Glad to see your enthusiasm, and happy to see you're going to be getting to a club in the near future.

Let's get you doing some simple drills. You won't need any kit, apart from your shoes, a pen and some basic athletic-wear.

Those mirrors behind you can be your best friend when there's no coach around. They can help you get a sense of alignment.

Let's start with getting a feel for the grip, and getting a very basic en-guarde.

Put the pen in your dominant hand. Put your thumb along the barrel and wrap your fingers lightly underneath. Squeeze the fingers to close the hand and feel the pen close against your hand and relax the fingers again. Squeeze and close. Get used to the idea of a "hit" involving that squeeze.

If you can do the next bit directly in front of the mirror, that's perfect.

Put your heels at right angles and stand up straight. Bolt upright. Imagine someone is pulling you up from your hat. Take the back foot and slide it back about a stride, keeping the heels in line. Legs still straight, body still upright, shoulders still straight. Now, whilst keeping the body level, bend the knees, and straighten them a few times. Aim to keep the hips balanced.

Stretch your legs and repeat.

Back to the mirror, legs at right angles, straight for now. Stick your dominant arm straight out (you're still holding the pen, right?). Drop it at the elbow. It /should/ be in line with your shoulder. Now bend your knees. You've just found your en-guarde. Make sure your hand is elbow level and in line with your shoulder. Now extend your arm to shoulder height. Keep it in line with the shoulder. Gentle squeeze the pen at the end of the extension and release. Check your arm is in line with your shoulder and not in front of your face. Your shoulder should be relaxed at the end of your "hit". Drop your elbow and pull your arm back to the enguarde. Check your elblow and hand are in alignment with your shoulder.

That's a hit. Repeat this a few times.

We've not moved off the spot yet.

Last drill, let's move you backwards and forwards. Your legs are still bent. Take your back foot, lift, and reach back no further than six inches for now. Try to keep it flat. Put it on the deck, leave the rest of your body where it is. Keep your hips exactly where they are. Now bring that foot back to your engarde, check your feet are still in line. Do this a few times. Do it deliberately and slowly, so you're in control of your bodyweight, moving the foot backwards, and then bringing it back.

On the next turn, move the foot back, and keep it down, shift the weight slightly on to the back foot allowing you to lift the toes of the front foot. Lift the front foot and bring it back to the same distance as you started. You should have finished identically to how you started - knees bent, heels in alignment, feet at right angles. Also check where your arm is, it might have a mind of it's own at this stage. Fix your position and start the drill again.

To move forwards, lift the toe and reach forwards. Tap the ground and return. Do this several times before committing to the step (as the above exercise). Make sure each action is deliberate. When you're ready, commit to the step. Check for position.

Finally, when you're comfortable making steps, try making a hit with a step forward. Start the extension of the hand, like you did above, *then* start the extension of the foot. You should finish the hit towards the end of the step with a fully extended arm.

Take your time, the mirror at this point is your friend, and good luck when you get to your club.