The Art of Fencing Alone

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Science Corner: The Challenges of Solo Sports

Solo practice often lacks external motivators, making it akin to starting a home workout routine where distractions are plentiful and accountability is minimal. All the same reasons why it’s hard to work out alone apply to solo fencing practice. On top of that, for many of us alone in our home with our feder, it just feels plain lonely.

But it’s not just us sword people. Research indicates that athletes in all kinds of individual sports experience heightened feelings of loneliness and decreased motivation compared to those in team settings. On top of that, in many studies more than 50% of college or professional athletes (even in team sports like basketball or soccer) describe regular feelings of loneliness or social isolation.(1) These feelings primarily occur AWAY from the playing field or court and their teammates, such as in solo practice, work, and other social settings.

Key Factors to Why Solo Training Fails:

• Lack of Immediate Feedback: Without a coach or partner, it's challenging to assess performance in real-time. Research on motor learning and skill acquisition emphasizes the importance of immediate feedback for refining technique. Without visual (coach corrections, mirrors, videos) or physical (sparring resistance, opponent reactions) feedback, you can struggle to assess progress, slowing improvement and decreasing engagement.

• Absence of Social Interaction: The camaraderie and energy derived from group settings are missing. You don’t get the dopamine surge that comes from seeing your friends, catching up on their lives, and getting excited about swords together. You also lack the push of natural competition between teammates.

• Environmental Cues: Similar to why home gym workouts often fail, fencing solo practice can suffer from a lack of environmental cues. When we walk into a gym or club setting, our brains naturally associate the space with training. Practicing alone, especially at home, lacks many of those habitual triggers that mentally prepare an athlete to engage fully. It’s the same reason that working from your desk at home can be more challenging than the office - its not just the distractions, its the frame of mind.

• Self-Discipline Requirements: Without structured training partners or coach guidance, you have to expend greater cognitive effort to maintain focus and energy output in the solo setting. It also demands higher levels of self-regulation and planning. The latter can be a significant challenge for those of us with ADHD or ADD, but even for those without those conditions it takes thought, planning and effort.

Nixdorf I, Frank R, Beckmann J. Comparison of Athletes' Proneness to Depressive Symptoms in Individual and Team Sports: Research on Psychological Mediators in Junior Elite Athletes. Front Psychol. 2016 Jun 17;7:893. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00893. PMID: 27378988; PMCID: PMC4911498.

Pluhar E, McCracken C, Griffith KL, Christino MA, Sugimoto D, Meehan WP 3rd. Team Sport Athletes May Be Less Likely To Suffer Anxiety or Depression than Individual Sport Athletes. J Sports Sci Med. 2019 Aug 1;18(3):490-496. PMID: 31427871; PMCID: PMC6683619.

Jackman, P. C., Hawkins, R. M., Bird, M. D., Williamson, O., Vella, S. A., & Lazuras, L. (2024). Loneliness in sport: A systematic mixed studies review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2024.2405507

HEMA Hot Take: Structuring Solo Practice

Solo practice is challenging because it requires internal motivation, self-regulation, and creative feedback mechanisms—but with the right structure and mindset, it can be just as effective as a coached session. By understanding these psychological barriers and implementing practical solutions, fencers can maximize their solo training efficiency.

Here are some strategies to overcome these challenges:

1. Set Clear, Achievable Goals: Define what you want to accomplish in each session to provide direction and purpose. A clear plan reduces decision fatigue and gives you clear objectives to work towards in the available time. Set the goal before picking up your sword!

   1. Today, I will practice 50 lunges with correct alignment and explosive recovery”

   2. Today I will work on targeting and accuracy by approaching with an advance lunge and hitting my target precisely.

   3. Today I will work on the speed of my second direct attack, zwerk, etc.

   4. Today I will work on covering immediately as I exit after my attack

2. Develop a Routine: Consistency can help in building discipline and reducing procrastination.

   1. Use a Timer: Set the timer for 30 minutes. Include 5 of warmup, 10 minutes of pell work, 10 minutes of shadowboxing / solo work and 5 minutes of cooldown.

   2. Dedicate a Place: Have an official location in your home or gym where you do your solo practice. If possible, chose somewhere where distractions can be limited or eliminated.

   3. Training Log: Write down what you work on each session. This can be a physical journal or a notetaking app. Even if you’re the type to go back and review, writing down what you did forces you to put it into words and be more intentional in your practice.

3. Incorporate Visual and Kinesthetic Feedback: Evaluating your practice can offer insights into your technique and areas for improvement. You don’t have to be an expert fencer to review and pick out things you are or are not doing well.

   1. Mirror: Use a mirror if available to you to critique your form along the way

   2. Video: You don’t need to record the entire session, but pick at least one or two things to video and review during or after your session. Not sure you’re doing something right? Send it to a coach or clubmate once practice is over.

4. Incorporate Variety: Mix different drills to keep sessions engaging and comprehensive.

   1. Shadowboxing vs Pell: Shadowboxing-style fencing (i.e. fighting an invisible opponent) engages neuromuscular coordination differently than physically striking a pell, however both have benefits. Rotating between both methods ensures well-rounded physical and technical development.

   2. Approach Matters: If using a pell, vary your distance, angle, and approach to it to mimic live combat conditions.

   3. Vary the Energy:

      1. Control Work: Slow, focused on the exact timing and order of movements, point control, etc.

      2. Speed Work: Used to improve endurance and maintain control as intensity ramps up

      3. Intervals: Used to mimic tournament conditions and also improve endurance and intensity. Try a timer-based structure to maintain pacing (e.g., 30-second drill intervals, then rest).

      4. Tactical Work: Visualizing an opponent’s actions when performing more complex attacks or defenses to help bring the scenario to life.

5. Make Solo Training Part of a Bigger System

   Solo practice works best when it’s not random but part of a structured training plan that takes into consideration your HEMA class sessions, solo training, conditioning work, and recovery time.

   • Balance it with conditioning. Pair fencing drills with strength or mobility exercises for a well-rouned session, or plan which days you’ll do conditioning work in the gym and which days you’ll do swordwork.

   • Keep a calendar. Write what you practiced and what needs improvement, and plan in your calendar what each day’s session will look like. Otherwise, it’s too easy to forgo a session for another night of Netflix.

   • Track progress. Compare today’s performance with last month’s—growth over time fuels motivation.

   • Get Help. Struggling to plan it on your own? Too much to keep track of? Consider signing up for a one-time consult and let’s craft a training plan together.

Coach’s Corner: Solo Squad Goals

Getting fencers to practice on their own starts with establishing a club culture where this is the norm. Some traditional eastern martial arts emphasize only practicing at the dojo under the master’s guidance, but there’s no reason this should apply to HEMA. In fact, even with my under 18 fencers I strongly encourage them to practice on their own. Why? It allows students to play and enjoy their art on their own and not be afraid to make mistakes. It fosters a sense of ownership over their new hobby and encourages them to share it with others.

There is nothing your students can do in practice that can’t be unlearnt or corrected in class. Read that sentence and say it again. If you are worried about your students hurting someone else or hurting each other outside of class, that represents a much larger problem with your club culture and the type of students you attract that needs to be addressed. It’s your job to guide your students on what solo practice should (or should not) look like, not restrict their access to HEMA to just the time they’ve paid for in your salle.

That being said, many coaches have no idea what to suggest to students who want to practice on their own.

Suggested Solo Drills:

• For Beginners:

  • Basic Stance & Movement: Adopt the ready position and check it in the mirror. Focus on making sure the feet are the correct distance apart, the knees are lightly bent, elbows down, etc. Then practice advancing, retreating, and lateral movements while maintaining the stance.

  • Simple Guard Transitions: Move between different guard positions to gain familiarity with the names and positions. Can they make their body and sword match the pictures in the fechtbuch?

• For Everyone Else:

  • Repeat Classwork: Use solo time to further practice what was done in class that week, particularly if it was challenging or its a relatively new weapon where they can really benefit from more reps on their own without pressure to move on to something else.

  • Complex Footwork Sequences: Often the idea of complex sequence can be taught in an hour, but actually making it fluid and work takes significant additional practice (i.e. a fleche or girata). Getting good starts with getting the movement down, and typically at least parts of it can be done at home in a mirror or with a pell.

  • Precision Targeting: Use a target to practice accuracy with thrusts and cuts. This never gets old and translates to nearly every weapon.

Health & Fitness Tips

Solo practice is relatively safe, but here are two sneaky issues to watch out for when you’re own your own:

1. Overuse Injuries from Pell Work
Issue: Repeated striking against a solid target (pell, bag, or dummy) can lead to wrist, elbow, or shoulder strain—especially when training with a heavy weapon.

Prevention Tips:
✔ Vary your strikes—don’t repeat the exact same motion for hundreds of reps.
✔ Focus on relaxed grip mechanics to avoid excessive tension.
✔ Rotate your striking arm—alternate lead hands or integrate two-handed drills.
✔ Limit high-volume sessions to 2-3x per week and supplement with lighter drills.

2. Lead Knee Stress
Issue: Repetitive lunging or aggressive footwork drills particularly with one leg can exacerbate patellar tendonitis or anterior knee pain

Prevention Tips:
✔ Warm up fully, i.e. with dynamic movements (leg swings, walkouts, hip circles, etc)
✔ Wear athletic shoes (specialty fencing shoes or indoor athletic shoes) and never practice barefoot.
✔ Strengthen posterior chain muscles (glutes & hamstrings) and the inside thigh muscles (adductors and vastus medialis) to balance the stress from fencing lunges.
✔ Listen to your body and avoid extensive lunging and fancy footwork if you’re tired from prior sessions. Plan rest days—especially after heavy footwork or striking sessions.

Conditioning Move of the Week

Solo Practice Drills on Youtube

Instead of a single drill this week I bring you an entire Youtube playlist! Originally started for some of my students, I’m happy to share with you this playlist of footwork drills you can work through as a part of your own home practice. No weapon needed!

Upcoming Events

P.S. Share this newsletter with fellow fencers looking to enhance their solo practice!