Marie's Fencing Blog

 I was so excited about attending RASP that I made my brief post about it without even explaining what it is! RASP stands for Rapier and Saber Pedagogy Retreat, and it is a must-attend event for me. It began as a way to make fencing pedagogy instruction more accessible to people on the east coast, and it has grown since then into a pretty decent-sized fencing intensive. It lasts from Friday morning until Monday afternoon, and I find it very rewarding. A typical day looks like this: 8-8:45 AM - Breakfast 9-9:45 - Warm-ups 10-noon - Rapier session noon-1 - Lunch 1-2 - Plenary 2-4 - Saber session 4-6 - Pedagogy session 6-7 - Dinner 7-8 - Plenary 8-?? - Free fencing In addition to the main sessions, there are break-out sessions and individual lessons happening with the various maestri and provosts from the FMCP (Fencing Masters Certification Program - that deserves its own post). It's busy and challenging and full of fellowship. I can't recommend it enough, which is a shame because...

I'm wrapping up a delightful 4-day fencing retreat, and I don't have the words to express how much I got out of it. I really value the time I spend at RASP each year, but I'm also aware that lots of people face limitations that keep them from opportunities like this. I feel like my personal area of growth this year involves measure. I can attack from further away than I think I can when fencing, and measure affects every part of teaching a lesson. If you find yourself getting tangled up (literally or metaphorically), take a step back, reassess, and try again from slightly further away. You may miss the mark sometimes, but you'll find more often than not that "zooming out" can really help. I'll post some specific exercises that we employed this week later, but I did want to share my initial thoughts while they're still fresh. Until then, think about how being too close to your target can keep you from seeing the bigger picture.

   Footwork Advance Retreat Lunge Recover back Recover forward Passing step forward Passing step backward Jump back Lateral movement Simple Attacks From the instructor's invitation in third, straight thrust From the instructor's engagement in fourth, disengagement From the student's engagement in third, glide Simple Parries From the student's engagement in fourth, attack by disengagement to the chest Make sure the student parries third by making a straight line with their sword Encourage the student to sink with the parry (bend the knees deeper). Repost with a glide or with a detachment The student's feet should not move during the riposte. Blade Seizure From the instructor's point in line, the student will perform a blade seizure and glide. The student must (subtly) engage the blade in fourth from out of distance and step into distance. Once the student has done so, perform a lunge with their blade gliding along the instructor's in fourth. Parry/riposte OR ...