may want to immediately leave the engagement, in order to attack in a different line. In this case, the more accepting of the engagement your opponent is, the greater the contrast will be, and that contrast can be used to your advantage.

You may want to control your opponent's blade while you change distance, keeping the engagement as you get inside, if you are in the shorter/weaker strategic position.

There is a wide variety of different things you may want to accomplish with the nature of the engagement, and each of those different types of contact needs to be practiced. The key is to be able to choose the nature of the contact to suit your needs in the moment. The more confidently and smoothly you can do this, the better. Any hesitation will defeat your purpose- unless, of course, you are using that hesitation itself intentionally.

6. Maintenance of the engagement while moving.

If you make the perfect engagement, with exactly the right blade contact, in the right way, at the right time, with the right amount of pressure, but then, when you move, it all goes to hell in a handbasket, then it isn't going to help you much. You must be able to maintain that engagement through whatever footwork you need to do, and eventually, you must be able to leave the engagement, in whichever way you choose, at the right moment.

This starts with simply engaging, and holding your blade steady as you advance and retreat, with minimal movement of the blades against each other. Once that is mastered, move on to changing the engagement, and then maintaining that contact, both the location and the pressure.

Putting it all together: the Engagement

My favorite exercise, of working on engagements, includes all of the above elements. The student must be able to recognize when to engage, must be able to make blade contact with the appropriate pressure, in the correct direction, on the right part of the blade, on the correct foot, in any guard, in a controlled and balanced way, and must be able to control that engagement while moving, and change the engagement or leave the engagement at will.

This is a lot.

It is not possible for a beginner to work on all of the elements at the same time, so we'll temporarily artificially separate them to focus on each one, and then put them back together, as soon as the student is able to do so.

I like to come back to this exercise often, and to revisit it each time my student makes a conceptual leap. It combines basic footwork with some very subtle fingerplay and is infinitely variable. Once a student is able to perform all of the various combinations of movements with ease, it then becomes an excellent centering exercise, or a good focused warm-up. I often use some variation of this to begin my training when working with a fencing dummy. It is a very effective way to start out and make sure everything is working together, much like tuning a musical instrument.

The Structure of the Individual Lesson, Part 5: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced

I've been tossing around the terms beginner, intermediate and advanced quite freely, without really defining the criteria distinguishing one from the other. Perhaps now is a good time to do that.

What makes a beginner a beginner?

In the beginner stage, the student must learn many new movement patterns. He will try to draw upon previously learned patterns that can be used to help learn the new ones. This presents a challenge in fencing because most of the fundamental movements are dissimilar- antithetical, in fact- to most of those previously learned patterns.

Swinging a bat, or throwing a ball, javelin, shot-put, discus or a punch are all very similar movements They are movements for generating power by "cracking the whip." For example, throwing a straight right punch begins with the left toe digging in, the rotation through the hips, transmitting power to the final thrust of the right fist.

The thrust and lunge, on the other hand, is an exact opposite type of movement, a "railroad train" type of movement, i.e., the engine (point) is followed by the first car (arm) followed by the second car (foot) followed by the third car (body).

I have found that "non-athletes" who have not spent a lot of time honing the skills of basketball, baseball or football, often learn fencing skills more quickly and easily than "athletes" since they do not experience interference from old, inappropriate movement patterns.

In the beginner stage, the student's attentional focus is narrow and internal as he tries to recall and integrate a seemingly endless list of seemingly unrelated details. Eventually, the student memorizes the list and gradually links together the numerous details into a single coherent pattern, and a shift in attentional focus to broad internal occurs.  "On guard," for example, ceases to be "heels in line, space between the feet, front knee & toe forward, knees bent, body erect, etc., etc..." and becomes instead simply on guard, a whole comprising many parts assembled in a coherent way, and not merely a collection of individual elements.

Learning new movement patterns requires frequent, repetitive practice and that takes time. The process cannot be rushed. Students must be allowed to progress at their own individual pace.

With the shift to broad internal focus the student begins to be capable of self-correcting.  I consider the capacity for self-correction to be the distinguishing feature of an intermediate student.

The Intermediate Level

In the intermediate phase, students begin to get a real "feel" for the moves and are able to evaluate progressively finer elements of their own performance and correct errors by comparing what they just did to the memory of the feeling of doing it “right.” 

It is during the early intermediate stage that the student’s rising expectations can leave them vulnerable to what I call "the frustration gap," the distance between intellectually knowing what to do and your body's ability to do it. Those with the quickest wits are more vulnerable than others since they may well comprehend the theory of a movement long before their body has had time to memorize the pattern of it. The Master must be prepared to counsel patience and to provide extra support and encouragement when this happens.

Gradually, their actions become more accurate and more consistent. The moves become "easier" as the body becomes more efficient, using less energy in executing the new pattern. They will be able to perform at increasingly greater speed, pace and intensity, without sacrificing anything in precision. Sometimes they will find themselves performing "automatically," without thinking about it, almost as if the movement happened all by itself. They will also begin to focus more externally as they learn to recognize and respond to diverse and sundry cues.

Advanced Students

The distinguishing characteristic of the  advanced student is the ability to maintain the integrity of his/her own movement – balance, line, focus and distance – while externally focused. At the advanced level, the student becomes more active and less re-active. He is increasingly able to anticipate or "read" the opponent and predict the flow of the action. Performance becomes highly instinctive, requiring no conscious thought – in fact, “thinking” only gets in the way. The student has high levels of technical competence, confidence, control and commitment. Advanced fencers spend more and more time in external broad attentional focus, performing by feeling the flow and flowing with the feel of the fight. At the same time, they begin to strive for an even greater degree of perfection, measuring their performance against an abstract ideal and not by whether they won or lost. The advanced phase is not the end at all.  Rather, it's a whole new beginning.

Each time the student learns a new skill, the student will go through these three stages of development with regard to that skill.  The process make take a month. Or it may take a minute. The more experience the student has had with making the transition from beginner to advanced, the faster and easier it will be. The student hasn’t just learned. The student has learned how to learn.

A Comparison of Lesson Types

Element                      Technical Lesson                    Tactical Lesson                    Strategy Lesson

Goal                            mechanical precision                recognition & response           problem solving

Cues                           single, simple & specific           2 or more as specified             random & unspecified

Speed                         slow                                        slow to fast                             combat  speed

Pace                           slow                                        moderate to fast                      fast

Rest                            long, frequent                         short, frequent                         short, infrequent

Complexity                  low                                          moderate                                high

Intensity                      low                                          moderate                                high

Duration                      moderate-long                         moderate                                moderate-short

Attentional Mode         narrow internal                         narrow external                       broad external

Beginner                      98%                                        1%                                        1%

Intermediate                25%                                         50%                                      25%

Advanced                   5%                                         25%                                       70%