Steve's Fencing Page



My Results

I have been competing on the UK open circuit of competitions for about a year now, and my ranking has moved up to 66th with the sabre at time of writing. This is about what I was expecting for the year, my aim for this coming year is to make the top 50. My best results from last year are listed here:

2003
Shropshire Open 2nd
Hereford and Worcester Open 7th
SE Section Sabre 1st (though I was 2nd this year)
Surrey Sabre 3rd (injured)

I'll upload a few fencing pictures onto here at some stage, watch this space.


Couple of recent (2004) results to add:

Barwell Cup 2nd
SE Section 2nd
Guildford Club Sabre 1st
Corble Cup qualifiers 38th (didnt qualify)
Surrey Sabre 1st

Welcome to my fencing page. As I am not a qualified coach, I should start by saying that the information here is my opinion, based on my experience of fencing over the last 12 years or so. There are many areas of great debate within fencing, technically, psychologically, competitively and socially. You will find my current opinions on this page, but this is by no means gospel. Fence a few years and see what you think.

My background in fencing began when I was about 14, and went on a summer sports course for children in Bromley. I enjoyed fencing and started going to a club shortly after. Since then I have attended various different clubs, and participated in a number of competitions.. I fence with the foil and the sabre, and have relatively little ability with the epee, though people are always telling me that I am the correct bodyshape for it.

History
Fencing has been around for many years, having evolved from a genuine fighting form to a gentlemanly pastime, to a modern sport. Different styles and teaching methods have been used over the years, but the current "classical" style seems well established now, and is taught at most clubs. There are three weapons in modern fencing, the foil, the epee and the sabre.

The foil is a light thrusting weapon, which scores hits with the tip onto the torso. This is the most common weapon for fencers to begin with, allowing them to develop the various elements of fencing technique. Some fencers progress to the epee or the sabre, or stay with the foil.

The epee is also a thrusting weapon, though this time the entire body is the target area, and the weapon is heavier, and less flexible. I personally find it difficult to adapt to using the epee, as I always seem to try and use it like a foil, and get cut in the process.

The sabre is a cutting weapon, and you can hit with all of the blade. The target area is above the waist, and I thinkI am safe in saying that hits are easier to come by with the sabre.

Right of way
As fencing is a sport, a system of prioritising simultaneous hits has been developed through successive evolutions. At foil and sabre, the president decides which attack has the priority, or right of way, and hence is awarded the hit. Although the rules are complex, the gist of right of way is described by the following sentence:
"The first attack to start forwards has priority until either it misses or is parried, in which case the priority changes."
It took me ages to get this while I was learning, though it seems relatively easy to me now. It should be said that there are some attacks where there is no priority, and no hit is scored, and also that the president's decision is final, regardless of what you think happened. All you can achieve by arguing is to irritate/influence the president.

Aspects of Fencing
There are many aspects to learn to become a good fencer, and I think they should be ordered as follows:
1) Distance - There is nothing more significant than being where you want to be on the piste at a given time. When your opponent attacks, be far away, and when you attack, be within reach of your target. This is fundamentally linked to your footwork. Particularly at modern sabre, the best footwork tends to win the fight.
2) Control - The ability to control the point of the blade takes a significant amount of practice. But more than that, the ability to control your own movements, to use only the barest economy of motion to hit your opponent is a skill which can only be developed by fencing a great number of fights.
3) Experience - Experience brings quick hands, and inbuilt responses, where your hand parries and hits quicker than you can think of it. It also helps deal with different approaches, left handers absence of blade, flick hits etc.

There is a limit to how much you can learn just through practice though. You can only really improve by fencing people who are better than you are. Maybe just better in certain areas, at certain attacks, but it teaches you how to respond to those things at a higher level.

Psychological approach
There are many reasons why people fence. Some do it to keep fit, others to be sociable, others because they are interested, others to get proficiency awards. To an extent, some of those things apply to me, but above all, I love the competition of a fight. I love to make good hits, though it doesnt happen particularly often. There's a certain arrogance common to a lot of fencers when it comes to their own ability. I realise that there are people who are better than me, by whole orders of magnitude but fencing my best, on a good day, I reckon I could probably get one hit on anyone.
Its very unusual to fence angry. Competitive, yes, and aggressive yes, but anger doesnt really help. You can get irritated with yourself, but its not the same thing. When you get angry, you become less in control as your body gets adrenaline, and you are more likely to miss when you attack. Occasionally you might get hit too hard, or feel a decision has gone unfairly against you and get angry because of that, but there is no place for it in fencing otherwise. More recently, I have become convinced that mental strength, or the ability to regain your composure is a massive factor in fencing. I have seen people go to pieces, after being annoyed at what they thought was a bad decision from the president. The important thing to remember is that each hit is worth the same. Don't change what you are doing because you are annoyed, change only for tactical reasons. You have to be able to press the reset button and be ready for the next hit calm and under control. There are many famous examples of sportsmen/women who use complicated routines to reset themselves. Tim Henman's wipe of the brow and double bounce of the ball, Jonny Wilkinson's outstretched hands, all designed to be as together as possible under pressure.