Arriving At A Meet - What To Do
What To Do First
You arrived at the meet site and located the competition area. It should be a minimum of 45 minutes before check-in ends and earlier if possible. Now what should you do?
- First off, look for other club members. If they found a gathering spot, put your gear with theirs. If not, find a place away from traffic areas (doorways and walkways) next to a wall or on a bleacher seat.
- Find the check-in table and ask if you can check in. They may say yes or tell you to wait. Just make sure you check in on time since most meets do not allow late entries. If entry fees are not prepaid, you will pay at this time. Bring a check.
- Have your equipment officially tested. Your mask, weapons, cords and lame' are all required to meet minimum standards for competition. If you try to compete without correct inspection markings, you will be ejected from the competition with possible suspension from the national organization. Often a parent or one fencer will wait in line for several fencers to have equipment tested. Come early for equipment testing. Do not use warm-up time to have your equipment tested!
- First off, look for other club members. If they found a gathering spot, put your gear with theirs. If not, find a place away from traffic areas (doorways and walkways) next to a wall or on a bleacher seat.
- Find the check-in table and ask if you can check in. They may say yes or tell you to wait. Just make sure you check in on time since most meets do not allow late entries. If entry fees are not prepaid, you will pay at this time. Bring a check.
- Have your equipment officially tested. Your mask, weapons, cords and lame' are all required to meet minimum standards for competition. If you try to compete without correct inspection markings, you will be ejected from the competition with possible suspension from the national organization. Often a parent or one fencer will wait in line for several fencers to have equipment tested. Come early for equipment testing. Do not use warm-up time to have your equipment tested!
What Next - Warm Up
The physical warm-up, getting your body ready, only takes a few minutes unless it's early morning and you feel tired. Then it takes forever. The worse the physical warm up feels, the more it is needed. If you want to stretch, do it after the physical warm up, not before. The real warm up is getting your fencing skills working. This takes much longer.
Fencing skills take 30 to 45 minutes to properly "warm up". For fencing, it should be called "recalling" the perception and rhythms you will need during the bouts. After the physical warm up is finished the mental warm up is mostly bouting. Spend a lot of time doing this. Don't plan on using your first bout as part of the warm up. You must be fencing your best during this bout. Each win places you approximately 20% higher in the direct elimination table and every touch places you several points higher. The higher you are seeded after the first round, the better your result! With good seeding you will have easier opponents and potentially do better. Most fencers cheat on their warm up and it hurt their results without their realizing it. It's a shame, unless they are your opponents.
(Note: Kids under 10 need a maximum of 15 minutes for warm-up. They are always warm. Mostly they need to learn what to do for latter years.)
Fencing skills take 30 to 45 minutes to properly "warm up". For fencing, it should be called "recalling" the perception and rhythms you will need during the bouts. After the physical warm up is finished the mental warm up is mostly bouting. Spend a lot of time doing this. Don't plan on using your first bout as part of the warm up. You must be fencing your best during this bout. Each win places you approximately 20% higher in the direct elimination table and every touch places you several points higher. The higher you are seeded after the first round, the better your result! With good seeding you will have easier opponents and potentially do better. Most fencers cheat on their warm up and it hurt their results without their realizing it. It's a shame, unless they are your opponents.
(Note: Kids under 10 need a maximum of 15 minutes for warm-up. They are always warm. Mostly they need to learn what to do for latter years.)
When You Are Called To The Strip
You will be called by name and told to go directly to a strip, or an announcement will be made telling you to look at a posted pool list. On the list will be the number of the strip you are to proceed to. Each fencer had been placed in a group (pool) of five, six or seven competitors. Bring your equipment to the strip, two weapons and two body cords minimum, and sit down. Wait until the referee calls you for your first bout. Other fencers may compete before you, so sit tight, but also be ready to be the first bout. An experienced fencer watches the other fencers to learn how they fence and what moves they like best. He/she also watches the referee to determine the style of refereeing. As a beginner just look and learn.
A bout between two fencers is won by the competitor who first scores five touches. After every fencer has fenced every other competitor the pool is over. When all pools are completed the results are posted. The top rated fencers (without losses) then compete against the fencers with the most losses. Elimination bouts are held and each bout lasts for fifteen touches. For Youth 10 and Youth 12 fencers the best two out of three five touch bouts are fenced. The loser is eliminated from the meet. This goes on until only two fencers are left to fence for first place.
A bout between two fencers is won by the competitor who first scores five touches. After every fencer has fenced every other competitor the pool is over. When all pools are completed the results are posted. The top rated fencers (without losses) then compete against the fencers with the most losses. Elimination bouts are held and each bout lasts for fifteen touches. For Youth 10 and Youth 12 fencers the best two out of three five touch bouts are fenced. The loser is eliminated from the meet. This goes on until only two fencers are left to fence for first place.
After You Are Finished
When the meet is done, or you are done, it is important to think about what happened. Competing is both a challenge and a learning experience. You should not leave with the feeling I did badly because I was eliminated. Everyone is eliminated except the final two fencers. Hopefully, you have learned what it is you need to work on at practice so as to improve and do better at the next competition.You must ask yourself, how was I hit, how did I hit, what weakness do I have that I will improve. Competition should be a challange and fun. Do not feel you need to win. You will eventually but not at your first competition.
Links to Other Competitions Pages
Kinds of Competitions
Ready to Compete?
Eating at Competitions
Banned Medications
Kinds of Competitions
Ready to Compete?
Eating at Competitions
Banned Medications
