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Welcome back to the deep dive.

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Ready to dive in.

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This time, we're tackling a topic

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you've been really digging into,

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the role of failure in fencing.

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Should be interesting.

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You bet.

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And you've sent over a really cool mix of stuff,

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an article from American Fencing Magazine

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that really made me think, some online pieces,

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and even your personal fencing notes.

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Great stuff.

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It is.

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So get ready to rethink everything you thought

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you knew about failing, especially in a sport

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as precise and demanding as fencing.

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I'm ready.

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OK, so one thing that jumped out from that American Fencing

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Magazine piece, they're actually telling parents

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to let their kids lose, like actively not shielding them

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from defeat.

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What's the deal with that?

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Yeah, it's kind of counterintuitive, right?

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I mean, we're programmed to think of failure as a bad thing,

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something to avoid.

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But in fencing, failure, it's more like this feedback loop.

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Every touch, every time you miss, it's data information.

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So less about, ugh, I messed up, and more like hitting

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rewind on a game tape to see what went wrong,

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except this game tape is your brain,

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and the replays are how you get better.

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You got it.

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And you even mentioned this in your notes, actually.

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You were talking about struggling with a specific parry.

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So imagine if, instead of seeing those missed parries

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as failures, you saw them as chances

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to analyze what your opponent's doing with their bladework

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to adjust your timing.

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You mean figure out what they're doing

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that's exploiting the holes in my parry,

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like turning a weakness into, well, maybe not a strength,

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but a learning moment, that makes sense.

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But how do you actually make that mental shift

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in the middle of a bout?

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I mean, when I'm fencing and my opponent scores,

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my instinct isn't exactly to dissect my footwork.

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It's more like, ugh, come on.

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And that's where Thomas' notes comes in.

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Remember those?

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Yeah, I sent those over.

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Right.

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He talks about using failure as a guide,

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taking time after a bout to really analyze those missed

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points, almost like watching game footage.

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Like, what happened with my footwork?

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Was it timing that I misread the distance?

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So it's about capturing those frustrating moments

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instead of letting them disappear, like pinning them down

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and saying, all right, teach me something.

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Exactly.

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And Thomas actually gives examples

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of how he used this in his own fencing.

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Like, he used to rush his attacks after being scored on.

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He'd get flustered, try to force something,

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and it'd be another mistake.

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Oh, I've been there.

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Big time.

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That feeling of, I got to make this next one count,

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and then, yeah, it all goes sideways.

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Right.

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But because he started seeing each failure

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as this learning opportunity, he was

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able to see that pattern and work on slowing down,

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redaining his composure, refocusing on his strategy.

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So he used his failures to, like, hack his own fencing brain.

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Exactly.

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And it's interesting because you mentioned

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wanting to improve your counter attacks in your notes.

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Yeah, the rear.

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Imagine applying that same failure as a guide thing

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to your counter attacks.

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Each time one doesn't land, you analyze it, you pick it apart,

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look for those tiny adjustments.

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So you're saying that by embracing those moments

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when my counter attacks fail, I could unlock a whole new level

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to my game.

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Absolutely.

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And there's another piece to this

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that we see in these sources you shared, mental toughness.

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Mental toughness.

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Everyone always says that.

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But what does that even mean when it comes to fencing?

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And how does this embracing failure thing play into that?

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It's about resilience, that ability

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to bounce back from setbacks, which, let's face it,

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happened constantly in fencing.

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And that American Fencing Magazine article,

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they had some cool stuff about how parents can help build

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that in their kids, even through letting them fail.

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Right.

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They were saying that by trying to protect

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young fencers from losing, parents might actually

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be hurting them in the long run.

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Exactly.

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It's about letting them have those losses, feel the emotions.

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But then, and this is key, guiding them

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through figuring out what happened

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and how they can grow from it, teaching them

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that setbacks aren't the end of the world.

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They're like stepping stones.

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So like that saying, you learn more from your losses,

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except about dodging swords.

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Exactly.

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And this mental toughness thing, this embracing failure,

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it's not just for kids starting out.

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Even pros, even Olympic fencers, deal with it.

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That League of Fans article you shared.

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But what about fear of failure, choking under pressure?

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Hold on.

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You're saying even those fencing giants duking it out

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at the Olympics, they get nervous like the rest of us.

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Totally.

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They're human.

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They feel the pressure, the expectations.

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And what's interesting is that the article

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says accepting that you might fail,

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not pretending it can't happen, that's powerful.

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So instead of I won't fail, it's OK, I might, and I'm prepared.

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Like you take away failure's power

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by admitting it's possible.

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Right.

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Because when we accept that failure is on the table,

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we don't tense up as much.

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We don't get paralyzed by being terrified to mess up.

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And that's where real confidence comes from, not from no fear,

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but from going for it anyway.

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This makes me think about something I wrote down.

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I have this competition coming up,

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and I'm already getting those pre-bout jitters.

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Could this whole failure as an option mindset

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actually help me with those nerves?

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Definitely.

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See, when we accept that we might fail,

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it lets us shift our focus.

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Instead of obsessing over the outcome, which we can't totally

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control anyway, we can focus on what we can control.

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Preparation, strategy, our mental game.

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And that's really powerful.

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So not what if I mess up, but more, OK,

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what can I do right now to get ready?

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Exactly.

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That little shift can change everything in fencing and life.

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Right.

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And speaking of life outside fencing,

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that blog post from the Academy of Fencing Masters,

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that was smart.

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Oh, yeah.

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Dr. Aurora's piece is like he took this whole embracing

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failure and fencing thing and said, hey,

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this applies to everything.

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Totally.

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Dr. Aurora's point is that the stuff

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we learn from messing up in fencing resilience,

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perseverance, learning from mistakes, all of that,

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those are skills that work anywhere.

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And he had those great examples of famous people who totally

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ate it, sometimes epically, before they were successful.

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Like, I knew Abraham Lincoln had a rough time

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at the beginning, but wow, that blog post really drove it home.

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It reminds you that failing isn't some weird thing

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or a sign you're on the wrong track.

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It's just part of it.

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Like Dr. Aurora said, it means you're pushing yourself,

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getting out of your comfort zone, actually

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trying for something that matters.

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It's funny, right?

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We focus on the end.

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The big win, the awesome career.

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We forget about all the times we stumbled along

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the way.

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Like, we just want the highlight reel,

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not the hours of practice and those moments where you're like,

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why am I even doing this?

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Exactly.

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But a lot of times, it's the failures, those moments

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when you trip and have to get back up, that teach you the most

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and make you who you are.

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There's a quote from that blog post I loved.

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It said, the fact is that a life spent making mistakes

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is more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

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Ooh, I like that.

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So playing it safe might feel good for a minute,

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but taking risks, messing up along the way,

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that's where the growth is.

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Exactly.

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When you accept that you're going to fail sometimes,

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it frees you up.

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You can try stuff, take chances, go further than you thought

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you could.

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And isn't that what fencing what life is all about?

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So wrapping up our deep dive into, I'm going to say it,

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failing successfully, what's the big takeaway

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for our listener today?

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I think it's this.

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Every missed point, every time you lose,

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every time you walk off the piece, disappointed,

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it's not that you failed.

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It's a chance to learn, adapt, get better.

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Don't run from those moments.

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Break them down.

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Let them teach you.

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And remember, those lessons on the piece,

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they're not just for fencing.

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They apply to everything.

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So take those insights, that resilience, that ability

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to turn setbacks into.

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Well, setups for better things.

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Take it all with you.

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That's all the time we had for today's deep dive.

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Until next time, keep exploring, keep learning.

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And most importantly, keep fencing.