A model way of practicing

heh heh. 

Today I was going to write about the differences inherent in each of us (I thought I wrote about this but I couldn't find it). 

Take a look at this article. It's wisdom though needs to be somewhat massaged for fencing. Basically the message is: your expression of the model is specific to you. 

We all (well the rapier folks) have seen the "Model form of the Lunge". Some from our instructor, others from several instructors and some have consulted manuals (Capoferro's image of the lunge, somewhat handily, never changes). But does this mean that we should all strive to have the posture just as Capoferro's plate? 

I think not. 

And there's many reasons for why not. Injuries, age, inflexibility, to name a few. Of late I've been identifying students who may not quite fit the model that Capoferro suggested and have suggested modifications to their forms, modifications that I think will best serve them(not anyone else). I'm not suggesting some wild new way to do a lunge. Far from it. Rather, I've identified the important components in the Lunge's Model and made alterations to the specific ways in which the student achieves those components. 

We each must identify what holds us back from fitting into that form. Inflexibility? That can change with practice. Some of us have more permanent challenges. Women's breasts can interfere with bringing the off-hand and secondaries into play. Older students sometimes struggle with getting very deep in their lunge? Should they strive for the depth that a teenager could achieve? No. Should they strive to achieve the results of a lunge within what they can physically do? Yes! 

i've certainly been regularly defeated in sparring by people who found their own particular way of practicing the principles of fencing. 

Go easier on yourself. Make a challenge that youcan strive towards, not what someone else is. Because they're not you. 

Clint