Greetings,
The meme of moving slow and learning fast is one which has been around for ages. For the most part it is a principle which I like and can easily relate to, however I will be presenting this idea from a slightly different point of view as my main focus will be fencing. Odd? A little in some ways, but as will be demonstrated below, the slow movement principle applies more to the use of the sword than many would think.
Fencing for the most part is a quick, energetic form of combat or sport, depending on what your weapon is. This means that the actions are quick and precise. With this in mind, for some, it will be difficult to understand how practicing actions slowly will help them progress when in the end they are going to have to perform the same actions at speed. This is something which you will find will come from the greener students for the most part, but some advanced students as well.
In the SCA, the heavy combatants, i.e. fully-armoured combatants use what is know as "quarter-speed" this is slow movement of the weapon and body in order for warming up for the most part and also for practice without armour. Essentially this is moving at a slow speed where both combatants can see the weapons moving and thus there is a less likelihood of injury even when not wearing any armour. This same technique, or something like it can also be applied to fencing.
The use of slow work allows us to see the body and weapon moving. This is something which is much more difficult to see at full-speed when bouting. What this means is that the combatant and any ...
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.
About Me
- Henry Walker
- Either an author who fences, or a fencer who tends to write a lot. I found a passion for writing first, then I found fencing. I also found that the pen and the sword work very well together. The pen may be mightier than the sword but together they are much greater.
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