Foil Coaching Demonstration and Discussion

Really, I'd expect Fences to have done a bit of a warm-up before. Yes, I hear them just like that every day. I get Fences here who come through the door just 30 seconds before the lesson starts. For me, I get them as soon as it starts and they're ready to warm up. So the first bit I think of is a calibration exercise. You've just got to get used to hitting, manipulating the blade and things like that. And you can do this in a variety of different ways. It's important to set the distance right for the Fence hitting. Forward a little bit. This exercise. And introduce slight changes in rhythm. Introduce that approach. I think it's also stationary. A bit of movement is a bit of relaxation. So I think of that as a calibration. In addition to that, Parry is an apostrophe. It can serve the same purpose. It gets familiar with finding the blade and hitting it. It's like a music presentation. Once I've seen Parry, I've seen how he fences. You might have to stop and look at the blade a little bit. As I was mentioning, feeling the blade into the elbow. And knowing that that's a signal to hit. You have to remember that the action at the end of that show, when you move your blade up, is that still at the elbow? Yes. You know, you get quite a bit of debate about this. There's people who try and bash the blade out of it. They practically argue that you shouldn't do this at all. What I find is that it keeps the tempo of things. It marks this moment of the hit. Right? And it also can simulate the fact that the opponent is trying to parry the hit, but hasn't quite made it. Which is characteristic of an attack, isn't it? So I think there are a number of elements to this. As I say, it's marking the tempo of the action. It signals the moment of the hit effectively. It can also reposition a fencer's hand if their hand tends to drop too low. So there are a number of purposes it can serve. Especially when they go out with their arms displaced. Can you lift the blade a slight forward? Yeah. I mean, with some fencers whose hand is coming in far too low, I can make it so that they actually have to get their hand up. Yeah. Because they can't actually get there unless their hand is up. In a more competitive scenario, it can be tough. Like a failed parry. I didn't quite get to the parry. And that's got to be characteristic of a successful hit, isn't it? Yeah. Because the timing of the attack is good. Yeah. I can remember attending in Hungary quite fervent debates on this particular topic. And hearing such reservations. You know. You see, so... To do it too forcefully and vigorously, I think, is a mistake. So that's sort of what I think of as a calibration. The lesson has started off. There may be some faults that we can look at in that. How the parry is going forward, etc. OK. So now if we get on to a basic structure of what we can do in the lesson. And I think this particular set I use, which I use pretty much with all fencers, really breaks into the essence of what fencing is, because really what it's about is about using fence and deception to overcome this dissonance problem between yourself and your opponent. I'm easily within my reaction. So I'm not going to achieve the hit with speed. You're going to use deception, etc. So the essential exercise is step forward with a direct feint. And the instruction I would normally give to an experienced fencer, step forward with a direct feint and take it from there. But in practice there are three key components that I'm looking for in a fencer here. And the first of these we can look at is I take a parry straight away. And I use a mix of three parries. And there's a reason for this. I use cart. I use ceased. And I use pre-green. Now typically if I'm putting in the pre-green one, then an early parry might seem a bit perverse to do that. But I'm thinking in terms of I might be going to push in a brick there. Now the significance of this is if you can evade these three parries, you can evade pretty much any other parry. So if I take octave, it's the same answer as if I've done cart. She's going around the same way. Even if I do something that's perverse as set two, it's the same as if I've done pre. So the ability to evade these three parries gives the ability to evade pretty much any other parry. So we can look at that. Step forward with a feint. I'm looking for a slow step. Slight extension of the arm. And then a more energetic finish to use that. The assumption we're making is that she's got to be a bit quicker to get there before I can do that second parry. So at the end of the first step, it's still the arm that we're extending, right? What I am looking for is that the extension of the arm slightly precedes the step. This is guiding the thought process of the opponent. This is the thing you want them noticing. But it's not going to extend too far. Because you want that acceleration at the end of the parry. And we're working on the assumption here that this opponent is inclined to take the parry earlier. We look a bit later as to what happens. So you're looking for that slow beginning, arm just starting the fourth step, which guides the thought process of the opponent. The thoughts I look for if a feinter does start the thought first, and then extends. The risk is the opponent sees that step forward and decides, So for me, that's quite an important composer. To get that step right with the feint right. Not too deep. Let's see that a few times. Sorry. Let's go back a bit. Well, we'll just go the other way. I think we're okay. Yeah, that's okay. So whichever parry I take... Okay, we've got that. You're parrying quite early on. Yes, I'm parrying quite early. The variation I like, if there isn't the early parry, if there's no other action, you're then going to use second intention counter plots. Yeah. Introducing this, I would say to the fencer, they'd be doing this and they'd be getting that, and then I wouldn't respond. And then I could have a discussion with the fencer. I could say, well, what do you think you should do? Now, a lot of the other fencers would say, oh, just carry on and hit. Yeah. And the question for me is, what do you think would get the point? Now, some think, well, this is sort of the road, you see, but we can prove it, because I'm going to take a later parry. And then the debate is, it informs the fencer, your opponent's going to parry, it doesn't matter where. So just going fast is not the answer. This is what we said a moment ago. Speed is not the answer here. So a second intention counter plot is a good option because it's technically easier to deform, for the majority of fencers, in comparison to taking a very late disengage, which kind of gives you even more advance. You can do it, but it's an easier option. So if you get a younger fencer used to doing this combination, when the parry is up early, you go around and outscore. When the parry is much later, you do a second intention counter plot. And also because I think second intention actions are very easily neglected by fencers of their development. It gets them in that mindset where they think of doing a second intention. So we have that combination. Now, this particular action, if we go again and look, the thing you'll see here is that fencers make it too fast. They come in and they go something like this. Now, parry is perceived straight away. I'm not doing it for you. It has to look real. I want you to finish about here, just short of the target. It's outside my range of vision. I can't see that point anymore. So I will respond with a parry. I feel it's a good attack. And with a good capable fencer, I as a coach should not be able to tell whether they're genuinely trying to hit me. It should always look real to me. And that way, I commit to my attempt to score for the boss when I fall into the second intention trap. If it looks false, I like parry. I'm just going to be able to fight it if I'm not really going to commit to that. I'm not going to be vulnerable to the counter strike. Right, can I ask a question? A fencer can be in that trap. So you've got to draw the parry. You've got to attempt to draw the parry. Don't draw the parry. So do the second intention. As an attacker, apart from the second intention, what other options have I got to think? I can show you a technique Because I'm too fast. I only tend to be too close. Well, actually, quite a lot. There's a few things. One is, she knows what she's going to do. She's decided she's going to do this. So the decision process is quick. It's fast. It's not as if she's been surprised by something, having to assess what it is, decide what to do and then do it. So the reaction time for the counterpart is fast. The other thing, if you look at this, let's say the point is here. Now if I put my point there, now if you extend and hit, there's all that margin in terms of distance. Do you see that? Full length of perhaps a block. Now that is easily enough for her to guarantee to get that parry. But it's not immediately perceptible from my side that actually I'm not moving back. So she's actually, what is that? That's what, nine inches? She's nine inches or so further back. From my side, in the heat of battle so to speak, I'm not necessarily going to perceive that I'm actually out of range. And in fact, she's watching me out fast. Because she knows what she's going to do. Another element I would put into this, whereas with the early parries, I'm taking different parries, which I can do. Your later parry is most of the time going to be carded. Because realistically if you need to take other parries it's more difficult. You get some fencers who have a very fast cease and will do a cease at a very late action. Who will do that at a very late action. But they're very fast. That would be something else you'd have to notice. Within the context of this lesson, I'm always going to do a card. I'm always going to do a direct report. If she comes in too shallow, there's the risk of me doing compound actions, opening everything up, doing my own second intention. And that's why she wants that depth there. So if we look at the exercise combining early parries and late parries, two different options for each variation. Just have a brief look at how it's done. I'll just start with a bit further back. Step to the face. Take a round back parry. Don't turn. Brilliant. Yes, I thought that was insane. Go here. There we go. And I'm believing that that looks good to me. Comes in deep, the point's in the right place. Now, the third element to this is if I counter-attack. And this is, I think, especially useful for younger fencers. There's loads of them who counter-attack. Don't they? You need to get used to fencing counter-attacks. And what I look for here is that the fencing... I can't see again. Let's go over there. Let's change the angle a little bit. OK, so I do a counter-attack. Start, I counter-attack. Just finish it nice and smooth. See? And that smoothness of finish is hugely important. Any little hesitation in counter-attacks, he gets in the game. Or if you finish it with a twist or something, again, the referee defines that as a counter-attack. So being able to get that smoothness of finish in a fencing counter-attack is quite important. Let's see if we can have that combination here. But the reason for doing that is to get them used to avoiding the counter-attack and carry on with the hit. Well, you've got two lines in the box, haven't you? Yeah. But the attack goes from the side. So you have a confidence about the attack that you need to be doing. But what you're saying to the kids is that because you're doing the counter-attack, you have tendencies to... Yeah, the tendency is to hesitate or try and parry. And you can easily illustrate that parrying can be a mistake. Not always a mistake. It can be a mistake because if she stops, you're doing the feint, eye-counter, she goes for the parry, compound action, you've given up priority, you've lost the object. So you can sort of prove that responding with a parry isn't necessarily a good idea. But also, it comes naturally. They've learned how to parry, they'll respond naturally with an attempt to parry. But it becomes a mistake because if I can stop her attacking me because I've just busted her in the arm, I don't need to parry. So you want these fences to build to just carry on with that attack. Now, once they've got that, then you can put other things into it. OK, so we've got those three elements to our lesson. Now, this is actually quite a considerable number of lessons work before you get a person to be able to do all these things consistently and reliably. But then you can add extra bits to it. For example, I can step back a bit and ideally, she gives an extra step, an extra push, yes? And she's having to observe at a certain distance, does she step, does she not step? Did I step, did I parry, did I not? You can see there's more elements coming to this. Those three elements have got to our lesson. So we've now had that change of distance between parry. Another element I've got in is you've got to bear in mind that these initial parries, unbelievably lazy, she's able to get rid of the parries. The parry machine does a percentage of counter-possible response to a more competitive parry. Now, I would suggest this is a sort of coaching skill that's worth developing, because it's easy to find that if you're actually not getting that right, that she gets out of the game. You've got to be reasonably confident. She knows I won't parry, so she's ready to get back a bit, but can I do it in such a way that actually she's up? Now, good fencers are going to be very optimistic about that. So that sharpness in the hand, slight change in time, and then you need to do it. That was a catch. That was a different way of doing it. OK, so we've got some of the different elements. So you've joined them into the rhythm, you know, breaking the rhythm, basically. A little bit of that, yeah. I would put it in, but I think the fencers have forgotten about it. So they're always in their mind trying to keep these different things at the forefront of their mind. Another advantage of this lesson, worth advising the fencers, they start when they're ready. They start at their own time, when they're ready. So here, for example, you may find that she hasn't really prepared for each action she meant. So we've got these different locations and things that can happen at the right time. Now we can potentially introduce more subtleties to it. This variation. So maybe I'm going to make the countertap sometime. So what I look for here, we haven't done that with this one for a little bit, but what I look for here is the fencers make a suggestion, is this countertap real? So we can look at options here. So for example, if my countertap is real, maybe I'm going to take this again. So we're just looking for the same combination. Also, here's another little variation you can have, because you're not always going to know if it's real. If you're not sure, you do your feint, she's still scored, it's still at those volumes again, you apply the tension to carry it, simplifies it. You can have this follow-up lesson going on, can't you? See? I like to make sure she can stop on that one. So you can see the mixture of things we've got going on there. By and large, we haven't had to assemble to know where she's here. She knows the combinations, you can see. Well, the genius fencers is proof. You've got a few weeks worth of material. You've got a lot of material. Absolutely. Maybe not. We've got this, and I just give the instruction, step forward, feint, take it from there, and she smiles. We've also, if you look at it, taken over actions, quite complex. Ultimately, it leads to the point where most things that can happen without as a result of the fencers they know, they've said to me, when this happens, I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing, Is it fit? One of yours, every time he's under pressure, his shoulder, I know what I'm doing, give me that pressure, watch the shoulder, tap on the back of his shoulder. So you know what you're doing. Technical skills, but also tactical contact. What I suggest, is you do, you can start to calibrate. Yes. Ready? Ready. Right. So. Ok. So do it like that. Yeah. Step, step, step. Yeah. Right. Yeah, the way, if you look at how I watch the finger play, I'll return to that there, going to there, so she gets used to it. Oh, I see. Sorry. When it comes to this one, so presenting in there, you're almost repeating, but she has to go back to the same one. Yeah. Whereas if you present it here, yes, she's got it, but it's got a different feel. So the signal is to get the guard back into it. Yeah. Now, look at that one, I'll do it, not a great one, but a distinct feel, which is the wrong feel. Yeah. This one, you see it's there. Oh, I see. Ok. Incidentally, if you get the move into guard, literally just as she's finished. See, it's how distant the anxiety is. You're sinking in. Ok. So we do have a step back. Get to parry or step back. Ok. So, right here. Yeah, that's right. So I come here, I come into parry, and I step back. Do you want me to step back and parry? Do you want me to step back and parry? Step back and parry. Personally, I'll usually give you instructions. Otherwise, you create a bit of it's good to do, because she's done quite a bit of stationing. People get a bit stiff and tense if they're not moving. Get them moving a bit. A way to do it, if you don't want to, get this movement, and then step back, it'll become more natural. You know, if you can get things happening without having to give too much instruction. Ok. We'll move forward and back, and you step back. There. You see that sort of, and this is now good. There's a sense of distance in there. Do you move, would you move square on? Or would you move in and on block? In this setting, I would probably move more slowly than you're moving. Actually, I was struggling to keep up. In other settings, that's better than that. I'd be quite square off at this stage, and I'm not moving fast. I let her feel before I change direction each time. If I'm going here, she's on the step, and then if I'm giving her something to do, she's probably in the middle of the step. So, I've then got the movement, she's not struggling to keep up. It's easy as a coach to go too fast. You see a lot of fencers start off doing coaching, they'll be doing everything as fast as a coach. So, slow, slow, slow, is optimal. That makes them feel more like they're helping you out. In fact, moving as a coach, and I came to appreciate this a few years ago, is that it's crucially important. Moving as a coach is hard, because you've got a fit fencer who can move much better than you can. And to create a situation where the movement is going to be good for them. Especially for a coach like the guy I've now got, who's really good and really quick. You find he's completely that. I think you have to, because, you know, I can't move like a fencer. But one other element I think is important to receive when a coach is doing it in a way that's good, is give the timing for the actions relative to the movement. So, for example, here, if I'm saying that line over there, I'm going backwards. It's the wrong time. It's wrong. And struggle to get that. So, if I want the attack, I want to give that. There's a little bit of preparation for the movement so the attack makes sense. Some years ago, I began to look at this and I thought, I saw this coach give a lesson which sort of meddled that. I thought, I need to change how I'm giving the signals for the attack. The thing I found was that fencers could just do better attacks. Their lunges were better. Everything felt better. And I think that's the thing to pay attention to. Especially with a fast fencer, you can very easily think, I need to move back a bit to give me space to lead the coaching. Okay, so we've got a little bit of a group going on past you. Let's get into our exercise and we'll start with the joint attacks. Smooth, smooth, smooth. Okay, okay. So, go. Step forward a bit. Okay, fine. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So I'm doing 120. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. Yeah. So you attack slowly. You attack slowly. Attack slowly. Yeah. I don't think I'm, I don't think what I'm doing, I'm not, you know when you're rolling yourself that's, that's better than what I was doing, what I was doing now, what I was doing now. This is, this is it, and it's also characteristic of an effect that you create after you've done it. These are all things you can look at. I'm giving you lessons. What if you're watching and you're like, where's my hand going? I do this. I'm marvelous. It mirrors what I'm doing. Yeah, no. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. There are elements of this where you've got to offence a lot. Yeah. But also as a coach you have to cheat, you have to do things that may dissimilarly offence a lot. So we teach the kids and the parents to, this is what we're doing here, we're taking that away. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Oh no. Okay. We're just going to touch on one of the components that I added to this effect. Draws upon, before and now, but this introduces this, it gets more movement going on. Pressing action is essentially offensive. Pressing forward for a moment to scroll. This is the preliminary way to do a form of oppression. Currently, it's being seen a bit more as a form of oppression. But setting up and pressing action. And here you're going to use this sort of blade action here. So I've stepped in. So what I've done, I've done that sharply and drawn a couple of steps. Now it has to be movement. Yeah. If I do it this way, now that sets up the progress. She's immediately sort of being pushed over the edge. She has to be able to do stuff. Yeah. And if I finish my action. And this is sort of practiced in foil fencing now. There's a lot of this movement. And we would have a whole range of different options. Taking over actions. I don't really want to go down all of these different options. She can take over a bit of her own. Pressing action. This is the point where fencing goes on for peace. Almost everything that happens is something that they're doing. I'm not sure they would do this. Counter-attack. You know, I mean, the sorts of brief combinations we have. Don't take counter-attack. If I hesitate, walk it. If I go for the leg, disengage it. If I see that and I finish, parry it fast. If I start to rush, it's counter-attack. Parry. You'll see. You know, if I finish short, she finds the blade and takes over. Now she's pressing action. If I go for a counter-attack, she'll do a fencing move. Yeah. All this goes on. And you wouldn't have to say what's happening. She'd know what to do. Or what she should do. We can isolate different elements and work on them. Now you've gone from this step-forward fencing to step-forward fencing. Then you've got a whole expanding range of attacks. And it all sort of fits together. You can plot it out on a piece of paper. Do this. Do you see? So that's where I would go. And these are the lessons I would give you. Predominantly. Yeah. But we'll stop with this particular mix where we are now. And then we can stop. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ian. Thank you very much. Thank you for bearing with it. Yeah. You can see all the little elements. There's a huge amount. It's just practicing the simple stuff. Getting it right. Getting it. Getting the hand position right. If I'm not here, I'm here. And it's everything you teach the fencer, which you forget. But no, it's good. Coaching is a different thing to fencing. It's a different skill. It has to be said. But if you've got it, you've got it. Ryan Jameson. Ryan Lewis says what he says. And that. And the other thing I'll say in a few minutes. Within coaching, you don't do it in action. Fencing practice is in action. You don't do that in coaching. So my sense of distance is good. My timing is good. That skill set is not being practiced in coaching. The distance and the timing of practice is in a tactical way. So do you think you paid on the survey? No. Not at the moment? You didn't until you fought. That's it. Yeah. I will say it. Yeah. You have to agree with this. If you want a kiss to do. Yeah. You've got to. No. This is what I understand. I'm really self-aware. But the thing that I find, I forget. Is it was so busy watching the kids and what the fencer does. And what the rest of us do. You have to get it. What you're supposed to do. And that was. Yeah. This might sound funny. It's a taxi driver. You get to know this as you're driving around. You know all the back streets. And things. And if now I'm getting old. I know where I am. Yeah. It's about learning about you, for example. Apparently, yeah. These are all bits that you discover. It's like there's a taxi driver driving around. You know, there's this thing. So I'll take a certain pose. Let's just do the pattern. I'll get things from here. I can do lots. What about if I do. I can do a pretty movement. Yeah. So. And if I start doing that. It wasn't actually all I wanted. And now you get to get fencers to get used to. Can I do that fast enough? You know. I don't know. It's a long time. There's. There's all these little bits that you can discover. And then you can just work reverses. If you want. So. That's. That's how I have it. It's like. When. There's a parry. It's. It's the context of what's being done. Because she's done the fake. Doing a fake. That's the beginning of the attack. So my action is a parry. In fact. If she's just standing there. I can do the exact same thing. And. Because she's not attacking. Right. So. The difference between being a parry. Is regarding the leg. So. Traditionally. Yes. I remember. As a. Completely. I've seen coaches with a piece of tape. A piece of tape there. And a chop. And I say that. A parry. Is anything. Below that. Chop. And a big. Attack. Is anything. Beyond that chop line. Okay. If I attempt. To parry. The referee. Who finds. Her parry. She may not be attempting. To parry. And use hers. Because I cannot. Anywhere else. I can parry here. In the middle. Back. I can parry here. Now. That's not beat. Depends what she's doing. Because she's doing an attack. Yes. It was. Preparation. She's just on guard. And I go for play. Again. If you look in. The rule book. There are many references. To parry.