Lesson 1: Building a strong warm-up

The warm-up is integral to all parts of fencing.

Both a physical warm-up and mental warm-up need to be accounted for when training and competing.

The physical warm-up

This portion should achieve two goals: preparing the body for upcoming movement and allowing the mind to begin feeling the body’s movement. Dynamic, sport specific, activities will provide the best warm-up. Static stretching alone should not be used as a warm-up. However, it can be included in addition to sport specific motions in small amounts to help increase flexibility. (Samson 2012) Athletes should select sport specific motions that both prepare their body for any movement that may be required of them and select sport specific motions that will fit into their specific plan for practice or competition.

For example, a general fencing warm-up for epee would look slightly different than one for saber. Due to tactical needs and rules differences a saber fencer might want to focus more on quick changes of direction while an epee fencer would want to make sure that a fleche action is included in their motions. You can further cater your warm-up to specifically focus on actions or situations you know will be included in your fencing. If you are practicing infighting touches you might want to include extra shoulder warm-ups in order to insure you are prepared for this specific action.

The mental warm-up

Similar to the physical, the mental preparation will focus on two things: an internal checklist of the athletes body during their warm-up and a review of their goal for the activity session.

The internal checklist of their body should focus on evaluating if it is performing as expected. The athlete should work through any areas that require more attention during the warm-up and calibrate expectations for their body in the upcoming session. If the athlete has any injuries it would be appropriate to feel through the full range of motion regarding the injury to see how it might impact the upcoming work. This checklist can often accompany the general physical warm-up and should inform what might be needed in the session specific portion listed in the above section.

The second focus, reviewing the athletes goals, should bring their mind into the space of focus, affirming their preparation in a positive way, and beginning to deal with the anxiety or nervousness prior to the session. (Philippe, 2022)

The timing of both the physical and mental warm-up should be tailored to the specific athletes needs. An athlete should take special care to know how long the entire process can take in order to be finished and ready to begin either practice or competition when the warm-up is finished.