Taking a Hold of Your Training

Greetings, There is a time in each person's fencing career when they need to take a hold of their own training. What this means is that the fencer needs to take hold of the direction in which the training goes. This blog is designed to address this particular concept and present some ideas about how each fencer can take a hold of their own training and thus push it in a direction which interests them. The first thing that each fencer needs to realise is that training is actually a very personal thing and that the fencer is the real person who gets benefit out of training. Sure, the teacher or coach may get some satisfaction out of the progress made by the student, but in the end it is really up to the student. This is the most important thing and the reason why eventually each fencer needs to take ownership of their own training and give it some personal direction. To begin with the teacher supplies the direction because the fencer does not understand those skills that he or she will require. In this particular element the teacher will supply the basic elements of training and through such the basic skills which are required of the fencer. Once these basics have been learnt then the fencer needs to have some idea about where they want to go after the basics. The new direction will always be based on the basic skills which the fencer has learnt, but will tend to go in a direction different and more personal than previously. There are many different directions that the training can go once the basics have been learnt. For the more Renaissance oriented fencer there is the question of whether a particular school or nationality will be the focus. Or the fencer may focus toward a particular skill-set or weapon combination. Or the fencer may even decide that a particular manual may be their focus. Each one of these gives different options for the fencer and gives a slightly different direction. The important thing in this particular situation is that the fencer has to choose the direction. The teacher may suggest or encourage, but in the end it is the fencer's decision. For the fencer who is primarily training alone the taking a hold of training has to happen a lot sooner. Firstly this is because it is only the fencer who can really motivate himself in order to do the training in the first place. In this particular situation there really is no teacher or coach that can give the direction for the fencer. Other teachers or fencers may supply suggestions, but in the end it is all up to the fencer. In this particular situation the fencer needs to decide where he is going and what to work on next as there is no one else to supply the plan of where to go. In order to continue to progress the fencer requires some sort of direction. Even if that direction is merely to improve the skills that he has already, still this is a direction. The best direction for a fencer to go in is one which the fencer is self-motivated to go in. The teacher can supply ideas and encouragement, but in the end the fencer must make the decision and then stick to it. This requires the fencer to have the motivation to start and ....

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.