Fence Like Wile E. Coyote

 

Greetings,

The most important thing that a fencer can do is fill themselves with fortitude and strength, because the path that they have chosen is not going to be easy. From this perspective there are lessons that can be learned from the character of Wile E. Coyote and his struggle to catch the elusive Road Runner. It is necessary to look within ourselves to find the strength to carry on.

Anyone who has seen animations involving Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner will have seen him use ever more extravagant devices to gain an edge to catch the Road Runner. These devices most often result in him getting blown up, or falling off a cliff, or some other end, clearly not catching the Road Runner. These chases are amusing and many of us have watched and been amused by his antics, but there is something to learn from him. He never quits. He is back in the next frame chasing his prey again. We should be the same in the pursuit of our Art, never quitting. (You can forget about the extravagant devices they won't help you either.)

Looking deeper into the subject, it can be seen that in his long career there is only a single instance where the coyote manages to catch the Roadrunner.[1] He manages to catch his prey once, in the many years of trying; once in so many attempts. This shows much grit and determination, and even then he does not get his prize. One could claim that this is a pointless struggle and he should give up, of course this would ruin the premise of the cartoon. Such would be the approach seen in the Wisdom of Silenus.

 

“There is an old saying to the effect that King Midas for a long time hunted the wise Silenus, the companion of Dionysus, in the forests, without catching him. When Silenus finally fell into the king's hands, the king asked what was the best thing of all for men, the very finest. The daemon remained silent, motionless and inflexible, until, compelled by the king, he finally broke out into shrill laughter and said, 'Suffering creature, born for a day, child of accident and toil, why are you forcing me to say what is the most unpleasant thing for you to hear? The very best thing for you is totally unreachable: not to have been born, not to exist, to be nothing. The second best thing for you, however, is this: to die soon.'”[2]  

 

According to Silenus the best thing for man is to never be born, because he will never reach his goal. So the next best thing is to die soon. Related to the current discussion of the fencer, the best thing would be to never start fencing because a fencer will never learn all there is to learn and never perfect all the techniques that are possible, the next best thing is to quit soon. Needless to say, this is not an approach which is presented here.

Conversely, the fencer should rejoice that they can never learn everything, because it means that there will always be something to learn. They should be happy that they can never perfect all of their skills, because it means that they can always learn and always keep practicing. Rather than a negative, the Wisdom of Silenus, for the fencer should be seen as a boon.

There will be times in your fencing career where things will not go your way. There will be times where you feel that you are going nowhere. There are explanations for this. Often you do not notice when you are improving because you are basing this on those around you, rather than your previous self. Likewise in learning and improvement, everyone reaches plateaus. The better a fencer gets, the longer they will be and more often they will occur.

The essential thing is to keep going with what you are doing. Do what Wile E. Coyote has been doing for the past 70-odd years, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and have another go. No need to call Acme and get the Rocket Skates, or other devices, they will not really help with your fencing.

Cheers,

Henry.

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[1] https://retroist.com/does-wile-e-coyote-ever-catch-the-roadrunner/#:~:text=The%20answer%20is%20yes!,mean%20he%20got%20a%20meal.

[2] Nietzche, F. (2003) The Birth of Tragedy, Blackmask Online (http://www.blackmask.com), Translated by Ian C. Johnston, para.3