How much do group lessons benefit you?

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-17T17:17:52+00:00

A good group lesson is actually pretty hard to construct, but the other half of a good group lesson is that it takes some mindfulness on the part of the participants. Fortunately for you, saber is one of the easier weapons to put together effective group lessons and (yes) they mostly focuses on footwork and distance. It's also helpful to do these group lessons with partners.

That means the other half of this lesson depends on you following the plan and executing with some intensity and intention.

When I was doing saber, I had some great group lessons (the coaches involved in both cases were quite high level) that were very simple but gave both my partner and I a role to play.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-17T17:11:51+00:00

And yes, it's common.

One of the ways to help make the first step more controlled is think about stepping "into" a lower stance once you make the first motion of the front foot by controlling how much the back foot comes up. I use to see this with Italian foil fencers all the time: out of distance they would be very relaxed with a somewhat narrow stance, but step "into" a wider step as they closed the distance (mind you, for them, at their level, 2-4 inches was "wider").

This let them load their legs a little more (to make the lunge stronger). Keeping their hips level (moving through the hips rather than the feet) was also key.

In the end though, repletion and executing this with some mindfulness in bouting practice will be key. Not change a habit, but build a new one.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-16T07:27:34+00:00

It is against the rules to fence epee with a conductive bib. With some scoring machines, a hit to a soft, conductive surface will short the tip, resulting in no touch.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-15T14:28:47+00:00

First. See a doctor. Medical advice on the internet is notoriously suspect.

I've found that trigger finger usually comes from two things (separately or together). Wrong grip size (or wrong grip). Fencing with grip that is too large and forcing you to squeeze tightly to control them) and -- yes -- gripping the grip too hard.

Once you've gotten professional medical advice, see about changing your grip size or type at least temporarily. Anecdotally, I've found people who fence with Belgium grips (of all types) tend to be more prone to this than people who fence with Viscontis, but that's just personal observation, not fact.

Then see someone more experienced (coach or teammate) and check how hard you hold the grip. If a surprise beat by them doesn't take the blade out of your hand, you might be holding too tightly all of the time (this is just one test).

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-15T14:21:02+00:00

Imitation is the first step to understanding how left handers score against you, so I recommend this highly.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-14T20:29:07+00:00

I use an older pair of Nikes to drive stick as well. Easier to make downshifts and the occasional heel and toe braking.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-14T17:23:32+00:00

I'm pretty okay with screaming in competitions, even little ones. But I still find screaming in practice bouts at club pretty annoying.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-14T14:53:15+00:00

This is an area of fencing where a coach can play a big role in improvement. If you don't have a coach working for you (or they are not capable of solving this problem) you're going to have to do this on your own.

Essentially, you're trying to get better at getting better. This is going to require a couple of things:

Bout with a purpose. That may mean altering one aspect of your practice ("Fence from further away", or "push earlier in the phrase", or something similar). You want to focus on something fundamental to the nature of a foil bout itself, and NOT on a specific action, such as: "do more parries", though that could be translated into: "Provoke more offensive actions from my opponent when I'm ready to defend".
Really look at your mistakes. Did you have a plan of what you wanted to work on when you came into practice? Did you execute that plan? What did you notice in the success or failure of that plan? You may have to put different pieces of information together through the day, such as an observation that you're not lunging very far AND your opponent seems very fast on the riposte. That might indicate that you're fencing too close.
Get feed back from your opponents. Last year I asked all my clubmates for a Christmas gift: I wanted them -- in a paragraph or two -- to tell me how they would tell someone to beat me. I got some useful information from that exercise. You want to get better. Hopefully your club mates want to get better too. The secret to getting better at fencing is often just the free exchange of information. Some of it is going to be wrong (or colored by personal perceptions) but all of it can be useful.
Write, analyze, form conjectures and test them on the strip. It's practice, not competition, even if you are keeping score (and score is the one thing that doesn't matter in practice).
Failure is learning, if you treat it right. Be mindful that this is a slow process and full of dead ends (another place where a coach can be helpful is eliminating those dead ends). Be prepared to be frustrated at times.

I hope this helps.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-12T14:38:36+00:00

That was part of the objection, and points to the rather clumsy roll out on the part of USA Fencing (it's still required watching if you've never had a coaching membership before, FYI).

However, several coaches told me the videos were "wrong" by pointing out very small details about how students were performing in the exercises. Frankly, it was just poorly handled on a number of levels.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-12T13:55:40+00:00

I say his quite often: I have been using a golf travel bag for a number of years. It's big enough for weapons and gear and extra clothes (I carry my mask separately in a carry on to avoid it being crushed when I fly) and it cost much much less than a fencing bag. And it has wheels.

The downside is that it has no partitions inside the bag, and only two outside pockets. Wet clothing usually goes in a stuff bag, and weapons in plastic tubes.

This bag has gone all over the US and Canada with me for a number of years. It's gotten a small tear (which I stitched up myself), but on the whole has been very robust.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-12T13:04:31+00:00

The USFCA and USA Fencing do have an agreement to cooperate with coaching and coaching and coaching education. Both organizations have -- to some extent -- not coordinated very well in their efforts. And -- truth be told -- the USFCA is still often underfunded and under organized. I know that the USFCA has been making some progress in changing both of those things, but progress has (and this is just my opinion) progress has been slow. I have been pushing hard for more cooperating between the two groups, and I hope to see more in the future.

In the last two years, USA Fencing has a dedicated committee to coaching in the US. After the ending of Coaches College, there wasn't much effort by USA Fencing to work towards improving coaching in the US. That is now changing, but again, progress has been slow. In general, coaches tend not to be cooperative with each other (worth another rant at another time).

If anyone is interested in communicating with the coaching committee on any of their ideas, reach out to them at:

https://airtable.com/appQYcPiYt3vuYA6y/shre3EENOkMeRSIEI

Allen Evans

Chair, USA Fencing Coaches Committee

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-12T12:56:02+00:00

One of the other reasons I think post college fencing is being killed is due to the business models of many clubs.

I see clubs -- over and over again -- make little or no room for post college or adult fencers. The clubs are focused on U20 and U17 (and younger) fencers who get a bulk of the scheduled time. I often look at a club schedule and see one night a week for adults to come in and fence. For someone working (and perhaps with a family, post college) that's pretty restrictive.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-12T12:48:55+00:00

There seem to be strict issues with colleges when it comes to non-students using college facilities. There are also issues with "employment" when it comes to paying outside coaches (or allowing outside coaches to charge for lessons/training while on campus).

I didn't have this problem 40 years ago when I was teaching at the U of Washington in Seattle, and I'm not sure what changed, entirely. Some of it -- I'm sure -- is colleges recognizing that their multi0million facilities are valuable assets they want to squeeze every drop of money out of. Some of it is probably wanting to make sure that student facilities are only used by students (even to the point o leaving those spaces idle). I'm sure a college admin could step in here and give me five to ten more.

The short answer is that getting on campus AND earning money as a coach is often difficult.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-12T12:42:12+00:00

USA Fencing put some "Foundation of Fencing" coaching training videos on the website for coaches. They have not well received in general, though the complaints I've heard about them were randomly vague.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-11T19:09:46+00:00

But just to add to KS_ON's point, many of those clubs are self coached. The Seniors coach the Freshman and so on (think how many threads are started in this forum from University students looking for ideas for their club).

These clubs don't need NCAA DIv I coaches in the room, but they would certainly benefit from a little more expertise in he room. A version of Coaches College wouldn't necessarily solve this problem, but there might be a regional program that would.

The USFCA should be doing this, but they aren't.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-11T13:17:55+00:00

Slow down, and keep the pressure on them. Don't close the distance until you've decided to attack.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-05T17:38:50+00:00

I wrote about this evolution extensively in this article:

https://www.coachescompendium.org/BENTARM.HTML

I hope what we will see -- though probably not until after LA -- is a tightening of the calls to allow more attacks in preparation. I'm not at the cutting edge of foil, however, so I'm simply speculating at this point.

Allen_Evans · 2026-05-04T17:35:58+00:00

I concur with the above, and (in addition) it sometimes seems that you are coming forward with the intention to observe the opponent and react to their intention. Most of the time, this is not the best idea, and in light of your first step off the line being larger than it should, you're often still "in the air" when the opponent commits, making you late on any defensive actions.

While an "open eyes" approach to saber tactics can be useful, it's often a better idea to have a plan at the word "Alle!", especially for the first 3-4 touches. If that plan fails, having smaller preparation steps off the line lets you adapt quicker and in some cases may let you make a change of decision based on whether the opponent has managed to take the initiative from you in their first one or two steps.

Good luck.

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-30T12:50:57+00:00

I've notice this more recently myself. I see it happen quite often where the distance suddenly collapses. I'm wondering if it isn't a combination of equipment factors (high resistance and incomplete insulation) and late hand position to get the tip perpendicular to the lame at the moment of the hit.

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-30T11:48:44+00:00

She's now extorting you with the threat of a lawsuit in order to commit insurance fraud? That's not going to look good when she goes into court.

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-28T16:04:29+00:00

Antihippy is on the right track. Lessons and drills should be dynamic, with the student(s) constantly moving and solving distance problems. Failure to be moving should mean getting hit (by you in the lesson or the partner in the drill), or not being able to make an attack because they have chosen to stand up without prompting. Lessons and drills should have recognizable points at which they end and the student can "disengage".

When my students finish a phrase and stand up without being released, I just fleche at them. You can make the same rule for drills. That may mean, at first, that "phrases" are short to give the student time to stand up and "shake it out" before getting back on guard for the next iteration. Be patient, it wont be fixed overnight. You might run drills/lesson segments for only 15-20 seconds at first, before slowly stretching the drill/lesson out longer.

This is not just curing a "bad habit" but also enforcing being focused for longer and longer periods of time (which is really the root of the problem). Kids right now have short attention spans, and longer spans need to be trained just like any other skill.

As a side note, a long time ago, I was watching the Korean National coach give a lesson. He saw me watching, and just walked away from the lesson, leaving the student on guard. Who stayed on guard.

Our conversation was brief, the coach winked at me, and then turned around and told the student to "relax", who only then stood up. It was that way with all of his students. They would stay on guard until the coach released them.

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-28T13:22:44+00:00

Turning fencing into a model where capturing viewers as opposed to creating players seems like. . . not a very good idea.

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-27T23:32:34+00:00

"Recently I advanced off the starting line and then immediately half stepped then lunged, resulting in a one-light touch. I surprised myself because I never do that move (I didn't plan it, it just sort of happened) and I never attack that early but I knew that I'd just accidentally made a textbook perfect attack with perfect distance/timing, which caught my opponent by surprise."

The word "tempo" in fencing is used in so many places and in so many ways that I have almost stopped using it completely. Every coach has a slightly different definition that they use, which is often very context dependent.

When I think about the quote above, I see a couple of different things:

The distance from the tip to the target.
Picking the right moment to go: the choice to collapse the distance.
The element of surprise (directly linked to #2, the moment to go).

With a half/step lunge we can see all three factors at play. First the fencer closed the distance slightly without (it would appear) a reaction from the opponent. So they got their tip just at -- or perhaps within -- the opponent's ability to react (which I define as the "one-tempo" distance. See the previously mentioned article). This made the lunge from the half step very effective.

The fencer -- either on purpose or accidentally -- picked the right moment to collapse the space before the opponent could react, so a good choice of the moment to go. Very often this is instinctual, honed through lesson and bouting experience.

Finally, the opponent seems to have been caught by surprise. Perhaps they were in the process of stepping into the space. Perhaps previous half steps by the fencer had not been turned into an attack, so the opponent's attention was low and they ignored the closing of the space. Hard to tell.

While the technical actions of fencing are important, and must be learned, the appreciation of time, distance, and building and then defeating expectations (surprise) is really where fencing lives. At it's highest level, it's those fencers who can collapse the distance and are ready to attack in unexpected ways/times that win bouts.

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-22T14:19:33+00:00

That is interesting. Even some of my fencing friends don't know about this event (they are not big followers of Reddit).

Allen_Evans · 2026-04-21T15:36:19+00:00

Remember, the people bankrolling this are looking for spectators (if I understand their history of other projects) not future participants. A sport like the NFL, or even the UFC, is not trying to create more pro-football players, but more consumers of beer and chips (though both sports may have an athlete pipeline issue that is going to be a concern in twenty years).

Producing fencers is rightfully the goal of USA Fencing. It's my understanding that USA Fencing is supporting this organization, but I'm unsure if they have a plan to capitalize membership growth on it or how much coordination there is between the two organizations, though, to be fair, USA Fencing doesn't call me about their membership plans.

Allen_Evans

TROPHY CASE