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- Herausgeber: Books on Demand
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
"How to fence Epee - The fantastic 4 method" is an explanatory concentration method to perfect his practice of fencing. It is the fruit of a reflection on several years of practice of epee fencing in competition at the highest level. A practical manual to help those who read it: - to understand the game via an innovative approach - to improve their competitive practice. This method is meant to be didactic, rational and adapted to all types of games. Rediscover fencing through a method designed to make you progress.
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Seitenzahl: 131
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
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How to Fence Epee
The Fantastic 4 Method 1
- Clément SCHREPFER -
Translated from the French by Brendan Robertson
1 Original title : “Faire de l’épée - La méthode des 4 fantastiques”
For Roland.
I hope that this method will help you progress in your pursuit of epee fencing, good luck!
Clément
www.fairedelepee.fr / www.howtofenceepee.com - 2015
For Matt,
Thanks for your unwavering energy to train, learn, laugh, and compete with me!
Brendan
Preface
Quarte, sixte, septime, liement, redoublement, passata di sotto…fencing vocabulary that haunts all written works of our sport and feared by all but the truly initiated.
Every four years, for the French, fencing is a sport much discussed as a discipline that always earns medals (except London 2012)!!!
After London things changed in France. We tried to understand the reasons for the lack of success. Many who lived through this failure have undertaken personal initiatives to correct the mistake.
I believe this has helped Clément to embark on this writing adventure; to synthesize his personal vision of fencing and to share it to further our collective knowledge. We need this to democratize our sport, to make it more accessible and understandable to all.
All books on fencing focus on technique which is a very narrow focus for our sport.
This book looks at fencing in another way, from that of an enthusiast, a fencer who has lived in the world of fencing for over 20 years and who has acquired exceptional experience. Through this book you will be able to understand the real challenges faced by fencers of all levels. All fencers, from beginner to high level competitors, will find tools and tips in these pages to make real improvements.
The way in which Clément explains his vision of fencing, and in particular epee, is completely revolutionary! Until now, no one had made such a highly theoretical subject so accessible2.
The actors in the world of fencing are rarely unanimous when it comes to certain issues and this author’s position will, hopefully, generate debate that will expand the vision of our sport.
This is possible because he explains fencing from the vantage of the athlete and not the educator. This is very important for us, the coaches and maîtres d’armes, to understand how athletes see our sport.
He breaks some myths but I'm a fan of this book because it summarizes the problems our current elite athletes face.
Throughout this book we discover stories, little "somethings extra", that are very useful and easily understandable by all. What’s more, the use of logos for the Fantastic 4 is an innovative educational tool for this sport that I find very apposite.
I personally thank Clément for giving us the bounty of his experience and his thoughts about subjects that are important to all and to having presented us a new way to examine them.
Thank you for your innovative spirit and happy reading to all.
Hugues OBRY
2 It must be noted that most of the practical writings on fencing were written by former maîtres d’armes and date back more than 40 years.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE
Over my years of fencing I have had some wonderful maîtres d’armes starting with Zbignew Pietrusinski and, for the last 21 years my dear friend Jerzy Kajrenius. And recently, I have also had wonderful mentors such as maîtres Victor and Igor Gantsevich and Éric Boisse who have deepened my understanding of the game. These men have helped shaped me as both an athlete and a coach. For the last 19 years I have been living in my small home town of Vernon in the interior of British Columbia running my small team of eager athletes based out of the elementary school where I am a teacher.
Even as an athlete and a coach in a small town I have been able to maintain Shoshin, or the spirit of the beginner3. I am always looking to improve myself, to learn. When I am not learning from my coaches and mentors (who live, sadly, far away) I work closely with my training and coaching partner, Matt Clarke. I also scour the internet, I watch videos, and I buy and read books.
I read a lot of books.
This past year when surfing the net, I found a link to The Fantastic 4 book release. The colourful icons on the cover intrigued me, and since I read whatever I can, I got out my credit card and had one shipped over to Canada.
Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down. The book is filled with the lessons I have learned over the years but, unlike learning fencing over more than two decades, and unlike any other fencing book I have ever read, this one codified it in a way and in one place that was easy to understand, easy to remember, and easier to put into practice (those colourful icons on the cover really help - trust me, I am a teacher). In short, it is the perfect book on epee fencing. As Hugues said, it’s revolutionary.
I immediately started training my fencers through the paradigm of the Fantastic 4 and I quickly saw improvements. My athletes have found it a boon as a way to think tactically when fencing and we have medals at major competitions to show for it.
It is a great way to teach tactics for epee fencing as you can differentiate your explanation depending on the level of experience of your fencers. I have been using it with beginner and seasoned fencers. I have the icons in my gym so that I can refer to them constantly and my athletes use them to explain their game plans and understanding of epee fencing through the paradigm of the Fantastic 4. All agree - it works!
Most of my fencers speak French but some do not. This was one of the impetuses to translate the Fantastic 4 to English. Another was to bring this excellent treatise on the epee to the masses as it deserves to be shared with all. I hope you find this method as fantastic as I have.
Happy reading!
Brendan Robertson
3 See the chapter on mental training.
CONTENTS
Introduction
It has been 22 years since I discovered fencing and I have been competing just about as long. During these years I have trained from 2 to 6 times per week. I have not left my first club and have been under to tutelage of 8 different maîtres d’armes. I was able to fence at a high level and even had modest results4. Naturally, I went through ups and downs.
During all these years, I have been motivated to fence by my desire to improve, to learn more while having a good time with my friends in training and in competition.
Over the years, and more recently, I have come to realize that it is possible to explain fencing "in simple terms". I am not talking about explaining the rules, but rather to explain the fencing actions that have a positive effect (or not) and from this to derive a kind of "applicable concentration method" adapted to all fencing situations.
I can talk extensively with my training partners. But, to better help fencers who wish to improve (they know who they are), I had the idea of writing this manual to show in detail the totality of my understanding of how to fence epee. The result is in your hands. I will show you efficient solutions to real fencing problems through evidence-based examples.
Not that my purpose here is to tell my life story but it all began more than 10 years ago thanks to Laurent L. who, after seeing me lose miserably in the first round, gave me this good advice:
"It is obvious that you have some pretty good skills as a fencer but you just don’t know what to do… You should write down your feelings when you are on your game and when you are not. Then, you can deduce a list of the important points to keep in mind so you don’t get so divided between concentration and action"5
I thought I would give it a try. I never thought it would lead to such a broad conclusion as the one I will present to you below.
Of course, this is my vision of how to fence epee, and there are many others. I do not denigrate the importance of the elements or the more technical visions that show proper execution of technique, for many books already published show these better than I could. I therefore voluntarily skip this aspect of fencing to focus my discourse on this "new method/vision".
This new vision has the advantage of being adaptable to all fencing styles, because it is designed to bring out the best qualities of each individual fencer. It is an armature that forms the support on which you hang your technical and tactical skills. It allows you to progress in your understanding of the game by presenting, in a logical manner, the basic principles of good swordplay (and, by extension, of all individual combat sports).
Here I share my knowledge with no other pretension than to try to help you in your understanding of the mechanisms of efficiency (not performance) of epee fencing. I like to think that this vision is not far removed from the reality of the highest level of fencing and with this ensemble of knowledge you can be more effective and fulfilled in your practice.
Here is a distilled selection of advice that we "do not learn in school" (or we learn without really understanding the importance).
Before addressing the "Fantastic 4"—the condensed results of my "method" of fencing epee, I must explain the base on which it has been built.
Throughout my explanation, I add small "somethings extra" and at the end of each chapter I sum up the main points to remember so that my ideas are even more understandable.
Happy Reading!
4 Team France for Juniors for the 2003 European Championships (then no. 8 in the FIE world ranking).
5 More or less. I don’t remember it word for word…
Chapter 1: The Fundamentals
Throughout my explanation, I will endeavour to answer the simple question: "Why?"
Since we are not sheep and since it is always important to know what we are aiming to learn, even (and especially) in fencing, my approach will be explanatory and educational in its approach.
The idea is, in this first chapter, to look at the foundations on which the Fantastic 4 method is based. I will not over insist on these points, but they still have great importance for the application and understanding of this method. The basics: it’s fundamental!
So, in this chapter we will discuss three basic aspects of good fencing:
Technique
Physical Training
Mental Training
I do not mean by "basic" that these points are easy to learn and perform but that they must be part of your practice, so integrated that they become natural—to be a foundation on which to build, eventually, a more elaborate game with the Fantastic 4.
1. TECHNIQUE
Technique in fencing? That’s a lot to learn!
Technique is, since the beginning of the codification of sports, the essence of all sports. Fencing, quite obviously, has not escaped this rule. The evolution from duels to the modern sport of fencing has resulted in a multitude of specific movements whose principles and terminology are the foundation of the teaching of our sport.
"Quarte, sixte, lunge, retraite, tierce… "none of that here. These are words from our common fencing vocabulary and everyone can define it as they wish. However, to "speak the same language," I'll explain here what should be, in my opinion, part of your natural technical background in three points:
En Garde Position
Footwork
The Strokes
EN GARDE POSITION
It may seem awfully basic but a good en garde position is essential to perform the widest possible technical array.
What do I mean by "a good en garde position"?
Legs
: are to be flexed and balanced, while tilting the pelvis flat in order to stand straight.
Arm
: the hand should be in sixte, with shoulders relaxed while keeping the point in line.
Awfully basic you say? Indeed, all this seems obvious to seasoned fencers. But before we move on, and because otherwise it would just be too easy, let me explain why I find this so important.
THE LEGS
> flatten the pelvis and stand straight
What does this mean?
Have both legs bent and try to tilt the pelvis
6
forward (which has the effect of "sitting" position).
Engage your core muscles (abdominal and back).
WHY?
Being balanced on our legs, we are able to easily go forward or backward.
Having the back leg bent, we can better push forward to "jump" on our opponent (you cannot jump while standing, ed).
By standing straight and "sitting" on our legs, the weapon arm/shoulder movements are freer, including "extending the hand" during arm extension.
Don’t worry, we will explain these points throughout the book.
THE WEAPON ARM
> Keep the hand in sixte with the arm bent and keep the point in line.
What does this mean?
hold the hand in a slightly supinated position
7
;
have a relaxed shoulder;
have the hand and point aligned towards the opponent
It is important to keep the point of your weapon in this position without moving the hand. To not move the hand means that you must hold the same line as much as possible, without reacting to your opponent’s threats and false invitations and to always know where the point of your weapon is aiming.
WHY?
By remaining in line you reduce the distance to the target. Your point threatens your opponent by being on the lookout for scoring opportunities.
By holding this hand position, we naturally protect ourselves and force the opponent to go around our guard (and thus make him lose his strong position).
By having the weapon arm bent, one can extend and thus surprise the opponent (whereas a half-bent arm doesn’t have the same element of surprise when attacking).
