September 13, 2010 Lesson Summary

[Don Conrad Uy - Tampa Bay Fencers]

Welcome back from injury hiatus, Steve Y and also returning from
summer break, Cash Howard. It's good to see you back on the strip. You
guys are back just in time for the new season! Summer's over and it's
back to the grind. I am making it a point to make the drills a bit
more rigorous so that we can stretch our tolerances a bit. It is at
the edge of exhaustion and collapse where we can discover our inner
champion. Let the other fighter give up while we ask for more. One
more lunge, one more parry, one more counter attack can determine who
gets the gold medal and who has to seek explanations.

Today's highlights are:
- It is fine to cultivate explosive lunges, but not to "over
penetrate" and lunge too deeply into enemy territory. It is equally
important to lunge "just enough" so that if the attack fails, you have
enough control of your inertia to recover and/or to parry.

- The key to controlling the lunge is to maintain control of you
center of gravity. This is around where your belt buckle is at.
Leaning forward in the lunge can be detrimental since it puts a lot of
weight over your front leg. Too much weight on your front leg may mean
you may not be able to recover if need be.

- Parrying later against an attacker is (generally) better than
parrying earlier. Against an advance-lunge attack, wait until they
execute the lunge to parry. Parrying early (i.e. during the initial
extension) against an advance-lunge (with initiative) can be riskier
since the attacker has a lot more time to readjust. It is more
difficult to readjust an attack in mid-lunge. Yes, it's riskier to
parry late, but the payoff is pretty good, too.

Call-outs:

CJ - Nice work with the expulsion-direct and press-disengage attacks.
The key is to manage the transition between the violence of the press/
expulsion and the relaxation necessary to get the arm touch.

Marcin - Tighten up your abdomen to keep your actions more
controlled. Watch the rear foot-roll. Over-penetrating your lunge
negates your natural height advantage. If you can master your distance
better, you'll be getting a classification in no time. Ask your Dad to
remind you about your Core.

Alex K - keep your back upright. I am seeking more precision from you
now. You're improving every day.

Matt R. - . Either I'm becoming too predictable or you've identified
that I'm a sucker for the remise and a P6 disengage/delayed riposte.
You have forced me to change my game a bit to adjust. Bravo. My right
sock is not satisfied with just your ankle. I plot my vengeance even
now.

Ray , Steve and Terry. We have individual time, next we meet.

In case you all don't know, Terry Abrahams is going to be honored for
her lifetime dedication to Veterans Fencing at the Cincinnati NAC.
When you see her next, I invite you to shower her with your homage and
embarrass the heck out of her. I advised her to embrace this. It's a
rare thing to actually be appreciated for something like this AND
actually be alive.


Salute!
Don