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Persevering Through Disappointments and Losses

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on September 4, 2014
Posted in: Home, The Mental Game. Tagged: , , , , . 6 Comments
Women's Epeeist, Shin Lam of Korea, after her controversial defeat in the 2012 Olympics. Photo from TheGaurdian.com

Women’s Epeeist, Shin Lam of Korea, after her controversial defeat in the 2012 Olympics. Photo from TheGaurdian.com

 

The very nature of Fencing means that we have all experienced losses, frustration, and disappointments. Looking back, throughout my career there are a few such moments that still register strongly, and to this day I can feel the resulting sting of self-doubt and immense disappointment. Whether we are just starting out or multiple time World Champions, we all encounter such events. They can stem from a bad lesson or day at practice, or in two time World Champion and multiple time number one in World ranking Nikolai Novosjolov’s case, two back to back under-performances this season (eliminated in the pool round at European Championships and a first round loss at World Championships). While it is not possible to avoid such losses (trust me, I’ve spend over a decade trying), it is important to learn how to take such experiences as what they are; important motivational and learning lessons. If I could point to any one thing in my past which has greatly contributed to my successes, it would be my ability to take setbacks and losses as reasons to endure even harder. Rather than quit, which was often my first thought, I chose to rise above the setback and use the emotion as a means to dig my heels in and work twice as hard.

 Like every other pursuit we have in life, how we handle setbacks and disappointments is vitally important in determining whether we will be successful or not. It is easy to win and continue forward, but the true tests and hurdles we encounter in any pursuit of a dream or goal is learning to move forward after devastating setbacks or season ending losses.

The first experience that cast doubts on my ability to succeed, was when a top coach once said to me that I really needed to consider whether I should continue to fence or not. I was 14 years old and taking one of my first Foil lessons, my primary weapon at the time. I was failing so miserably that the coach felt it appropriate to say those words. I acknowledge that I was not very good. I had fenced only in Vermont, recreationally for about two years, and having shown a passion for the sport decided to participate in a fencing camp in Montreal. Looking back, I realize that the words struck me as true, and that I did not show a particularly strong technical understanding of the sport. Being so far behind my peers at that age group, I realized the I did in fact need to decide whether Fencing was something I should devote my time to or not. Ultimately, I could have easily quit, and moved on to another pursuit. Instead, I chose to work even harder to not only prove to the coach but also to others, (including myself), that I did have what it takes. I chose to devote countless hours of my life working hard to get better, even when my only opponent was often a martial arts dummy in my garage. A year and a half later, I would make my first top 4 finish at U.S. National Championships, albeit in Épée, and by the year’s end qualify for the U.S Cadet World Team. 

The second experience that initially cast doubts on my ability to succeed, was my NCAA college fencing career, which was riddled with under-performances. As a top Junior and competitive Senior in national rankings, I went into college with high expectations and the goal of becoming NCAA national champion. Following Sophomore and Junior year close losses in regional qualifiers to my two teammates, I was unable to participate in the Championships. After each season, the losses to qualify, even while maintaining top 8 in collegiate and national team rankings, caused me to seriously doubt myself. It was the high pressure situation in both seasons when I was unable to perform at the level I knew I was capable of. This frustration in back to back seasons caused me to doubt whether I had what it takes to overcome the stress under such critical moments. This having been a problem in previous seasons, I was incredibly disappointed in myself, and with fencing in general. Ultimately, I chose to dedicate myself even more as soon as my college season had ended abruptly. In each of these frustrating losses, I decided to push myself a little bit harder instead of succumbing to the defeat and giving up. The final chance at the NCAA title was in my senior year, but I suffered the bad luck of an ankle injury the week before NCAA championships. Fortunately, I was still able to finish 12th place and earn all American honors. The same season, I graduated college and immediately qualified for the U.S Senior World Team. If I had let my defeats and setbacks get to me and cause me to work any less hard or lose interest in the sport, I would have never overcome these challenges and thus miss out on some of the most incredible experiences of my life. Ultimately, it is important to see losses and setbacks as tests and learning experiences we must overcome in order to achieve our ultimate goals and dreams, and not let them deter us from our bigger objectives. 

There are numerous examples of Fencers winning or becoming medalists in World Championships after over a decade of failed attempts. I see the dedication, persistence, and ability to overcome adversity and losses as the critical element in determining the success of top athletes over time. Examples of some of the greatest athletes across a broad range of sports, from Michael Jordan who overcame his early struggles to later become generally viewed as the greatest player of all time, to Tom Brady who throughout college was seen as a mediocre quarterback at best to becoming multiple time Super Bowl champion and earning a place among the all-time greats, and many others, provide vivid illustrations of the importance in overcoming a lack of immediate results and success. The importance of persevering through disappointments and losses, is a factor which has played a vital role in any great athlete’s career. It is something that we can learn the value of early on in Fencing, as its application transcends sports, relationships, business, and all different dimensions of life. 

-You can help support Adam by Liking his Facebook page.

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Why Do We Fence?

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on April 29, 2014
Posted in: About, Fencing Life. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 12 Comments

 

I had just been eliminated early from a recent World Cup.

Frustrated by my early exit, I wasn’t exactly in the best mood as I changed out of my whites and put on my warm ups. It’s times like this when I find myself questioning my fencing and what I am working towards. Is all the hard work actually paying off? Is fencing really worth the blood, sweat, tears, time and dedication?

After an hour or so I regained my composure and headed back strip-side to watch some fencing.

While I was watching, one of the other Americans, who had suffered a similar fate, came over and started watching the same bout that I was. After talking about the bout for a while, the conversation turned more personal, about our goals and general plans for achieving them. Then he asked me a surprising question:

“Why are you doing this?”

The question itself is simple enough but it implies so much more. Why do you fence? Why do you work so hard to get better at it? What is the end goal? Why does the end goal matter? Is it worth the incredible amount of sacrifice?

I had been asking myself similar questions not an hour before in my head, but it still caught me off guard. Maybe it was just because he said it out loud or maybe it was because of how succinctly he articulated what I had been thinking about. Either way, it made me focus on the question.

I realized that there are a lot of reasons and after a few moments of thinking about it I bumbled through my explanation.

One possibility is that I’m just crazy. (Aren’t we all a little nuts though when you think about it? We spend insane amounts of money to run around poking each other with sticks after all.)

On the other hand, there’s something about the thrill of the competition that makes me feel alive, invigorated. Each opponent is a challenge worth overcoming. I feel like I could be great at this sport. Fencing provides me a chance to become the very best I can be at something. Maybe I could even become great at the highest level. While reaching the top of a small sport like fencing doesn’t offer much from the perspective of fame or money, being able to know that you’ve achieved greatness in something in life, no matter how small, is a personal victory worth striving for.

That being said, the odds are stacked against me becoming one of the best fencers in the world no matter how much work I put in. That adversity gets under my skin and makes me just want to prove everyone else that I can do it anyway.

I already get so much fulfillment from other areas of my life though. I have a loving and supportive family, friends, and significant other. I was blessed with opportunities for an amazing education, a good job and endless other possibilities for myself. If I were to pour all of my energy into any number of other endeavors, sports or otherwise, I could probably get all the same emotional benefits I called out above. So why fencing?

What it comes down to is that I love the sport. I have a ton of fun doing it. The mental aspect, the physical aspect, the competitive aspect all play a part but what it all boils down is that I love fencing. Even when I hate it and feel like all my effort isn’t making me any better. Even when I suffer disheartening defeat after disheartening defeat, I still love it (just maybe a little less at that moment). Each time I lose makes it feel that much more uplifting when I win. By becoming as good as I possibly can be at fencing, I get the chance to experience more of the sport at a higher and higher level.

After mulling this over, I asked this rather poignant question to a few other top US fencers too. Here’s what they had to say. I encourage you all to Like/Follow these athletes on their various social media pages to help support them as they try to take their fencing to the highest level possible.

You can like my Facebook page here and follow my Twitter handle here. And as always, be on the lookout for the latest articles on thefencingathlete.com for more articles from the top fencers in the country.

 

 via Facebook

2012 US Olympic Medalist and top women’s epeeist, Courtney Hurley – “I fence because I like the challenges it presents. Fencing is a very difficult and challenging sport in that you have to have athleticism, tactics and technique and each person I fence is a completely new challenge. No two people (at least in épée) fence the same and I like figuring out how to win in each scenario. That brings me to the second part of the question. I put all my work into it because I love to win and I love being the best I can be at the sport that I love. I not only love to win, but I hate to lose. This motivates me in every aspect of my life and especially in fencing.” Like her Facebook page here and check out her Instagram @thathurleygurrl.

via Facebook

2012 US Olympian and top women’s foilist, Nzingha Prescod – “I can’t speak for the whole USA team but for me fencing has really become a part of who I am, and without it I would feel almost empty. It gives my life structure and a direction… an ultimate goal and purpose that contributes to my overall growth as a person. Competing at such a high level for the last 6 or 7 years has really fueled my ability to discipline myself, take educated risks, be productive, patient, persistent, and efficient all while maintaining life balance. Through fencing I’ve learned some of the importance of the most vital principles of life. It gives me the opportunity to achieve things few other people can say they did so that when I’m old and grey, I can look back at my experiences and know I lived a full, accomplished life. Anyone can make a lot of money but doing something you love is the most satisfying feel especially when you have the opportunity and resources to become the best at it. That’s something no one can ever take from you.” Follow her on Twitter @zingzang14 and like her Facebook page here.

 via Facebook

Top 10 US men’s saberist, Andrew Fischl, (aka Cyrus of Chaos)- “I decided to start fencing because the idea of learning how to sword fight was very appealing to me. Once I realized it wasn’t exactly the sword fighting that I had imagined, I continued to fence because I really liked the combined mental and physial aspect of it. I like to take everything that I like to do to the highest level that I can so that I can see how my understanding of it compares with everyone else’s.”

 photo by Dalibor Plavsic

2012 Olympian and top women’s foilist, Nicole Ross– “One of the reasons why I fence and compete on the highest level is because I am constantly unveiling and learning new things about fencing. I think it’s impossible to discover the “secret” to fencing as the sport is constantly evolving and changing. This evolution presents new challenges, daily, so trying to understand the subtle changes and intricacies of the sport keeps me interested and constantly striving for my personal best. Also, anyone who has coached me or been on a team with me knows that I live for that one great touch. Our national coach, Buckie Leach and my teammates, were making fun of me the other day at our team event in Italy because when I score a touch that has been eluding me all day, or one that I think was executed perfectly, I turn around and look at them with a huge smile on my face. It’s pretty goofy but that feeling I get from knowing I did something exactly at the right time or finally executed something I’d been working hard on in practice fills me with a sense of satisfaction and joy that’s hard to describe. I guess that’s my combined love for the sport and competition showing through. Also, the Olympics as the highest level of achievement in fencing keeps me striving for that every day. Especially after having made the Olympic Team once before, I am motivated to reach for that level again. There’s nothing quite like the Olympics and that feeling is another reason I put in the time and the work.” Like her Facebook page here.

  via collegefencing360.com

US Sr World team member, Kat Holmes- “The reasons why I fence and pursue fencing at the highest level are different. The reason why I fence is purely because of love of the sport. I played a lot of sports when I was a kid, but fencing just stuck. It has brought me to so many wonderful places (both metaphorically and physically speaking) and has introduced me to so many wonderful people. The reason why I pursue fencing at the highest level is because I am driven to try and be the best I can be. I feel that I have been given the opportunity to work towards something great, to potentially be something great. That thought and motivation drives me and keeps me training even when the going gets tough.”

via usfencing.org

Sr World Team member and top ranked men’s epeeist, Adam Watson – “I fence because the competitive nature of the unique sport allows me pursue a rigorous physical and mental balance in training and competing, which I find immensely rewarding. I put in all the work to try and succeed at the highest level because the closer you get to achieving the highest level in the country or world, the harder you have to work to gain even marginal advancements. As you get better, the challenges you encounter become more specific and less rudimentary, and there is a constantly changing platform which you are working towards. The thrill of learning new things about the sport and yourself in this pursuit, keeps it interesting” Like his Facebook page here.

 via Facebook

2012 Olympian, World Team member and top men’s saberist, Daryl Homer – “I fence because I love pure competition. It’s one on one, me vs. my opponent. You can feel your opponent’s energy and emotions, it’s almost as if you’re in sync. There’s nothing more exciting that competing with an opponent whose on your level, and outmaneuvering them to victory. It’s almost like a clash of wills. Clearly I compete at the highest level to win as many Olympic and World Championship medals as possible, but it’s more than that. I HATE losing, but I’ve grown to understand that it’s part of the process. Pursuing fencing at the highest level gives me personal satisfaction, but also pushes me to new heights in other areas of my life. I’ve successfully used skills honed in fencing to start my professional career in advertising. The work ethic, gut instincts, and creativity I’ve honed on the strip make me formidable in my everyday life. My continued drive to perfect these skills continue to drive me to pursue fencing on the highest level. In the end I want to know that I was on top, and to retire without any regrets.” Like his Facebook page here and follow him on Twitter @DarylDHomer.

 via Facebook

Sr World Team member and top women’s saberist, Eliza Stone– “I am training for the 2016 Olympics because I want to know whether I can be counted among the best in my sport. At the beginning, fencing was a game I loved; it was a mode of escapism that enabled me to leave behind everyday life. While growing up, fencing helped teach me to be competitive and to work hard. And over time fencing became a bit of an obsession. I now have an overwhelming curiosity that drives me; I need to know whether, after all these years I have committed to this sport, I have it in me to contend with the best in my field. I must know the answer to this question. I am training and competing now because I have only one small window of opportunity in my life in which I can find this out, and I know that I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t make the most of my chances now.” Like her Facebook page here and follow her on Twitter @elizastone2016.

Gear Review: The Case for Headbands in Fencing

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on April 20, 2014
Posted in: Gear Reviews, Home. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Most people seem to believe that the fashion of wearing an absorbent, unisex sports headband came and went in the late 80s.

But brace yourselves, they’re coming back. The reason: they are so freaking practical! Especially for fencing. There are so many awesome benefits and they look pretty cool too:

  • Keep crap out of your face- They do a great job of keeping your hair and sweat out of your eyes while you fence, thereby removing potentially crippling distractions
  • Improved face to mask relationship- If you use a thicker, more absorbent brand, it helps hold your mask in position on your head. With the wire mesh bouncing around in front of your eyes less, you can focus more on the bout without your eyes having to work to keep adjusting to the shifting mask layout. The headband helps hold the mask comfortably in the right position while still giving you room to breathe inside the mask since your skin will be touching the grimy mask insides much less frequently.
  • Keep you looking beautiful- Wearing an absorbent headband can help improve your complexion. By keeping your face from rubbing against the inside of the mask and absorbing most of your sweat before it can soak up into your pores, you can reduce fencer breakouts.
  • Gives you an excuse- Adjusting your headband is a perfectly reasonable and easy way to buy yourself a few extra second from the ref between touches to break the other fencer’s momentum or rethink your strategy.
  • You’ll always have an extra towel – If you forget to bring an extra towel to practice or a competition, you’ll probably have a headband you can at least wipe your face with.

Headbands come in all types, designs and colors. You can absolutely find one that works for you. Thanks to their popularity for tennis, you can usually find a pretty good headband any place that sells athletic gear.

Here are a few different types that I’ve tried using in the past:

 

Nike Reversible Headband

Nike Premier Reversible Headband NNN06-011OS

http://www.midwestsports.com/nike-reversible-headbands/p/NNN06-011OS/#.U1BuTvldV24

This is the type of headband I’m using right now. It’s pretty absorbent, fits on my head well and has enough substance that it holds my mask in place nicely. After I’ve sweated in it for a while, I can flip it inside out and it feels like I’m wearing a fresher headband. When you flip it inside out, it shows a different color too. Because they are only $9 each, it’s easy to justify stocking up on a few of these. I’m a fan.

 

Nike Swoosh Bandanna Headband

Nike Tennis Swoosh Bandana- Light Armory Blue

http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/pd/swoosh-tennis-bandana/pid-831918/pgid-435976

This type of headband is really comfortable. The cloth is soft and it looks pretty cool too. The little kid in me loves how it kinda makes you look like a ninja with how it ties in the back. My only problem with it is that it isn’t very absorbent. Since I sweat A LOT when I fence, I don’t get to wear this headband long before it soaked through. I wish I didn’t sweat quite so much so I could rock this bad boy. At about $15 isn’t a great value but it’s not unreasonable either.

 

AllStar Fencing Headbands

SB - Image 1

http://www.allstarfencing.us/online-shop.asp?s=3&cat=AA&sub=IA&ran=100&id=SB

These are the only “fencing specific” headbands I’ve come across so far. Frankly, I don’t like them. They are relatively absorbent but they are strangely wide and thin which makes then look weird. Because they are so thin, it doesn’t hold my mask in place the way I like very well either. I found this one for a little over $9 online.

 

Generic headband

http://www.amazon.com/Suddora-Headbands-Also-Neon-Colors/dp/B00A2ULJC6

I love how cheap a random generic headband is! They are always relatively absorbent and come in all kinds of colors. You can get them for $2 on Amazon. They are always decently absorbent, and they tend to be reasonably thick. The one problem is that they stretch out really quick. After a few wears and washes, you will probably have a headband that if way too lose on your head. That’s ok thought when you can replace them for 2 bucks.

 

Generic Bandanas

Bandanas, Red/Blue Western, Pack of 12

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bandanas-Red-Blue-Western-Pack-of-12/33455809

Some people like them but I’m really not a fan. They are never quite big enough to wrap around my big head and I think they look dumb but who am I to judge… They absorb sweat better than you would expect and they come in all kinds of colors and designs. You can also find these absurdly cheap online.

Train Smarter and Harder

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on April 1, 2014
Posted in: Home, Training Tips. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

What role can a parent play during a fencing tournament to make their kid a champion?

– Clinton Rodell, Cadet Men’s Epee Junior Olympic Champion 2012 Photo: David Ruskin

 

Everyone knows that the harder you train, the better you become right? Well, in fencing it’s not always that simple.

In sports like running and swimming, you keep getting better by pushing your limits in practice. No matter what level you are at, this principle remains constant. The amount you improve is a function of the amount of work you put in. In fencing, after the first few years, the two aren’t necessarily as correlated.

The effort and grueling physical demands you put on yourself don’t mean as much if you don’t train right. What makes it even trickier is that frequently it’s not 100% clear as to what “right” really is for your fencing at a given time. You can do 5000 lunges every day, you can do hours of grueling footwork, but if you are not focusing on these improvements within the context of a larger, overall plan, you end up spinning your wheels, devoting hours of work but reaping less and less real improvement per hour spent training.

I heard a coach say one time that, “It’s easy to make and athlete. It’s hard to make a fencer.”

Take the lunging example for instance. After 5000 lunges, you will undoubtedly get stronger lunging muscles (after allowing yourself to recover of course). But you won’t have spent any of that time focusing on when to pull out that lunge and while the power and speed of that lunge is important, it’s not nearly as important as knowing exactly when to unleash it. You may have even been training yourself to resort to that lunge when you are tired.

Ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing in practice. Ask yourself how practicing whatever it is the way that you are directly builds into your overall fencing game.

Instead of pushing as hard as possible to do the same movements faster and with more repetitions, try to practice those movements smoother, or even differently. Try to get a feel for how you might actually implement those movements in a bout. Focus on smoothness or being able to respond in a specific tempo. Ask yourself if you really are ever going to be mindlessly running up and down the strip at full speed when you fence or if you would be better served focusing on ways to change speeds smoothly and manage the distance more efficiently.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the adage, “Work smarter, not harder.” Due to the insane number of mental and physical variables in fencing, this is especially true at the intermediate and advanced levels more than in other sports.

Of course, you need hard work if you are going to get yourself to the next level. It’s just important that you have a plan for how exactly you are going to practice to drive the specific improvements you want.

Work with your coach so that you have a clear set of objectives for each practice session and you will get much more out of it.

Let’s put it this way: If you want to improve, you have to train both smarter and harder.

If you liked the article, click here to like Jonathan’s Facebook Page , Jonathan Yergler (athlete), and here to follow his Twitter handle @yerglerj.

A Review of the Men’s Epee Field for the NCAA Championships 2014

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Home. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2014 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS – Men’s Epee (capsule preview)

jonathan yergler a 250 med

By Jonathan Yergler (Princeton ’13)

There is no fencing competition in the world quite like the NCAA Championships.

It’s hard enough to even get invited to the dance. Frequently, a few of the top fencers are eliminated at Regionals either by the cutthroat competition from other schools or by the relative success of their teammates (each school is allowed to send only two fencers per weapon, per gender). I narrowly snagged a spot from a few of my good friends and teammates each year I was at Princeton and even had to qualify through our region’s at-large spot in my 2012 individual championship run.

The NCAAs places all of the pressure of a team event onto the shoulders of a select few competitors in each weapon, with the title aspirations for some schools hinging on every single bout. It cuts the margin for error down to contentious five-touch bouts and forces the fencers up against the steepest competition they face on the college circuit all year. Just to make sure that a fencer can’t just get on a roll and ride one good day to victory, the competition is split across two days.

All it takes is one loss, one bad bout, to dash any competitor’s chances of competing in the final rounds. Every year, great fencers break under that pressure, losing their composure and falling apart over the course of the grueling 23 bout round-robin.

It’s not always the best fencer who wins this competition. NCAA tests fencers in ways that no other tournament does tactically, mentally and emotionally. My former teammate, Gram Wicas wrote an excellent piece for TheFencingCoachon some of the keys to success in this tournament that is worth a read.

Today I’m here to provide a little background on the fencers in this year’s NCAA Men’s Epee event. Let me start by saying that these are not my predictions. Almost any one of these guys could win the competition under the right circumstances and it will be fun to see how this all plays out in the always hotly contested men’s epee event. But I’ll leave such predictions to bolder and more foolhardy fencing writers than me. 😉

You never know, this information might be helpful when you are ranking the competitors for your Fantasy Fencing roster on fantasyfencing.net. If you haven’t already, you should check it out. It’s looking like it’s going to be a ton of fun!

Best of luck to all the fencers competing in the Championships this weekend! You earned your chance to become an NCAA champion. Take advantage of that opportunity!

Here we go …

Click here to read the full article on collegefencing360.com.

Fantasy Fencing 2014

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on March 12, 2014
Posted in: Home. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently taken on a new project with the help of my good friend and former Princeton roommate, Ed Kelley and his programming brilliance. This year we are going to make Fantasy Fencing a reality for the collegiate championships. You will be able to build a team from the list of competitors, then watch and cheer for your fencers when they compete in the live event March 20th-23rd, 2014.

Using an automated draft process, you will assemble a full 12 person team of your favorite fencers from the participants list to compete against other users to win the fantasy team title.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

Step 1: Go to fantasyfencing.net and sign in with your Facebook account. (Anyone can join)

Step 2:  Next, rank-order your favorite fencers in each of the 6 disciplines (ME, WE, MF, WF, MS, WS) by clicking and dragging them from one column to the other. You can rank as many or as few as you would like. (If your turn to draft comes and none of the fencers you ranked are available or you haven’t ranked any other fencers, the system will pick from the remaining pool of fencers at random).

Step 3: Submit your ranking preferences before the submission deadline. Once the submissions are closed, we will randomly assign a draft order and run a separate automated draft process for each discipline.

The person with the first pick will receive their top choice in that discipline as their first fencer. A second random draw will determine the draft order for the players’ second fencer. Each user will end up picking 2 fencers per discipline.

Each fencer will be available for draft selection n/12 times with n = the total number of fantasy players signed up. This way, every participant will be able to draft a full fantasy team of 12 fencers.

Step 4: After the draft process is complete (March 18th), you will receive an email notification that your team has been created. If you sign in at fantasyfencing.net, you can see your complete team and how your overall score ranks overall. You can view other players’ teams by clicking on them.

The results will be updated as the tournament progresses (at the very least after each day of the competition).

Step 5: Watch and cheer on your team! Scoring will work the same way as it does for the real life teams. 1 victory is worth 1 point. The team with the most points at the end of the competition wins!

We encourage you to discuss your personal rankings, your predictions, etc. on the new Facebook page for Fantasy Fencing and amongst yourselves. You can also tweet your thoughts to @FantasyFencing.

Step 6: Feedback! We want to hear what you thought. What did you like? What do you wish was different? What ideas do you have to improve Fantasy Fencing?

In our minds, this is only the beginning for Fantasy Fencing. We plan to take what we learn from this event to improve the fantasy game for next time. We plan to reevaluate the rules and add more capabilities to the site each year.

Like the Facebook page and follow the Twitter handle for future Fantasy Fencing updates and more!

In-Fighting: Earning the Gritty Touches

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on March 2, 2014
Posted in: Home. Tagged: , , , , , , . 9 Comments

I learned this drill while I was at Princeton and I believe that developing this part of my fencing may have been the single most significant way I improved in my time on the collegiate circuit.

Very rarely in fencing do your actions end up working perfectly, resulting in a perfect looking touch. Maybe the opponent responds in a way that is unexpected. Maybe the angle is just the slightest bit awkward. Maybe the opponent ends up a step ahead strategically and tricks you into leaving an opening. No matter what the exact cause is, fencers frequently get stuck in in-fighting situations where the distance is extremely close and neither fencer has their point aimed directly on the target. The situations are especially frequent in college fencing, where the competition is emotionally super-charged, many of the fencers are awkward/a-typical, and every scrappy touch means that much more since the bouts only go to 5.

In these “broken” situations, the fencer who is willing to fight hardest for that ugly touch will score the point 90% of the time. But the fencer also has to be ready for the situation and anticipate when they need to throw execution out the window to just focus on getting the tip onto the target as fast as possible. Since most fencers train and focus almost exclusively on building their technique and strategy with high technical standards, infighting is not usually the natural response for most fencers. The split second of hesitation/surprise that they experience when the distance quickly collapses to an in-fighting situation is enough to make the fencer lose the touch.

You would be surprised by how many touches come from these types of situations. Winning these exchanges easily can and frequently are the deciding factors in the bout.

The drill is incredibly simple but you will need a partner for it, preferably someone who you do not mind hitting kinda hard and possibly awkwardly. Do not try this with anything less than full protective gear on.

The fencers start with their front feet touching and their blades locked near each other’s bell guards. Try to vary the angle, line positioning of the blades from set to set.

Have a third party moderator give a starting signal. At which point, both fencers try to hit the each other with the pointy end before the other guy can.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

You can try pushing back on the opponent’s blade, sliding off of their blade in different directions, changing what target line you aim for, pulling back your arm, or even navigating the tip to the target by moving the blade behind your own head. Trying out all the different options can be a ton of fun. You will quickly start to find certain target areas and angles that are easier for you to hit from the different starting in-fighting positions.

Like with most fencing drills, you need to make sure that you are taking a long enough pause between sets.

You do not need to go through this drill for a particularly long time either. This is probably not a drill that you need to spend an entire practice on. In my experience, I have found it to be a particularly useful drill in small doses to help prepare you for infighting encounters. I couldn’t even begin to tell you the number of bouts I’ve won for no other reason than I was better prepared than my opponent for some gritty in-fighting.

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A Guide to Shadow Fencing

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on February 24, 2014
Posted in: Home, The Mental Game, Training Tips. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 8 Comments

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Shadow fencing can be an incredibly helpful drill if done properly. It also happens to be one of my personal favorites.

The practice is taken directly from shadowboxing and it works the same way. [Click here for a parallel guide to shadowboxing. The idea behind the drill is strikingly similar between the two sports]

All you need is some open space at your fencing gym. An empty strip is ideal but you want an area that is at least half of that distance. I find that headphones are particularly helpful for blocking out outside distractions.

The fencer moves up and down the strip, essentially fencing by himself. The trick is to visualize the opponent and respond to imagined situations.

It is an excellent way to practice executing your technique and coordination by making yourself go through the technical motions while focusing on the exact execution of the move and how it feels. If you repeat the same motions over and over again, you can build the movements into automatic responses (much like you do in a lesson) and develop the muscles involved for increased speed and power. By using shadow fencing properly you can take what you work on in a lesson and experiment with how to apply it to a real bout situation.

Shadow fencing is also the perfect forum to focus on developing a rhythm for how you move across the strip.  In this context you can really focus on the timing of how you move. Does your footwork feel smooth? Are you able to transfer your weight quickly to transition from a preparation to a finishing movement? Are you accelerating fast enough? Is your movement consistently falling into a predictable pattern? Are you staying in the same spot on the strip? All of these are great questions to ask yourself while you move to help you improve your understanding of the tempos for executing an action that are right for different situations.

Much like real fencing, you get the best return from shadow fencing if you go into it with a more nuanced mental approach rather than pure repetition and introspection. This is where the shadow comes into play. In this case, you are competing against your imagination. Who is your opponent? What are they trying to do to hit you? Are they trying to draw out your attack? Are they trying to set up an attack of their own? Are they over extending themselves? Are they accidentally leaving you a small opening? How patient are they being?

You have to juggle your own thoughts and strategy with your imaginary opponent’s strategy. You will get better at this with practice but if you want to make things a little easier on yourself, assign your opponent a single strategy at a time and focus on imagining that specific situation only. Now you can work on executing your physical actions within the imagined context and replay certain situations over and over again. Since the opponent is doing X, what do you need to do to create the opening you are looking for? Do you need to be more patient? More aggressive with the preparation? Experienced fencers will frequently be able to instinctively feel where they are making mistakes, when the action or mentally contrived situation just doesn’t feel right. Correct yourself and keep working. If possible it’s great to have your coach sit and watch. Sometimes they will pick up on subtle technical adjustments for the actions you are working on and help you correct them.

I find that it helps to have an explicit plan of the actions and situations you want to work on in your shadow fencing session before you start. These can be as broadly or narrowly defined as you would like. Write them down if you have to and then spend a few minutes focusing on each. It also helps to set specific time intervals you want to work on each for.

I would also recommend at least using your glove and weapon when you shadow fence. This will help you think about and drill the coordination between your blade and your footwork, which is crucial in a real bout.

The number of situations you can create for yourself is only limited by your imagination and the contrived context can be a much more interesting and rewarding way to do footwork. No other drill gives you the ability to repeat and calibrate so many different key mental and physical aspects of how you move.

The variety of benefits and customizable approaches that can be applied for each individual make shadow fencing one of my favorite fencing drills ever.

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Building a Game and a Game-Plan

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on January 30, 2014
Posted in: Home, The Mental Game, Training Tips. Tagged: , , , , , . 9 Comments

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I’m not too sure that many people understand these are two different things. But conceptualizing your fencing in terms of your “game” and your “game-plan” can help you get more value from your practices and formulate a better strategy in competition.

Even if they might succeed with a specific action or set of actions, far too many fencers (especially young juniors and cadets) have no real idea about why they are doing what they are doing. They take a lot of lessons which is great for instilling certain automatic responses to frequent situations, and they tend to have a concept about general strategy. For example, they might understand that they need to be patient or work to grab the opponent’s blade in a 6 bind to score a touch. However, because the fencer and/or the coach doesn’t conceptualize what they are doing in terms of synergy between their game and game-plan, it becomes that much harder for them to understand what’s really going on. As a result, when bout conditions change they are less effective at adapting their strategy than they could be.

Let me start by explaining what I mean by a “fencing game”.

When I talk about someone’s fencing game, I am referring to how they fence. Everyone approaches this part a little differently. Some coaches specialize in teaching a certain way of fencing to all of their students. Then (ideally) they adapt this approach to match their student’s strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. Other times a coach will build a new game from scratch that works for each specific fencer depending on their abilities.

Each fencer develops a way of fencing over time with the help of their coach whether they think of it this way or not. But to really understand how they fence requires both the fencer and the coach to understand and articulate precisely why he executes his movements a certain way. What advantages and disadvantages are there to fencing this way? What are the mistakes that the fencer is most likely to make with this approach?

For example, a fencer may be most comfortable in a stance where he has most of his weight positioned over his front foot. This could certainly be an excellent technical approach so long as this positioning is chosen by design and the fencer and coach understand the strengths and weaknesses of fencing this way. By positioning the body weight disproportionately over the front foot, the fencer can push off of that leg faster than someone in a more balanced position for a fleche attack our counter tempo action. This positioning can facilitate faster smoother transitions from a preparation to the final fleche while also pulling the leg and foot target more safely under the fencer. However, this weight distribution makes it harder to shift direction and move backwards if the fencer finds himself out of distance (in all likelihood they will need to lean their weight backwards at some point which takes additional time). The positioning also primes the fencer to extend to more of a low-line target than they otherwise would and makes it a bit more difficult to close off the high-line target area. If the fencer feels most comfortable in this leaned over body position and understands these strengths and weaknesses, he might build a fencing game that he can apply to any bout that is predicated on setting up that moment where he transitions from preparation to finish. To compensate for the weaknesses of the stance, he might decide situations where he is surprised and has to retreat while giving him the time and space necessary to take advantage of opportunities to utilize his quick transitions.

So, now that a fencer has his game, how does he develop it into a game-plan?

By having a clear understanding of the fencing game, you are establishing a baseline that frames your game-plan in individual bouts. Whereas your fencing game is your overall style and approach you bring to every bout, your game-plan is the adaptable strategy you mold to fit individual bouts and situations. For example, say that the opponent makes a change and you are getting hit on the same action you were successfully using before. This could be because of any number of variables and there are just as many possible ways you could change your game plan in the bout to try and turn it around.

By thinking of the problem in terms of your fencing game, you distill the number of options you need to consider to only the changes that fit within your game. Instead of having to mentally process the hundreds or different tactical & technical adjustments you could potentially make (or randomly thinking through a small subset based only on what comes to mind in that moment), you can focus exclusively on adjustments that are optimal within your already established fencing game.

Thinking of your game plan within the context of your game ensures that you make changes that still play to your strengths. Consider a fencer like the one I was describing earlier. He struggles to close out in the high line because his body position is leaned forward over his front foot. If he’s getting hit in the shoulder when he starts his preparation, changing his game plan to focus on taking a more pronounced 6 parry puts him in an uncomfortable position and might not work for him given his strengths and weaknesses. Forcing the actions to take place at a bigger distance would instead give him the necessary space to force the opponent’s blade into the low line instead. Changing the game plan this way is a better strategic fit for the fencer’s game.

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Turning Hubris & Doubt into Confidence & Humility: Balancing the Paradox in Fencing

Posted by Jonathan Yergler on January 16, 2014
Posted in: Home, The Mental Game. Tagged: , , , , , . 4 Comments

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Fencing requires you to be confident in that you have to believe you can succeed at everything you try to do.

If you don’t believe you will win, you won’t.

When you let doubt into your mind when you are trying to fence, it creates hesitation. Hesitation gives your opponent openings and keeps you from being able to take advantage of your opponent’s missteps.

You have to be confident in the preparation you have put into your fencing. You have to believe that you will be ready to respond to whatever your opponent is trying to do. You have to believe that you will be able to change your strategy when it needs to be changed. You have to believe that when you explode with your flesch attack, you will hit the target.

This can be a dangerous road to start traveling down. You don’t want to end up being that cocky kid at your club that thinks he is God’s fencing gift to humanity. First of all everyone hates that kid. Secondly, being over confident can blind you to your faults and make it that much harder to actually improve. Letting yourself become arrogant makes it harder to focus on the important details in the fencing and harder to make yourself put the necessary effort into bouts with people you think you are better than. As a result you will frequently lose to those same people.

Trying to balance the necessary amount of confidence and humility can be incredibly challenging. Having both would require you to look at yourself from two very different perspectives at the same time right?

Internalizing this basic truth in the sport has been working for me so far:

Anyone can beat anyone else in this sport.

Again, anyone can beat anyone else in this sport.

It’s part of what makes our sport and any sport so exciting. You can never be certain who will win in any given matchup on any given day. There have been some pretty crazy upsets in the history of sports. It’s this principle that made the Miracle on Ice possible and allowed a Hobbit to destroy the One Ring of Power and obliterate the manifestation of absolute evil in Middle Earth…. (alas I digress)

There are just so many variables that determine the outcome of each touch in a fencing bout and each of those touches influence each other according to more variables, affecting the outcome of the bout. How often do the best in our sport actually go all the way in a tournament? Former Olympic champions frequently lose early in the competition. In fact this tends to happen more often than the times when they win the whole thing.

Understand that the 50 year old lady at your club actually can beat you. It is definitively in the realm of possibility and you are deceiving yourself if you think otherwise. If you are not careful, you can and often will lose to fencers you are “better” than. Come to terms with this fact and internalize it. This should help you realize the humility necessary to counter-balance confidence.

But the inverse is also true. You can beat any fencer you come up against, no matter what name is on the back of the jacket. It is definitively in the realm of possibility. Remember that no matter how small it is, you always have a chance to come away with the W. But you also need to recognize that it is just that, a chance. You have to pour everything you have in terms of effort and focus to be ready to take advantage of that chance when it arises. Internalizing the notion that there is always a chance to come away with the victory can help you build the confidence you need to take advantage of that chance.

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