Have you ever noticed a time when you’re on the strip and you can just feel what your opponent is about to do next? And then your body instinctively reacts without you having to even think about it? I call this superpower “Fencer-Vision”. It’s like having a sixth sense (except more like, “I see fencers…” than “dead people”). Whenever the planets align and you feel yourself falling into this wondrous, trance-like state, there are multiple things happening. You end up relying on repetitive actions, known strategies, and even a bit of meditation! The best part is that each of these aspects can be fine-tuned in order to get yourself to react the same way every time you encounter certain actions.

- Repetitive Actions. The first thing happening is that you are falling back on what you practiced during drills. Remember that time you stood opposite your coach and parried what must have been at least a hundred different attacks to the same three or four lines and your arm felt like it was definitely going to fall off? Well, now that arm has the ability to find each parry in an instant. Repetition is super important for developing your instincts. Make sure that when you do drills at practice, you don’t go too fast. Also, try to make each action accurate enough to be successful in a real bout.

- Known Strategies. After you’ve seen and fenced enough bouts, you can recognize that there are certain strengths and weaknesses for each opponent. The best way to cultivate this part of Fencer-Vision is to go against as many types of opponents as possible. If you don’t have very many people on your team or at your club, watch fencing online! There are so many styles to see and learn from, whether at the regional, national, or international level, and the more you see, the more you get a feel for each type of opponent. Obviously you can’t box an opponent into only one style, but being able to tell whether you should be offensive or defensive is what helps you determine winning strategies that can become second nature after you’ve successfully used them.

- Meditation. In my last post, I mentioned ways that you can prepare yourself for bouts ahead of time. Keeping a level head is important during the bout, as well. Every time that you get on guard for each point, treat it the same way as the very first point. Try not to think about anything else that is happening until after the entire bout is finished. If you find the same mental space as you do when you are “in the zone,” you’ll be able to achieve Fencer-Vision much more easily. You can give yourself a mantra, or hum a tune, or picture your arm becoming a giant blade with which to smite your enemies… ok, maybe tone that last one down a bit, but you get the point. Find a mental relaxation technique so that your body and its physical actions go into automatic mode.

Side Effects of Fencer-Vision: blurry vision, nausea, headache, stuffy nose… just kidding! Only good things will come of this. When your mind clears up and lets your body do the work, you start to… notice things about your opponent. Like that little moment of hesitation when you can attack in prep, or if they are about to lunge. You can start to tell the difference between fake counterattacks and the real thing. Once you get Fencer-Vision working, you can really start to unleash mental strategies, which is my favorite aspect of the sport!