Fencing and Dedication to the Art

Greetings, In all our endeavours we must sit back and have a look at where we are going and where we want to go. It is the same with fencing, and it doesn't matter which form of fencing you are talking about. We need to have a look at our motivations and where we want to go, but also what this will require of us as students. One of the questions that is raised here is our level of dedication to the Art. This blog will address this particular facet of the Art that we have all chosen to pursue and ask just how dedicated we really are to it. The Spirit of Fencing is something that we must ask ourselves whether we have or not. This is about whether the Art is within us and has been made a part of us or whether it is just another pastime that we do. This encompasses many questions that we must ask ourselves whether or not the spirit of fencing is within us or not. Is fencing to you just another game or is it something else? Could you just as well be playing tennis? This is an important question as it tells us just how far we are willing to go with what we are doing. This also questions the level of thinking we have toward fencing, is it just something that we like doing or something that is more important to us than that? If we are truly dedicated to the Art then nothing will be able to take its place, and nothing will fill the hole that is left by the absence of fencing. For those who are truly dedicated to what they are doing fencing is something that cannot be put down and picked up, it must be held on to and utilised and followed. Next we have the question of needs and wants. Do you want to fence, or do you need to fence? There is a distinct difference between the two. A person who merely wants to fence is stating that it is something which is not really necessary to them, a person who needs to fence is stating that it is something that they cannot do without. In order to be dedicated to fencing you have to need to fence. It has to be so much a part of what you are and what you do that its absence is felt in a very deep manner. This will determine your willingness to go out of your way in order to do things to enhance your fencing, and follow the path you have chosen. We need to have a close look at the actual fencing that we do, and how we achieve the end that we seek. Winning is nice and is something which should be considered, but you need to ask yourself if the final result is more important than how you got there. Is it better to win by any means necessary, or is it better to stick to our form and win using skill and style? This is a question of dedication to what we are doing. Learning to fence is hard and winning by the use of pure skills and techniques looks hard in the beginning, but it will improve your fencing overall. Only a fencer who is dedicated to what they are doing will spend the time to ensure that they win using skill and not brute force or some trick. This leads well into the subject of learning and how important it is to the process and our level of dedication to the art. Learning is important to progressing in the Art, and it is something that we need to be dedicated to in order to progress fully. It is important that we must always be learning in order to progress, and learning in order to improve our fencing. The only way to progress is to keep learning, while this can be a more difficult process as we progress in skill, there is always something new to learn and dedication to this process must be made if we truly want to excel in out Art. It is important that we take the opportunity to learn from anyone who is willing to teach us something, a different point of view is always useful. This is the case even across the various disciplines, and this should not be underestimated. Even our students can teach us something, even if it is just a different point of view. This learning process does take dedication, and remembering why we are there and what we are doing. Progression is important and the amount of progression in a period of time is actually irrelevant. We must be dedicated to progression in order to progress. If we are not we stagnate. Progression itself needs dedication also in order to be able to push us past those times where the progression is hard. Everyone hits plateaus in their progression, in fencing, in music, and in most pursuits. It is important to stay dedicated and work through this particular phase in order to progress. The progression may seem slow at these times, but it is important that we stick with the process. With regard to plateaus it will be noted that the early stages the plateaus are infrequent and short, as we progress and our skill level increases, these plateaus will become more frequent and longer. We must be dedicated enough to push through these periods in order to continue to progress. This will take a great deal of time and patience. In the question of measuring progression there are different approaches. One is a physical evaluation based upon wins and results of encounters, the other is a more internal process which is based upon the increase of knowledge and its expression. The first one is what often drives sport fencers and those who are more interested in winning than the pursuit of the Art. The second gives a much broader playing field and progression can be noted in the form of the skill presented and the ability of the fencer to achieve their goal through the use of their skills. This enables the fencer to see progression in different places, from the performance of a skill against an opponent, to the realisation of a concept or the application of a piece of fencing theory. The measurement of success and progression is important. ....

The rest of this article can be found in Un-Blogged: A Fencer's Ramblings by Henry Walker, which is available in paperback from:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blogged-Ramblings-Henry-Leigh-Walker/dp/098764470X
Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/un-blogged-henry-leigh-walker/book/9780987644701.html
Among other places...

It is also available in electronic format (pdf) from: https://buy.stripe.com/fZecP419c7CB9VKeUV

... or direct from the author.