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SWORD FENCING PHILOSOPHY
So, the fencing master took a piece of paper and with a pencil drew two lines on it, one shorter than the other. He gave the pencil to the pupil and asked him to make the two lines equal. The pupil studies the lines, then drew a cut across the longer line, to make it the same size as the shorter one. The fencing master rubbed out both lines with an eraser, after which drew the two lines again, once more one being shorter than the other. He then placed the pencil tip at one end of the shorter line and drew a line which extended it until it was as long as the other line, paused, then he kept the pencil on the paper and drew the line a little longer. The shorter line was longer than the other line, without trying to cut the longer line. Moral: concentrate on improving your game (or lengthening your line) and do not constantly seek to find fault in your opponent. Extend yourself. The visit to the sword fencing academy. A famous sword fencing academy was located in Europe and a man who was interested in sword fencing asked to be allowed to visit it, to observe the finest swordsmen and swordswomen. He was granted permission and arrived at the academy at the beginning of the week. He first saw a very mature sword fencer, wearing the full kit, looking very serious, giving instruction to a group of young fencers, who were vigorously practising the moves which he described to them. He later saw a young fencer who was practising on his own, apparently without any instruction and very gently. The visitor approached the chief fencing master and said: "I do not need to see much more than the older man tutoring the group of young sword fencers. Clearly he knows what he is doing and is the expert." The chief fencing master replied: "Although that instructor has been at the academy for 40 years, he has never grasped the true nature of sword fencing. If you want to see someone practising sword fencing as an art, take a look at that young fencer who is making spirals with his weapon in the air. In three months he has learned more about the spirit of sword fencing than the experienced coach." Moral: appearances can be deceptive. Study all sword fencers carefully, especially those against whom you will fence. Assume nothing, take nothing for granted. The grand sword fencing master. There was a sword fencing master who was the acknowledged champion of all sword fencers. He had beaten all comes from every corner of the globe. So after a while, he became bored with beating everyone. "I know all there is to know about fencing," he said to himself. "In order to give me fresh fencing challenges, I will invent a new rule weapon. I will call it the sabfopee. It will have the blade of a sabre crossed with that of an epee, plus the guard of a foil. Only the torso will be a valid target area. That should prevent me from becoming bored and I should be able to fence with opponents for several years, before I master that weapon and beat them all." That afternoon,
a novice fencer walked into the fencing hall at which the grand
sword fencing master was practising. The novice challenged the grand
master to a bout with foil. In less than five minutes the novice
had beaten the grand master, 5-0. The grand master was astonished
and scrapped the designs for the sabfopee and began relearning his
sword fencing skills with the traditional weapons. |
