Training for a Tournament

With Longpoint 2011 just around the corner, preparing for a tournament should be on everyone's mind (don't forget to register here: http://fightlongpoint.com/ ). This is part of the reason we've started doing the stations workout in class, and also the reason I have considerably upped the intensity of my personal nightly training regimen.

However, when preparing for a historical fencing tournament, we have to remember that the focus of our training should be...historical fencing. Fitness is extremely important, and a good training regimen will incorporate a lot of endurance and strength boosting exercises, but fitness should not be the focus or goal of your training. Your routine shold focus mostly on building the core skills of swordsmanship: coordination, balance, power generation, reflexes and, most importantly, technique. I've written in the past about what all the best professional athletes have in common, and that is that they train not just for resulsts, but for the refinement of individual techniques. And so you should train in the fashion as well. Solo cutting drills, pell work, forms, etc.

I've outfenced people who were in 100 times better shape than I was, but I've also lost fencing matches because I was too tired from previous matches. You have to find a balance. Skill is number one, but endurance cannot be forgotten. Happy training, and good luck in the tournament!