Fencing: Technique, Tactics, and Strategy

• Preparation of the Fencer is for combat sport Fencing

Fencing Assaults

• During a fencing assault, movements of attack, defense, and counterattack are produced alternately to "touch" the opponent and avoid being "touched".
• Offensive actions include the attack, the riposte, and the counterattack.
• Defensive actions include parry.

Components of Athlete Preparation

• Physical Preparation
• Technical Preparation
• Psychological Preparation

Technique

• It is the ideal model of a sports movement.
• Technique is defined by scientific knowledge and practical experience.
• The more a technique is perfected, the less energy is required to achieve the desired result.

Tactic

• It is the combination of technical elements designed to solve a sporting problem.

Strategy

• It is the plan foreseen in advance.
• Strategy is established in a more or less generic set of rules that ensure an optimal decision at all times.

Style

• It is the individual adaptation to the technical model.
• Success in fencing does not depend on technical execution.
• An unorthodox movement or a non-stereotyped execution can disconcert the adversary.

Technical Predominance

• Fencing is a combat sport with technical predominance without physical contact.
• The function of the technique is to adapt quickly to the technical-tactical situation by disorganizing the opponent's technique while maintaining your own as effective as possible.
• Actions are the result of a reaction to changes in an uncertain environment, which is an open character.
• Experienced trainers incorporate conditions in training situations.
• Rapid perception and decision are more important than isolated technique

Motor Skills Required

• Gross motor skills: Resistance, strength, speed, and flexibility.
• Fine motor skills: Coordination, rhythm, reflexes, balance, and agility.
• Basic factors: Time, speed, and distance.

Factors of Training

• An understanding of the concept favors metacognitive knowledge and accelerates the high-level acquisition process.
• The greater the technical mastery, the less need for conscious control, which increases the ability to focus on tactical aspects.
• A certain level of execution is essential to introduce tactical aspects.
• Physical capacity influences the execution of technical gestures.
• Physical training is essential for the system of repetitions, without fatigue appearing too soon.
• Young people improve by development processes and training.

Trainer Actions

• Trainers provide: Perception and analysis of errors
• Providing corrections is what distinguishes good coaches.
• Trainers repeat the sporting gesture as many times as necessary until the student integrates the technical gesture in their "suitcase" of actions to apply in the assault.
• The offensive is taught first to reinforce the offensive and counter-offensive nature of the weapon.

Ways to Develop Exercises

• Exercises are developed in class without an opposite, with and without a weapon, or with or without displacement.
• Auxiliary devices such as a plastron, pets, balls, and a mirror can be used.
• Exercises with a partner (couples mutual classes).
• Individual lessons.
• Teaching and competitive combats

Phases of Sports Learning

• Development of global coordination: The complete movement is established in a non-analytical way, eliminating superfluous movements (asynergies, rigidity).
• Development of specific coordination: Correction of defects and reduction of energy expenditure (making the movement without errors).
• Establishment of specific coordination: Work the specific performance taking it to a situation of simulation of reality.

Fencing Class

• Fencing class consists of warm-up, lesson, training, and reinforcement.
• Percentages of each part of the class vary depending on the athletic level of the student and the time of the season
• The maximum class time is 20 minutes for children and 50 minutes for adults.
• Technique should not be applied when there is nervous fatigue because accuracy is reduced.
• Avoid repeating an exercise that was going well at the beginning then starts to go wrong and rest.

Fencing Class Contents

• General warm-up
• Special warm-up
• Displacements
• Plastron
• Lesson
• Assaults
• Physical conditioning
• Stretching

Physical Training

• General physical preparation includes developing motor qualities like strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, and coordination through continuous running, general exercises of joint mobility, and strength conditioning exercises.
• Specific physical preparation includes developing qualities for a specific specialty (fencing) and the specific weapon, such as Squats with 90% load (explosive force), exercise circuits at maximum intensity, and hamstring elasticity.
• Special physical preparation involves developing physical qualities through elements and exercises typical of fencing, such as guard, march, break, bottom, arrow, and weapon handling, with circuits with combined elements of fencing and interval with fencing displacements.

Individual Classes

• Includes control, study, and training classes.
• Control classes: used to detect deficiencies that may exist within habits and skills are taught after competition to stop training for some time.
• Training class is the most usual

Assaults

• Of study: possess a determined task as far as the technical-tactical preparation. Focuses on fulfilling a defined task rather than victory
• Training or free: Used to put into play the different technical-tactical actions for future competition, It builds creative thinking.
• Of competences: Varies the fencing activity objectively. Mastery is demonstrated through training, where effort is always related to the level and the possibilities of the adversary.