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Title
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18 Characteristics of Fencers (Continued)
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Date
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February 1942
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volume
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7
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issue
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1
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pages
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8, 16
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content
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en
18 CHARACTERISTICS OF FENCERS
By Dernell Every
This is the second of two articles that deal with the physical and mental makeup of the fencer. The first part, in the previous issue of The Riposte, dealt primarily with eight physical qualities which help to make up the “perfect fencer.” In this issue, the author goes on to examine the ten mental qualities of most importance.
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The Mental Qualities
CONCENTRATION—When you really fence, the room, the spectators, the officials, even the score blurs into oblivion. All you can see is the weapon, the target, the entirety of your opponent. In a few short minutes you must undertake a mental and physical analysis of your adversary in order to match your strongest qualities against his weaknesses, if any. Fencing requires that such concentration likewise be alert; alert to opportunities to attack, to defend against the unexpected, to change plans instantly, yes, even alert to disrupt the opponent’s concentration. Fencing might facetiously be called a chess game on wheels except that the chess player is given an unmolested opportunity to concentrate while the opponent is compelled to remain immobile. A photographer’s flash bulb has scored many a touch through breaking the concentration of a fencer. The weak-willed and slap-happy win no medals.
Courage—We restrict this term here, perhaps incorrectly, to its mental manifestations. Natural physical courage has been covered by “competitive heart” in an earlier definition. By courage we mean the mental nullification of fear, the acceptance of defeat without collapsing, the controlled emotional response to a dreaded result. Courage permits the fencer to dare to do what appears to be dangerous to his purpose for the very reason that it so appears and is therefore unexpected. It takes courage to attack a strong defender, invite the attack of a strong attacker, to lunge into an attack, to attack against a point in line in the belief that the opponent will react defensively. There is foolhardy courage and mentally-controlled courage and the second of these is a strong quality of the good fencer.
Experience—This is the long-term result of trial and error in many former bouts and competitions against all types of opponents. To say that a fencer is experienced does not merely mean that he has fenced for a long time. It implies that he has greater adaptability to situations, can analyze an opponent’s weaknesses more quickly and knows himself better than does his younger opponent. It is a mental growth, an appreciation of the art of the sport. It is difficult to explain but many a fast, well-taught fencer has been embarrassed to find a victory slip from his hands purely as a result of the greater experience of his opponent. The less-experienced of two fencers of equal fencing skill and speed, has an equal chance of winning a one-touch bout, has a good chance of winning a three-touch bout, has some chance of winning a five-touch bout but has no chance of winning a ten-touch bout.
Memory—This quality does overlap “experience” but is also distinct in itself in application to individual opponents. The man who can remember what the particularly favored attacks, parries and methods of individual opponents have been in the past has a considerable advantage over the fencer who can only remember past score results. A good memory makes it possible for a fencer to lose at first meeting but win in all subsequent bouts with the same opponent. Experience is a great help in meeting an opponent for the first time; experience plus memory should serve you in all future meetings.
Patience—From two to five minutes are allowed for each required touch, depending upon the weapon used. Given ten minutes for a five-touch foil bout, one need not permit impatience to overthrow the better results to be obtained from coolheadedness. Just because the opponent is leading at the change is no reason to dash in with “all or nothing” attacks; in fact an even break at this sort of thing, making and receiving two touches out of four such attacks, would find you defeated. The impatient fencer makes more touches with his chest than with his foil.
Smartness—There is nothing sure in life but death and taxes. There is nothing sure in fencing but the time limit and entry fee. There is no attack which will penetrate all parries nor any parry which will ward off all attacks. It is a game of skill and wits where the latter often overcomes the former. Foxiness, strategy, the laying of trap and counter-trap, the surprise, the adoption of a type of play unliked by the particular opponent of the moment; all these go to make the “smart” fencer. Smartness is a self-evident requirement in any sport wherein the feint of every action must be learned as carefully as the actions themselves.
Technique—This is an individual characteristic often and incorrectly considered as synonymous with “form.” It is sometimes referred to as style. It is the individual’s own way of fencing, away from the guidance of his professional or the consciousness of exhibition. It is the fencer in the raw as guided by his mind and individuality during the concentration of a touch-making requirement. No two techniques are alike. It is the characteristic upon which we caricaturist would call to depict you, despite your mask, as clearly as though you had signed the picture. Many fencers take one kind of lesson and fence in competition entirely differently. In other words, their physical “form” and mental “technique” are very different. Good or bad form depends upon appearance or orthodoxy. Good or bad technique depends upon results. You can have good form and faulty technique. You can even have poor form and effective technique. The ideal fencer is the one who has good form and effective technique for in these few do we see physical and mental acceptance of the same traits with beautiful fencing as their result.
Change of Pace—This mentally controlled characteristic could be used to greater advantage by most fencers. To attack, to parry, to riposte always with the same speed, your best, can be a weakness rather than an asset. A “smart” opponent, possessed of “rhythm,” should soon gain your tempo and keep step or break step with you as the occasion requires. There is nothing so disconcerting as to have a fast opponent drift in with a slow, innocent attack that touches before you realize that he has fooled you with a change of pace. When you find an opponent’s “hand” much faster than yours and it proves physically impossible to speed up your hand to catch his, why not slow your hand to half his speed and let him catch himself. The ability to regulate your speed is not only valuable for deception but can well be the only quality that could save a losing situation.
Choice of Time—This is the quality which is often erroneously referred to as a good sense of timing. It is a mentally controlled quality that is the most valuable characteristic of all eighteen characteristics listed. It can be learned and improved with practice. It is the ability to chose the right instant to start an action. To possess a perfect “choice of time” would make fencing as easy as playing poker with marked cards. It would require only five lunges or ripostes to win any bout. A good choice of time brings success to even poorly executed attacks; a poor choice of time can cause well-executed attacks to meet repeated failure. This one characteristic might easily be the only difference between a dub and a champion.
Relaxation—Unfortunately, such words as relaxness or relaxability do not appear in our dictionary. Such self-coined words seem to us to carry our meaning better than the word the dictionary ascribes to it. Relaxation is the ability to remain quietly rather than tensely alert. It leaves you in neutral, able to jump into action in any required way in the quickest and most efficient manner. Physical relaxation might be considered a pure physical characteristic but since it is highly variable and can be mentally controlled we have placed it among the essential mental characteristics. Mental relaxation is as important as muscular relaxation. It permits you to throw off anger at self, opponent or officials and concentrate with ease on the direct problem in hand. It dispells fear, it restores confidence and places the thoughts on an open, easy plane above the confusion of mixed emotions.
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Conclusion
To choose our set of eighteen we had first to list every conceivable characteristic and then apply each of these carefully to our problem, eliminating those which did not fit and those which were covered under another definition. Some of our readers may insist that we have overlooked “good sportsmanship.” We consider this a desirable trait but regret to admit that it is not essential to effective fencing. “Physique” is another characteristic which might be proposed, but, after seeing fencers of all sizes, we believe that height, weight or strength are not primary essentials and can in fact prove to be hindrances to the best that is in you. “Reaction time” has been considered but did not receive separate listing beyond its inferred possession under “speed”, “coordination” and “timing.” Many other characteristics were given similar consideration until we finally arrived at what we consider a complete list of eighteen.
