New Training Sessions

News Date: 25/01/2021

Shetland Fencing Club News Jan 25th

New Training Sessions

Well as we all know by now, I’m sure, it’s going to be a while before we get back to resuming sessions at our venues. To update you regarding Gibby Park Hall, the SIC has taken over the Hall for a Vaccination Centre. This means we will have no access to the Hall for possibly quite a while. As a return to fencing in town gets nearer, alternative venues will be sought as necessary. Brae Hall sessions will resume as and when school returns, and the hall is opened for public use again.  

So, from hoping we would be back again after Christmas, we are looking at another lay off. Sorry it has taken a little while to get organised with these sessions below, but I am very keen to help keep our fencers active and challenged. I hope you are getting as much time outdoors as possible. We are so lucky up here we have loads of chances to get out walking, running and cycling (OK bit premature getting the cycling going in this present weather).

I’d like to start getting some sessions out for you to follow which are designed to keep those fencing muscles and skills working. They will also be good to involve family or friends in.

I am so rubbish at videoing, but we can only hope that gets better with time. I will send out links with sessions which will open on youtube. These sessions are intended for use only within the club.

 The first session with link below, has a nice, relaxed session to get your core and balance working, an amazingly important part of fencing (and general fitness). It starts off though with a challenge. I would like you to use your fencing jacket to make a target out of. Without too much thought I put together one using some old cushions and towels to show how simple this can be – see video. There is no end to the possibilities of setting one of these up, depending on imagination and access to a DIYer. They need to be as body shaped as possible as we will learn to hit different target areas. Remember weapon safety is even more important at home.

Future sessions posted will depend on the use of a target and also having a weapon. These sessions will only work if I hear back from everyone and for them to share their results making targets (they can be v simple). Also I need to know how to get a weapon to anyone who hasn’t got one at home yet.

So please let me know and please send us a photo of any targets you can come up with. Also why not request or suggest some activities?

 Core and Balance session 1. 

 It is important to be able to ‘switch on’ the core muscles. It is not as easy as it sounds and well worth practising until you get the feel of it. For all these exercises we are going to use breathing as a way of counting time. This helps us to concentrate on our breathing, a good way of keeping relaxed and focused. Try to breathe slowly

 I will post a link to a video clip with each of these routines, to help demonstrate each session. This sessions’ link to youtube is:

 https://youtu.be/cA06n72AK9I

	Core stability and balance 1. Video:
Exercise	Description		Notes
Breathing: use breaths to count, not seconds. Count 1 for in, 2 for out, 3 for in and so on. Keep breathing slow and this helps you to concentrate on your breathing and on the exercise.
‘switch on’ core muscles	Lie on back, knees up, feet flat on floor. Lift your head a few cm only. The tension you feel in your tummy are your core muscles ‘switching on’. (there are other ones, more later).	Hold for 5 slow breaths and repeat x5	Don’t curl head forward, keep all other muscles relaxed
Work core muscles	Lie on back, as above, switch core on, lift L foot up a fraction so it is just skimming on floor but not resting on it. Now lift R foot up and focus on core muscles and breathing.	Hold for 10 slow breaths each side	V gently flex knee on foot which is up, on each breath (very good for keepin gknees supple). Progress no. of breaths so it gets difficult for the last few seconds.
Forward lunges	Both feet forward, lunge forward, hold for 2 breaths and recover back up but keep front foot off floor for 5 breaths before repeating	Repeat x5 each side	Very important to keep hands in front of you, and relaxed, and NOT helping in taking you back or balancing. A complete set is only made when your front foot doesn’t touch the floor for the whole 5 repeats.
Fencing lunges	As above but with fencing lunges, recovering back on guard but front foot hovering just off the floor	Repeat x5  It is good to try other ‘wrong’ side	Keep upright, Make sure hand goes out before foot. Keep hand in ready position and relaxed, not helping with recovery or balance.
Fencing lunges and steps	‘shadow’ fencing with lunges with mirror or video on phone. Good to get the “feel” back of being a fencer.	No need to time this just carry on for a few minutes if you can.	1 Watch hip, knee, foot for vertical line. 2 get the feel of your fencing position, you are keeping the ‘muscle memory’ going. 3 use mirror or video to continually correct / improve
Target challenge	The challenge is to make a fencing target out of your fencing jacket.
Test the target out	Start testing the dummy out by practicing your hitting technique, at different distances. We will be covering quite a bit using this target in future video clips.