Reddit reviews Understanding Fencing
We found 8 Reddit comments about Understanding Fencing. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
We found 8 Reddit comments about Understanding Fencing. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
A Basic Fencing Companion by Paul Sise is really good, specially for beginners/intermediate fencers. It reads easily and has a great glossary that I used to get ready for my moniteur exam.
Another good one is Understanding Fencing by Czajkowski (who sadly passed away just last week). This one is more advanced, but it doesn’t read as easily. I took my time reading this one.
>I think you just stumbled onto a really great way to define this alternative concept of a "feint" that people occasionally use. The modern usage of the word feint implies a "second intention" attack, which is dangerous and foolish with a real weapon. What is desirable is an "alternate intention" attack -- as in, an attack where your first intention can change if the situation calls for it.
You should read Understanding Fencing by Zbigniew Czajkowski. It does a good job at distingushing between second-intention attacks and "open eyes" attacks. These are different both when it comes to neurology, intention and how fast the action is executed. There's a time and place for both, though, and I disagree that a second-intention attack is categorically "dangerous and foolish".
Hopefully it goes without saying that you can't learn something physical from the books.
But if you're the kind of person who likes to read a lot, and want to supplement your learning by reading about fencing theory, then here's what I would recommend.
First, read pretty much any general book about fencing. I've read quite a few books about fencing, but generally they're mostly all the same. Here's one that I've read that is indicative of most books, but there's loads
The only thing you're really trying to take away from it getting basic descriptions of the equipment, some basic nomenclature - "lunge", "fleche", "quarte", "disengage", "ballestra", etc. Maybe some basic history. You could also get all this stuff from wikipedia if you wanted, but maybe a book form might be presented in a nicer way.
A lot of these books will talk about mental game, perfect technique, and the great masters of whenever. This is mostly absolute garbage. Most of the history will be incorrect, and only semi-true 'factoids'. It often comes off as a bit of "mysticism". If you have any experience in the culture of martial arts you probably know what I mean.
So once you have a rough idea of what all the parries are, and what we call all the footwork movements, more or less, I would recommend reading Epee 2.0 (2.5 or whatever it's on now).
This book talks about a pragmatic based approach to fencing. No one makes a perfect lunge, and in fact, there is not even such a thing as a perfect lunge. Lots of moves that you learn aren't actually all that useful. etc. If you can internalize the themes of this book, that is very useful for approaching fencing in a way conducive to competitive success.
Then I would look at understanding fencing, which has a lot of very technical thoughts about fencing. E.g. Beyond just what is a step, or a lunge, he talks about different kinds of actions tactically speaking (e.g. pre-planned vs open eyes etc.).
If you read those three, you'll be in good shape
His book is a great read. Link below:
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https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Fencing-Zbigniew-Czajkowski/dp/0965946886
Get formal training. It has improved my coaching tremendously and I would not be able the think of any other way to achieve my current level.
Good books for a starting fencing coach are Szabo L. Fencing and the Master, Czajkowski Z. Understanding Fencing and Kogler A. One Touch at a Time.
There are some great resources, like the ghfs text that are targeted towards HEMA that will help. "Fencing and the Master" ( http://www.amazon.com/Fencing-Master-Laszlo-Szabo/dp/0965946800 ) and "Understanding Fencing" (http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Fencing-Zbigniew-Czajkowski/dp/0965946886) are great books about teaching modern fencing which are very useful. They have a lot of great stuff about running group classes, and also things to look for when working with someone individually.
With two years of training in longsword, you have the technical knowledge, but what you'll need for a study group is a plan to transmit that knowledge to student. I'd suggest visiting other groups - modern fencing clubs, kendo, akido, judo, etc... and observing how they are structured and taught. If you find something that you like, keep going, but also see if the instructor would be willing to mentor you while you run your own study group.
You are correct in that all of these things will help you enter and strike.
The manuals are a compendium of techniques, not a guide to "this is exactly what you must do". From the sounds of things, you are wanting more information into how to approach a fight rather than the actual techniques themselves. In that regards, there have been numerous books regarding fencing theory written for modern olympic fencing that would be of great use to you. The weapons are not the same but all preparatory actions translate very well into each other. The only part of the manual that talks about these (to my knowledge) are the naichraissens, the vor/nach plays and vaguely glossed over in the first part on the line, "All Art has Length and Measure".
Recommended reading:
http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Johannes_Liechtenauer followed by http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Nuremberg_Hausbuch_(MS_3227a) http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Peter_von_Danzig_zum_Ingolstadt and http://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Pseudo-Peter_von_Danzig
In terms of actual paper books? http://www.academyofhistoricalarts.co.uk/publishing/german-longsword-study-guide.php
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Martial_Arts_of_Renaissance_Europe.html?id=keDBwirOTQwC
and
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Fencing-Zbigniew-Czajkowski/dp/0965946886