A Holistic Approach to Fencing   4 comments

or, We can’t fight 24 hours a day, so what do you do with the other 4 hours?

There are skills which cannot be taught, but which can be learned.  Or, at least, skills I cannot teach them, and don’t really know anybody who can.  These include foresight and forethought, detachment of mental focus from physical action, and conscious imposition of mental calm.

It is my firm belief that to perfect his fencing game, and to acquire these skills, a fighter must do more than drill and fight, more even than working on his fitness.
Miyamoto Musashi urged that would-be swordmasters should also master a musical instrument.  But why stop there?

Learn a Musical Instrument
Well, why not start there, too?  Musashi equated the mastery of the sword to the mastery of a musical instrument: the musician, as the fighter, must be aware of the moment in the music, while still looking ahead to the next phrase; must master tempo and rhythm; must know the fundamentals of the form while being able to build upon them on the fly; must separate the function of their breath, fingers, and mind.  A skilled musician is looking ahead, examining present performance, and moving various parts of their body, simultaneously and with very little interference between the functions.

Learn to Dance
Footwork is footwork: the same fine control of the feet that enables a dancer to move with steady grace is absolutely necessary to moving smoothly on the fighting field.  Tempo, kinesthetic sense, independent motion of individual feet and the torso, and balance all are ingrained into muscle memory through dance.  Dancing develops the ability to turn a general thought (e.g. “Move that direction”) into immediate action, without having to consciously consider the various sub-elements of the motion.

Learn a Hand
Learn a calligraphic hand.  Just like those swordmasters in all the Chinese movies.  Not only does this have a practical use (some day the SCA may get insane enough to let fencers win crown, and then you’ll have to sign scrolls), it also develops fine, precise control of the fingers and eye-hand coordination.  The calligrapher who puts a quill to paper with a mind full of distractions will screw up pretty quickly, so the art also develops the ability to clear the mind and focus it entirely on the task at hand.

Learn an Art of the Hand
Separate from calligraphy, a fighter should learn an art that requires the coordination of the perception, imagination, and hands.  The painter or weaver has to keep in mind their plan, while working in minute detail on the present.  And, let’s face it, the world needs more beautiful art.

Teach
Examining the flaws of others raises a mirror to examine yourself (“Do I do what X is doing?”).  As you’re teaching, you have the opportunity to examine the advice you’re giving: “Why do I think X is such a good idea that this person should incorporate it into their fencing?”

Become a Marshal/Take another service role
Somebody enabled you to find, enjoy, and master this art.  Pay it forward.  It doesn’t make you a better fighter, but it does make you a better person.

Learn a Master (or ten, or more)
Study study study.  Don’t memorize and obey, necessarily, but consider and apply.  “The unexamined life is not worth living” said Socrates, intending that we should always ask ourselves why we’re doing what we’re doing.  The same applies to our own fighting form, and to the fighting forms we study.  Why do they advise the technique they advise?  What other advice is out there and how does it compare?

Meditate
Again, this develops the ability to clear and focus the mind.  I don’t do any formal meditation.  However, at practice and at events, I take time to focus on the sword in my hand and the ground beneath my feet, a sort of mantra of the body rather than of words.

Learn another Martial Art
All combat is based on the same set of fundamental principles.  Only studying fencing leads to a narrow focus, viewing those fundamentals in the context of the style of fencing you practice.  It brings to mind the parable of the three blind men and the elephant.  Just as studying another master will expand your understanding of the fundamentals, so too will studying another martial art expand even further your understanding, bringing an entirely new perspective that will help you filter out the fluff and fill in the gaps of your own form.

Posted March 3, 2010 by wistric in Musings

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