Physical fitness in fencing is all about speed and balance. If you can't go fast, sooner or later you'll run into someone who can, and that means that you would have to be extraordinarily clever to defeat them. How can someone become fast? Part of it is in body composition. Large masses change directions and speed slowly, as more energy and work is required to change its entropy. People with large muscles will be slow, as will overweight folks. Flexible people will be faster than non-flexible folks because their muscles and tendons move smoothly. The ideal body for a fencer at any level would be as light as possible with an adequate amount of flexible, functional strength and plenty of endurance. Most Competitive fencers I have known are wiry and very sharp mentally, this means that if you want to go the competitive rout and are over muscled or over weight, you will not only have to overcome your opponent's mind, but also their body. As you might imagine, the physical aspects of this sport are quite demanding, and to be honest may be a great addition to any weight-loss or fitness plan. Fencing in itself develops range of motion, dexterity, strength, and flexibility - however these develop slowly over time. What can you do to speed up the process? Fence more, maybe get involved in another martial art or sport, Calisthenics, some aerobics, and such like. I would stay away from weights as the injury potential is higher, and they are intended to build muscle (as in, body sculpting, not fitness). Calisthenics builds muscle as well, but since you are moving your own body, the muscle built is only what is necessary for the action being performed. Don't get me wrong, building muscle is good. Being muscle-bound is not. You can do arm curls all day and still be unable to do a pull-up. Yet your arm muscles would be huge, and you could lift a lot of heavy stuff. Do even a moderate number of pull-ups and you can lift heavy stuff and manipulate your body through space. Weightlifting is about moving objects through space, calisthenics are about moving you through space. Working on a loading dock is about moving objects trough space. Fencing is about moving you through space.

I prefer Fencing, Aerobics, and Calisthenics as mediums for physical fitness (and if necessary: weight loss). A fencer should fence regularly, as in, weekly at least. This is the most important, after all, you want to fence, not be push up king of the year. When you fence, or practice, always push yourself as far as you can without injury. That way you slowly lengthen your lunge, strengthen your legs, and develop balance without hurting your body. You should: Practice lunges (max extension), footwork (especially the centering drill, remember to keep those knees bent and center of gravity low), and fight both low and high speed bouts often. For Aerobics, running and jumping rope are best, Craig Ballentyne (a fitness guru who writes for Early to Rise) is not fond of traditional aerobics. Mostly because it does not burn fat efficiently, but also because it is time consuming. He likes to point out that overuse injuries can develop in some cases. He is also a proponent of calisthenics and bodyweight exercises, so I am not in any sense alone on the belief that they are very good for your whole body. You can get aerobic benefit if you can just maintain your target heart rate through the entire workout session, thus killing two birds with one stone. Which exercises do I recommend? The push up, pull up, plank, squat, lunge, and back bend. Standing on the head is a good one if you can do it without injury.

Their are hundreds of web sites that are full of exercises and how to do them, there are thousands of you tube videos demonstrating and educating on exercises. There are workout charts, ideas, and clubs. But nobody ever tells the beginner what to shoot for. I think that is why most people fail. The want help, but then they are told to come up with what they want. This is all fine and good, if they have the slightest idea what they are looking for. But most beginners don't. So I will provide you with something to shoot for. 20-30 consecutive military push ups, 10 pull-ups, 60 second plank, 50 squats, 50 lunges. If you can do all that, start looking up advance variations (or contact me and I will point you to the good stuff), then develop a fitness plan, maybe you want to advance quickly, maybe you just want to mozy along. You should know how your body works in relation to those exercises by this point, so pay attention to you muscles and tendons, feel every reposition, go slow and Analyze yourself. This will be far more beneficial than merely cranking through exercises just for the sake of doing them. Learn how your own body interacts with the workouts you give it. Do them by feel, test by numbers periodically. But remember, no feeling sorry for yourself!

Erik Schlagel, December 8, 2009
  

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