foil blade
Tony suggested to me to enjoy being hit, so I could focus on thinking thru the blade actions. Every time he asked me what happen in an action, I could not say, as my mind was stressed on protecting myself from being hit.
What I needed to learn is to have control of the blade and to feel thru the blade what the opponent is doing in order to develop my moves. That awareness, plus a ready mind to apply the right speed and action would make me a better fencer. So let the opponent hit (fail), and focus on control and awareness, and learn. As I watch the more experienced folks, their actions are more crisp, not out to score a hit or avoid being hit. They spend their time on thinking thru the actions, faints, deceives, parries, ripostes… I see this mode of learning more with foil than sabre.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Waiming Mok
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