San Francisco Youth Fencing
New 2010 Fencing Book
Also check us out on Facebook!
Fencing: A Practical Guide for Training Young Athletes
by Rob Handelman, D.C., Maître d’Armes and Connie Louie, Ph.D., Prévôt de Sabre
"Important" and "Comprehensive" are two of the adjectives that came to mind when I read this book. It is a long-overdue comprehensive text for training young fencers. It is written with a sabre emphasis, but only about 30% is weapon-specific. The vast amount of information on the mental, physical, technical, and tactical training of young fencers is just amazing. If you are a coach of any weapon, a fencer who wants a deeper understanding of your sport, or a parent who wants to really know what should be going on in your child's fencing program, get this book.”
Cole Harkness, Maitre d’Armes
***********************************************************************************************************************************
From Fencing.net
New 2010 Book on Saber and Young Fencers
Join Date: May 2007
Location: SF bay area
Last June at the USFCA Coaching Clinic in San Francisco I learned from Connie Louie that she and Rob Handelman were planning to publish a book on Saber fencing available for sale in the Fall. The release took a little longer than planned but I thought it is worth mentioning that the book is finally available.
36 years ago, when I started fencing, the English language books available on Saber were already out of date and in years since, not much has happened to improve the situation. I am really pleased to have this new book, as well as the recently appearing translation of Modern Saber Fencing by Dr. Borysiuk , together they are a real breath of fresh air.
This 303 page book is somewhat of a challenge to characterize, because beyond it’s stated purpose of training youth fencers and particularly in modern saber technique which it covers very well, much of the information presented is will be useful anyone who wants to coach, or coach better, regardless of the age group or weapon. The book includes sections on starting a club or program, child development, safety, injuries and their prevention, fitness, diet, games, footwork and drills, technique, group and individual lessons, competitive training, tactics, parents, mental training. The organization of the materials is logical and clearly presented. I counted at least 87 drills with variations set out in detail with breaks to discuss goals and motivations for the exercise.
Finally as a part of the Coaching Clinic, I had the chance to work first hand with Rob Handelman and Connie Louie’s 6 to 10 year old saber students, which was a delightful and eye-opening experience. Here was a group of kids that were clearly enjoying themselves and already among them a surprising number who were demonstrating remarkable progress in their fencing abilities.
|
02-27-2010, 04:38 PM |
#19 |
|
Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 141
|
I ordered the book sometime last week and just finished reading it. |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 125 I just got the book. It's great, one of the best books on teaching fencing Iv'e read. It's along the lines of the "Big book of Fencing" with way better pictures. Now if they created a DVD version? First , your book is great. It's one of the best books I've read on teaching fencing period. Why? because it's clearly written. The drills make sense and there is enough pictures of high quality to help all us visual learners.
************************************************************************************************************
San Jose Young Adult Literature Examiner 3/12/2010
Fencing will make you cooler--Fencing properly will make you smarter. Review by Barbara Bell
Book Review:
May 10, 2010
Rob Handelman and Connie Louie point out quite accurately in the preface to “Fencing: A Practical Guide for Training Young Athletes" that there has been a dearth of writing on the subject of teaching fencing, particularly electric sabre fencing, to youngsters. This is ironic, considering the vast growth in popularity of sabre fencing in the U.S. and across the globe in the last fifteen years. In order to fill this void Handelman and Louie have attempted to create a complete guide for coaches and parents of young fencers. In my opinion they have succeeded and thus closed a huge information gap. The book is thorough, easy to read, and practical. Connie Louie’s photographs featuring young and obviously enthusiastic fencers effectively illustrate the concepts and the material is well organized in a very logical sequence.
As the owner of a fencing club (Cobra Fencing Club, Jersey City NJ) dedicated to the development of young fencers I think I am very familiar with the challenges of organizing a training program that attracts and keeps young people active in the sport of fencing. The first goal of any fencing coach who is training youngsters is to create and nurture love of the sport. From this wellspring, comes the student’s desire, dedication and work ethic. So it’s logical that the first chapters of the book address the subjects of Understanding Child Development, Sports Medicine as it relates to the young athlete, Fencing Fitness and, in Chapter 6, Making it Fun – Games. Of course making the training sessions fun for youngsters is a tremendous key and all of the games and exercises in this section are also geared for developing the body and mind of the student. Youngsters like to be challenged in interesting ways. A group of young athletes going through their paces really creates great energy in a club. The parents of the young fencers see their kids sweaty and happy at the end of a training session and they can’t help but become fencing enthusiasts themselves.
In most cases, when a parent takes his son or daughter to the fencing club for the first time they have little first hand knowledge of the sport. Many times it is at the urging of the youngster that they find a club and they really don’t know what to expect. The book makes the assertion, by its very title, that fencing is a sport for young athletes. I think this is a very important aspect of the first impression parents and youngsters get when they first visit a club. Generally, parents are not expecting their youngsters to be on path for the Olympic Games but they are interested in healthful, beneficial activities for their children. Once a club has established a serious, systematic training regimen for youngsters, every potential new family that enters the club can tell right away that there is something of special value going on. In this regard, this book can be a great help to a fencing club’s success.
The chapters on Technique, Footwork and Drills, Group Class Instruction are geared primarily for sabre but these drills can be easily fitted or modified for use in foil or epee by a knowledgeable coach. The drills are extremely well thought out and are even designated for the appropriate skill levels of the fencers. For example, on page 184 there is a drill for five fencers. Two fence a bout, two strip coach and one referees. The roles are rotated after each five-touch bout. So all five fencers are fencing, thinking tactically and sharpening their reffing ability. All are, of course, very positive activities. The drills are quite varied and address all of the skills necessary to help the young fencer make steady improvement. There is tremendous attention to detail in the description of drills and the authors really want the intention of each drill to be understood and performed correctly.
Another strength of this book is that a young or inexperienced coach can take the information and greatly improve their ability to train young fencers effectively. The tactical drills can help young fencers gain confidence in their ability to fence. The book is totally current with the sabre game of today. I am not aware of any other English language fencing book in the market today as directly useful for the training of young sabre fencers.
The section devoted to parents should be required reading for all parents of young fencers. It has a common sense approach. Here is a sample paragraph on the benefits of fencing: “There are many benefits to participating in youth fencing. Children learn sportsmanship and self-discipline (i.e., accept and give compliments to other fencers, maintain self-control after a loss, and be humble after a win). They learn to compete independently as well as for a team; they learn the joy of winning and gain lessons from defeats while becoming physically fit and healthy; and, most importantly, they learn to make complex decisions, analyze problems, and think fast. These ideals help children reach their potential in many areas of their life other than fencing. More importantly, the primary reason youths enter sports is the desire to have fun, and fencing is fun!” The book even contains a 17 point Code of Conduct for parents. The information on motivation, mental toughness and nutrition is invaluable to coaches, parents and competitors.
To sum up, Handelman and Louie have taken their years of great coaching and competing experience and created a very valuable book that belongs in active use today by all coaches, parents and young fencers. In my own library of fencing books it will take a place right next to the great books of the past written by the likes of Szabo, Vass, Lukovich, Alaux, Kogler, Czajkowski, Wojeichowski, and others. And most importantly, I will have a copy at my club for ready reference.
Steve Kaplan, Head Coach
Cobra Fencing Club
U.S. Olympic Sabre Team, Montreal 1976
May 2010
****
American Fencing
Summer 2010, Volume 60, Issue 2
Product Review by Kathryn Schifferle
Over the past few years I have been paid to review and edit numerous textbooks for colleges and publishers. Imagine my surprise and delight when I started reading Fencing: A Practical Guide for Training Young Athletes, and recognized in it a professional, educational approach to the idea of teaching fencing.
Fencing: is written by Robert Handelman, a US Fencing Coaches Association coach who is accredited in all three weapons by the Institut National des Sports (INS) in France, and Connie Louie, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and Prévôt de Sabre.
Each of the fifteen chapters is concise, well structured and easy to understand. Beginning with a short overview of how to start a youth fencing program, it quickly focuses on youth development, learning styles and sports medicine as it applies to different developmental stages.
"Fencing Fitness," chapter five, is targeted to youth fencers, though I found the elements and drills appropriate for all ages. The next chapter is a nice collection of the types of games that young fencers love to play for warm-up and that help keep them engaged in the learning process.
As the book moves into techniques, footwork and drills, I especially like the format: first is the technique name, then the definition, the execution is then provided via a step-by-step procedure, the tactical application follows and then the pedagogy (how to teach it to a student). The drills are even coded by level of difficulty.
The book covers how to handle group as well as individual instruction, includes a chapter on competitive training, and offers a great chapter specifically for parents. The "Mental Toughness" chapter is unique; it not only addresses how to focus, how to relax, and the benefits of positive thinking, it walks the reader through a number of well-documented techniques, such as self-talk, self-hypnosis, visualization, and even EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques).
Chapter 14 offers a self-examination for the students, to allow them to develop their own point of view, and thus work from that perspective. The final chapter consists of short notes directed to the coach. The Appendix is filled with helpful flow charts and forms.
Because of how comprehensive the book is, and how well fencing is written and organized, this is a book that I would recommend to anyone. I personally plan to go back through the drills and techniques sections and pick out parts that might help supplement my training this summer.