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ScratchAndSniff posted:I have had good luck with clubs, but at one point I taught in what I believe is the Worst Club in America. It had a bunch of warning signs I stupidly ignored for too long, since they were paying me. Make sure you run away if you see: Holy poo poo, I would run away from any fencing clubs that had people fencing without facemasks, that just seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Pretty much any fencing club should have enough facemasks to cover any new people, and if they're short on facemasks they should share them around. Same for fencing jackets. That should be included in their fees. Fencing isn't exactly unique in being stuck in sketchy places. Most martial art places need lots of room to practice, so they tend to be in places where the rent is cheap, so sketchy neighborhoods. There's a Capoeira/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym at my local sad corner market, in between the Hallal market, and cheap cigarettes, plus a cash for gold place and a korean nail salon. thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 09:52
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I'll spare you the details of how I ended up at Crappy School of Fencing (not actual name) and why it was a terrible place to work, instead focusing on why it was a terrible place to learn. I had been trained elsewhere, but after moving to the area and fencing in the place for just a few months (free fencing, no lessons), I found myself being offered a job as a coach (which was way easier than it should have been). Their curriculum was crap, by the way. They had like 4 days of instruction spread out over 8 classes. They did this with "lecture days" where the coach bored students to death with history and stories about fencing. I can agree to disagree on their curriculum, but when students actually went to fence the equipment was horrible. I got to the point where I needed to personally pick out masks and blades for students, since the masks had broken bits which would scratch peoples' heads, and a lot of the blades had rubber points which had worn through, exposing the metal blade underneath. Some of the masks had little holes in the mesh, were just too small to let a blade through, but just big enough that I wouldn't trust them to stop a solid hit. Most of the jackets were all XXL, of course, which was great for the fatties, but in kids needed to race each other to get at the ones which actually fit them. Did I mention the classes were about 30 students each, with ages varying from 6 to 60? At the end of my first class, a student had a question about footwork. I showed him how to hold his feet correctly and recommended he practice in front of the mirror to get it right. Head Coach apparently overheard me, and called me into his office after the students had departed. He then proceeded to scream at me for: 1. Giving out free instruction outside of the class period 2. Assigning homework to students. 3. Departing from the curriculum. This became a pattern with the head coach: He had minimal contact with the students, and he clearly felt that his job was to watch classes and yell at subordinates for how they ran their classes. His motto was "Your job is not to teach fencing. Your job is to sell classes." He yelled at me on numerous occasions for not adequately describing how much students would enjoy the next level of classes, and he discouraged making any corrections to their technique during the intro classes, since that might make them think they weren't good enough for the next level. (A coach should ALWAYS be correcting students' technique, especially at the early stages). I always felt like a used car salesman more than a teacher. He tended to gauge the coaches' success not by how many students kept coming, but rather by the force they used to sell the next level. The "next level", by the way, involved a year-long commitment to the club, and the requirement that students buy their own equipment, from the club's store, which charged about double what students could find the equipment for online. Coaches were forbidden from even acknowledging the existence of online retailers. This rule was relaxed for the more competitive fencers, who figured out on their own that they could buy the stuff online, but coaches were still not allowed to help them with their equipment options. Needless to say, most students quit fencing or went elsewhere their year was up, but by that point the club had made enough money from them that it didn't even matter. The place marketed like mad and it was in a relatively upscale area, so we always had new students. Later in my time there, I was called in on a weekend to "fill in for another coach." I found out after I got there that "filling in" meant giving a series of private lessons the coach had scheduled with his students who I had never met before. These lessons were about 20 minutes long, so by the time I had gotten a feel for where the student was, the lessons were over. A lot of coaches will give students their first lesson for free, just so they can get a feel for each other. Considering how much the club charged for these private lessons, and the fact that these students had scheduled the lessons with their coach who knew them, I felt like I was ripping them off. At one point, we had a visiting coach from abroad. He was a pretty cool guy, but he had a habit of giving students lessons maskless. He said it helped them concentrate, or something. He must have had a lot of trust in these American kids he had never met before, though, since one wrong move could have taken out his eye. After he left, I was horrified to see that these same kids decided practicing without masks was hardcore, and they thought it was a funny thing to do it whenever their teacher wasn't looking. I was there for free fencing at the time, but I immediately jumped in and started yelling at them. When the coach noticed what had happened he thanked me for jumping in, but shortly after I was called into the head coach's office where he yelled at me for "undermining the authority of other coaches." I will always regret not quitting right there and then. I was right for jumping in, and I should have never remained in a place which had that kind of disregard for its children's safety. The straw that broke the camel's back was when someone had an idea to invite two local politicians to the club to have a "fence off" for mutual publicity. It sounded like a great idea at first, but the head coach decided it would be an even better idea if it was just the Republican who came and gave a speech about how much he supports local small businesses. I heard they eventually made it happen, but I have no idea how it actually turned out. I had been looking for an excuse to quit by that point, so I was gone before it actually was supposed to happen. (If you have been to this club, you may be able to guess which one it is. Please don't, though, since I wouldn't want you to guess wrong and have me unintentionally slander a place I have never been to.)
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Jan 21, 2015 18:23
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A long time ago I trained in epee for about 2 years in this place: http://www.espoonmiekkailijat.fi Itīs a good club, but, like the School of European Swordsmanship it is in a bit of a strange place. It's in a massive nuclear fallout shelter, tunneled into the bedrock under the town of Tapiola. The place is huge enough to house the fencing club, a table tennis societ, an archery club, a gym, a place for training gymnastics (complete with a pool filled with cubes of foam) and who knows what else, those are the areas that I have actually seen. For some reason fencing clubs here tend to end up in really odd places.
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Jan 21, 2015 23:19
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Here's a question which I hope isn't too rude. In general, how fit are fencers? I'm asking because the last club I went to (as a beginner) had a very strange number of people with... odd body shapes. Most of them were either thin/lanky teenagers, or older men with beer guts (or some sort of disproportionate lumps). There were maybe two or three adults with athletic bodies. The coaches didn't look too fit. Is this normal for many advanced, non-competitive fencers? Or is this an early warning signal to look for a different club?
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Jan 22, 2015 07:10
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Scratch, are you in the east or west coast? Just curious if I could guess at the club, even though it's highly unlikely of course..Tsunemori posted:Here's a question which I hope isn't too rude. You just described every epee fencer I have ever met. Except for the age part, age has no bearing on body type, except the older are more likely to have beer guts.
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Jan 22, 2015 09:02
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Tsunemori posted:Here's a question which I hope isn't too rude. Strength isn't a big thing in fencing, so the lanky guys can get by provided they have a decent level of fitness. If you have correct technique, it is straight up impossible for a stronger opponent to win by overpowering you with sheer strength. You can also make up for not being in perfect shape by being experienced, cunning and skilful with your hands, which is where the beer guts come in. That said, I also know a few people who, despite having the aforementioned body shapes, are actually pretty fit. One of the better epeeists at my old club was a bit barrel-bodied, but he had more endurance than most of us on the piste. One thing you will get with fencing, though, is awesome thighs. Probably the same with kendo, too, come to think of it. I'm pretty weedy myself, but I can squat and lunge a lot. There is still no real substitute for being in good shape, though, so at higher levels you'll see lots of people with really massive thighs. Crazy Achmed fucked around with this message at 11:18 on Jan 22, 2015 |
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Jan 22, 2015 11:08
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Tsunemori posted:Here's a question which I hope isn't too rude. I would say that having that many older fencers around kind of means it's probably not a scam. If that many old school fencers are happy hanging around, it can't be too big of a scam. Fencing is a bit weird, where skill and practice can compensate a hell of a lot for being slightly out of shape. Just because the older fencers have beer guts doesn't preclude them from having fast reflexes, better footwork than you, and probably know what you're going to do before you do. As a general rule, people quit sports they suck at, and stick with sports where they win more often than not. The over 40 fencing crowd is no different. You've been fencing for 6 months, how quaint. They've been fencing for 20 years, and will happily school you on how it's done if you challenge them to a duel. To me that's kind of the fun part of fencing. A 19-year old Adonis can dominate at fencing, but only so much. thrakkorzog fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Jan 22, 2015 |
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Jan 22, 2015 12:09
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thrakkorzog posted:To me that's kind of the fun part of fencing. A 19-year old Adonis can dominate at fencing, but only so much. Alex Massialas was on the senior world championship team at 15. Race Imboden was taking golds at Div1 NACs and medaling at World Cups at 16. Tsunemori posted:Is this normal for many advanced, non-competitive fencers? Or is this an early warning signal to look for a different club? It's like you said - they're non-competitive. They're fencing to have fun, socialize, and enjoy themselves, maybe hitting up local tournaments a few times a year to get knocked out early but hang out with their buds after. They don't see a need to run daily and lift to supplement their fencing, because they're having a great time doing their own thing.
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Jan 22, 2015 14:48
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BirdOfPlay posted:Scratch, are you in the east or west coast? Just curious if I could guess at the club, even though it's highly unlikely of course.. East coast, but no more hints. You probably could guess the club if you have ever lived in the area. Lots of fencers are in terrible shape. It's decent exercise, but even doing it every day won't make you swole. That being said, it's a great gateway exercise for otherwise inactive people who want to get off the couch.
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Jan 22, 2015 22:36
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ScratchAndSniff posted:Lots of fencers are in terrible shape. It's decent exercise, but even doing it every day won't make you swole. That being said, it's a great gateway exercise for otherwise inactive people who want to get off the couch. Yeah, do 100 lunges and you will definitely feel it. If you're good at timing and measure, you can do OK while still being an average goon. But yeah those who are athletic will definitely have an advantage.
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Jan 22, 2015 23:01
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I fenced for ages. My sister is a former olympic athlete. Competitive fencing is hard on the body, bros. It's very high impact, and you probably don't realize how high impact it is on the shoulder. Until you have a motherfucking torn labrum. I disagree that strength isn't a big deal in fencing, unless your doing it just recreationaly. But I guess that's like any sport. If you're just playing for the activity, who cares how fit or strong you are in tennis, basketball or soccer. While my sister was training for the olympics, she spent months internationally at training camps, between world cups.
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Jan 23, 2015 05:25
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Gadamer posted:Alex Massialas was on the senior world championship team at 15. Race Imboden was taking golds at Div1 NACs and medaling at World Cups at 16. I meant that a noob in good shape would have a hard time against even a casual fencer in not so great shape. Alex Massialas started fencing at 7 years old and his dad is an former Olympic fencer, turned Olympic fencing coach. Eight years of being coached by an Olympic level coach is more than most starting fencers can expect. Similarly, Race was coached by two former Olympic fencers for several years. I don't say that to diminish their accomplishments, but they weren't exactly normal starting fencers. I guess I can be thankful that it's mostly just fencers interested in fencing, so Olympic level fencing isn't as bad for kids as say gymnastics or swimming.
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Jan 23, 2015 10:47
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Just be Italian and you are automatically a brilliant foilist 
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Jan 26, 2015 04:49
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I just went to my first session for this year - we just warmed into it with some free bouting, my legs feel surprisingly good today. The foilists at my blog seem to have an irrational fear of epee, I must find a way to fix this. Anyway, I have a question: what are the main differences between the French, German and Hungarian styles of fencing foil? I've been told that the Hungarians tend to have a low blade angle when en garde, the Germans have their tips much higher in the air, and the French are somewhere in between. How true is this, and what's the point of these differences? I'm guessing that lower blade angles mean that your point is on target more often tan not, but there must be more to it than that.
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Jan 27, 2015 04:14
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Crazy Achmed posted:I just went to my first session for this year - we just warmed into it with some free bouting, my legs feel surprisingly good today. This isn't really a thing anymore. Back in the day when you were, say, only training in Naples, and you mainly competed in Naples, and had limited exposure to fencers from outside of Naples, yes, you were expected to parry in first and second. When you fenced someone from Budapest, they would parry in three, four and five. Today this isn't the case outside of beginner fencers, because exposure to different styles (alternatively different skill levels), you either evolve past what you were taught in those first few months, or you never make it very far. Coaches are also fairly transient, further hindering the ability for one area to foster a specific kind of (effective) style that you won't see emulated outside of there. Kaidanov came from the USSR to coach to a small and fairly unknown town, while on the other hand, Beguinet came from France to coach in the Deep South. Michael Marx was taught by his mother. It would be a stretch to say that if you took three fencers from these places, you'll be able to identify some kind of Russian/French/Oregon styles of fencing, when it all really comes down to "what works currently in competition?" You could also watch videos of even Americans fencing Americans, from the same area, and see distinct differences. Imboden and Chamley-Watson's lunges are quite different, but they train only a few blocks from each other. Neon Belly fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Jan 27, 2015 |
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Jan 27, 2015 15:46
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Cool. Now that I finally have internet at home, I need to go back and watch all the video links everyone's posted. So what does work best at the moment in competition-level stuff? I don't have a finger on the pulse, but have heard stuff about foil matches beginning to resemble epee, with heavy use of body evasion and counterattacks.
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Jan 27, 2015 22:39
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Any recommendations for clubs in NYC? I'm in brooklyn if that changes anything...
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Jan 29, 2015 02:05
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So I live in the quasi-middle-of-nowhere, but we do have a club. Since there's not many resources available, the club only has 1 really expert instructor and a couple former teammates from a nearby college (my wife was a former member of their college club as well). I have a very basic fencing knowledge and experience, but I'm itching to try again. They only offer up through an intermediate class, and after that it's pretty much just open non-competitive sport. My question is: will I get far too bored with this? There's a very, very big club about 1.5 hours away from here (if we have our way in the next couple years, we'll move there anyway) that I could always visit every once and a while, but while I'm really interested in getting more experience (for fun and sport), I'm worried about getting bored with it. I'd like to establish this as a physical fitness activity for myself for personal development. I really need something that isn't running (it's loving cold here and treadmills are boring) or what I did before a bad work accident, which was judo (advised not to do that again).
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Jan 30, 2015 05:21
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Eh, I've always been a member of very small clubs (<10 regulars) and have never got bored of it. Maybe that's just me, though. I'd say definitely get back into it, and bring your wife too. I find it really helps if there are one or two people there who are on a similar skill level to yourself - it makes for some really good, close bouts and you'll be improving at a similar rate, which hopefully means continually looking for new tricks and techniques to improve your game and get one up on them. One of my friends from my club is like this - we're both a similar height, and there's a constant arms race between us. A while back he figured out that he's younger and faster than me, and got into the habit of pulling out a mean duck/counter to octave. Then I realised that I could bait it out and reliably hit his front shoulder. So he's just started responding to this by waiting for me to do that and then trying for a prime bind/opposition thing and then moving in really close, because I'm crap at infighting. And so the great circle of life continues...
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Jan 30, 2015 12:21
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Don't worry about getting bored of something before you are bored of it. I can't give you exact numbers, but I would guess that the majority of fencers are non-competitive types who fence once or twice a week for fun and that's it. Here's a question for anyone: What are good ways to market a fencing club? We are having trouble keeping our membership up, and while marketing isn't exactly my thing, the owner has asked us coaches to suggest ways we can get our name out there. Part of our problem is that the area has a number of larger clubs which somehow do way better than we do at getting people in the door. Edit: Completely unrelated, but if anyone here likes Leon Paul stuff they are offering 15% off weapons and parts for today only with the coupon code bringbacksummer. They don't usually offer sales, and their stuff tends to hold up pretty well, so anyone in the market for a new weapon may want to check them out. I would put this in the Coupons and Deals forum, but I doubt most people there know what a Leon Paul is. ScratchAndSniff fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Jan 30, 2015 |
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Jan 30, 2015 14:23
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ScratchAndSniff posted:Don't worry about getting bored of something before you are bored of it. I can't give you exact numbers, but I would guess that the majority of fencers are non-competitive types who fence once or twice a week for fun and that's it. My school does a Groupon thing where you can get a few starting classes for cheap, or a larger package that includes more classes and a weapon to practice with (a cheap weapon, but it's something). Armagnac posted:Any recommendations for clubs in NYC? I'm in brooklyn if that changes anything... Are you interested in any particular type of fencing? I'm at Sword Class NYC which meets in midtown, but we do historical fencing and Japanese sword arts. For more historical/classical fencing, you can check out The Martinez Academy. Verisimilidude fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jan 30, 2015 |
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Jan 30, 2015 16:07
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Armagnac posted:Any recommendations for clubs in NYC? I'm in brooklyn if that changes anything... NYC is where you'll find the best concentration of fencing talent in the country. Brooklyn Bridge Fencing was founded by Dan Kellner, former Olympian, and also home to Race Imboden, current Olympian. There's also the Fencers Club in Manhattan, home to many Olympians, NCAA champions, etc. Manhattan Fencing Center is also home to a handful of Olympic fencers/coaches.
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Jan 30, 2015 17:04
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Tsunemori posted:In general, how fit are fencers? EmmyOk posted:Just be Italian and you are automatically a brilliant foilist   * Results may vary.
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Jan 30, 2015 21:51
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Guess I may as well ask: anyone in the DC area been to Virginia Academy of Fencing in Springfield? It's 4 hours away for me, but it looks like a hell of a club and shop and I'm up there a lot.
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Jan 31, 2015 05:08
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De Nomolos posted:Guess I may as well ask: anyone in the DC area been to Virginia Academy of Fencing in Springfield? It's 4 hours away for me, but it looks like a hell of a club and shop and I'm up there a lot. It is a hell of a club, and I do see it represented at National events. If you're looking for epee, I'd recommend DCFC. At 4 hours, are you Virginia or Pennsylvania? Both regions have clubs that would be much closer to you and more of what you're looking for. There's nothing wrong with going to a "non-competitive" club, so long as the club is active in local events.
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Jan 31, 2015 08:33
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De Nomolos posted:Guess I may as well ask: anyone in the DC area been to Virginia Academy of Fencing in Springfield? It's 4 hours away for me, but it looks like a hell of a club and shop and I'm up there a lot. Would not recommend. DCFC or FSA are probably my pick for competitive clubs in the DC area, along with a range of noncompetitive clubs which will cost you a lot less. Do you have a weapon preference? I would recommend just choosing a place that's close to start out, and then transfer to a competitive club when/if you decide to move to that level. All of them will cost less than VAF. Maybe the word "competitive" isn't the best way to distinguish clubs... Big, maybe? Well-known? Lots of podunk little clubs have small, active communities of highly skilled fencers who don't like the big club atmosphere. Also, competitive fencers who officially belong to one of the big clubs will often free fence in little clubs, but will claim membership in the club where their main coach works out of. IMHO going to a decent club 3 times a week is better than membership in a "better" club which is too far away to visit frequently. ScratchAndSniff fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 31, 2015 18:59
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I was friends with a fencer back in the day. It was funny because he's pass out on my couch and start fencing in his sleep...
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Jan 31, 2015 19:35
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ZombieLenin posted:I was friends with a fencer back in the day. It was funny because he's pass out on my couch and start fencing in his sleep... However, if you are ever hosting a party with fencers around and anyone turns up with foam sabres from the dollar store, for god's sake move all the breakables into a locked room. Before I started fencing, my pattern of behaviour when drinking was normal -> talkative -> sleepy -> oh god why did I do this to myself I'm never drinking again; now, there's a good period of gently caress YEAH LET'S FENCE in between "talkative" and "sleepy". Also, it sucks that the Leon Paul sale was only a 1-day deal. I live in New Zealand and it's a pain in the rear end getting gear; I wouldn't mind a new glove, but it's not worth the shipping for me to order one on my own and I couldn't organise enough other people to combine my order with in time. Crazy Achmed fucked around with this message at 12:41 on Feb 1, 2015 |
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Feb 1, 2015 12:39
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That's silly, but drunk refs are worse. We have to discuss touches, actions, and rules several times during the night of drinking (AKA, every night). Including for body demonstrations. As an aside, are there any other active refs here?
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Feb 2, 2015 19:37
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So I just broke my girlfriend's father's 41 year old Itallian blade, and I'd like to replace it so it's a functional sword again, but when we took apart my girlfriends blade with a french grip, the bit the grip is supposed to slide onto looks different, like it tapers more where as her french grip barely tapers at all. What should I be looking for or what keywords do I search for? Should I just buy a new blade and if so what would you guys recommend?
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Feb 3, 2015 03:13
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Turtlicious posted:So I just broke my girlfriend's father's 41 year old Itallian blade, and I'd like to replace it so it's a functional sword again, but when we took apart my girlfriends blade with a french grip, the bit the grip is supposed to slide onto looks different, like it tapers more where as her french grip barely tapers at all. If the shapes aren't too different, you could carefully modify the old grip and guard with a file/etc to fit a modern blade. I don't know much about sabre and epee blades, but I have a BF maraging foil blade from Uhlmann that I like a lot.
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Feb 3, 2015 04:57
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BirdOfPlay posted:That's silly, but drunk refs are worse. We have to discuss touches, actions, and rules several times during the night of drinking (AKA, every night). Including for body demonstrations. I'm just a casual scrub, will probably be one those beer belly types when I get older. In a club I am basically Brock from pokemon: I can teach some basics, and once the newbies work out how to defeat my onix (counter-six bind) and geodude (beat attack with double disengage) they're ready to venture out into the world and face some real fencers.
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Feb 3, 2015 07:00
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Crazy Achmed posted:Do you reprimand people if they try to hand you a snack or drink with a bent arm? This guy gets it. Sometimes I like to think of myself as a fencing Giant Dad (Dark Souls). When I'm against a new guy I just run up and spam the same move over and over until they figure out how to neutralize it, or until they ask me for help.
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Feb 3, 2015 14:31
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I absolutely don't want to poo poo on you guys' teaching methods, but without contex it sounds like you're really close to teaching to fail. But really, you're probably alright. I'm just using this as an opportunity to plug Windsor's blog, because he's probably the best teacher I've ever had the chance to learn from. His series about running a beginners' course should be useful if you do that sort of thing.
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Feb 3, 2015 15:24
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So update on the blade, there's no crook in the handle (Or the grip that was on it,) so I guess I'm stuck looking for a straight blade with a straight handle, which is actually super hard for me to find.
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Feb 3, 2015 21:42
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Siivola posted:I absolutely don't want to poo poo on you guys' teaching methods, but without contex it sounds like you're really close to teaching to fail. Good point, but we probably didn't describe the context well enough. I was talking about a free fencing situation with a less experienced peer, not a lesson with a student. I don't think anyone recommends steamrolling students for the hell of it under the pretense of teaching, but in a sparring situation when I am practicing with a teammate I have entirely different priorities from when I am giving a lesson to someone who is paying me to make them fence better. A lot of coaches won't free fence with their students for this reason. I typically teach beginner classes, so I don't have that problem. Edit: Also, thanks for tipping me off about that blog. It has some great stuff. ScratchAndSniff fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Feb 3, 2015 |
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Feb 3, 2015 22:35
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Oh yeah, I don't mean that I just run around curbstomping beginners at every chance, I was trying to illustrate my level of skill in an average free bout. The point where a really keen beginner begins to consistently beat me seems to be about the same time as they begin to make headway in competitions... Teaching/lessons is a different matter - that blog looks pretty awesome, by the way. Again with the free bouting, as a general rule I try not to use anything vs beginners that they haven't seen before. Unless I specifically want to practise something myself that I'm terrible at (e.g. prime), in which case I'll tell them what I'm planning on doing beforehand.
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Feb 4, 2015 00:43
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BirdOfPlay posted:Including how a blow with the guard is "Brutality." In SCA heavy combat, back when I was still active, we'd refer to calibration. The goal being that since force of a strike that was accepted as a 'good' hit was on the receiver to judge, it was best policy to take as good the lightest hit you would want to deliver to an opponent and have taken. Otherwise, things tend to escalate, as the solution to someone calling every blow light is to simply hit them harder, and experienced fighters generally have a mile or two of body mechanics and leverage in reserve in case a harder blow is needed. So any given group would tend toward a middle ground as far as what was considered a good strike, and thus be locally calibrated on what was acceptable. Also, hi, fencing thread.  Did some sabre way back in the stone age, but my knees and ankles are too wrecked to be any good at it anymore. Glad to see a bunch of people interested, though!
Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 01:58
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Siivola posted:I absolutely don't want to poo poo on you guys' teaching methods, but without contex it sounds like you're really close to teaching to fail. This is more or less the standard pedagogy in kendo. However, the teacher will hit the student a lot more! It's probably a 5-1 ratio the other way around. It's also worth bearing in mind that kendo also relies on the students learning from being hit. When you get hit, it means that you did something wrong. It is also very very important to make them not fearing to get hit and attack without fear of getting countered. For more inexperienced students, I will give them clear opportunities to attack. If they don't attack, I will hit them. Rinse, repeat and it will usually click. Occasional I'll stop and ask why they're not attacking, but in general I dislike lecturing in the middle of a practice. I'll let any decent attack from them go in, so that you are rewarding the correct attacks and denying the not-so-correct. These articles are kendo specific and may include too many kendo terms, but it describes the philosophies of 'how to practice with X' quite well. http://www.kendo.org.uk/articles/attitudes-to-ji-geiko/
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Feb 4, 2015 03:55
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Turtlicious posted:So I just broke my girlfriend's father's 41 year old Itallian blade, and I'd like to replace it so it's a functional sword again, but when we took apart my girlfriends blade with a french grip, the bit the grip is supposed to slide onto looks different, like it tapers more where as her french grip barely tapers at all. It's a Spanish grip foil, not Italian. Don't listen to the turtle, he lies :P What he meant was it was made in Italy, not that the grip is Italian. The Spanish tang is a bit longer than the French, meaning my unbroken french blade wouldn't work with the Spanish grip and pummel because it's too short in the first place. Turt settled on getting a Spanish offset sword but I don't know what we'll do with my dad's sword. I kind of want to mount it on a wall or something but I really liked the grip so I'm not sure.
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Feb 4, 2015 11:32
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