Welcome back to the deep dive.
Ready to dive in.
This time, we're tackling a topic
you've been really digging into,
the role of failure in fencing.
Should be interesting.
You bet.
And you've sent over a really cool mix of stuff,
an article from American Fencing Magazine
that really made me think, some online pieces,
and even your personal fencing notes.
Great stuff.
It is.
So get ready to rethink everything you thought
you knew about failing, especially in a sport
as precise and demanding as fencing.
I'm ready.
OK, so one thing that jumped out from that American Fencing
Magazine piece, they're actually telling parents
to let their kids lose, like actively not shielding them
from defeat.
What's the deal with that?
Yeah, it's kind of counterintuitive, right?
I mean, we're programmed to think of failure as a bad thing,
something to avoid.
But in fencing, failure, it's more like this feedback loop.
Every touch, every time you miss, it's data information.
So less about, ugh, I messed up, and more like hitting
rewind on a game tape to see what went wrong,
except this game tape is your brain,
and the replays are how you get better.
You got it.
And you even mentioned this in your notes, actually.
You were talking about struggling with a specific parry.
So imagine if, instead of seeing those missed parries
as failures, you saw them as chances
to analyze what your opponent's doing with their bladework
to adjust your timing.
You mean figure out what they're doing
that's exploiting the holes in my parry,
like turning a weakness into, well, maybe not a strength,
but a learning moment, that makes sense.
But how do you actually make that mental shift
in the middle of a bout?
I mean, when I'm fencing and my opponent scores,
my instinct isn't exactly to dissect my footwork.
It's more like, ugh, come on.
And that's where Thomas' notes comes in.
Remember those?
Yeah, I sent those over.
Right.
He talks about using failure as a guide,
taking time after a bout to really analyze those missed
points, almost like watching game footage.
Like, what happened with my footwork?
Was it timing that I misread the distance?
So it's about capturing those frustrating moments
instead of letting them disappear, like pinning them down
and saying, all right, teach me something.
Exactly.
And Thomas actually gives examples
of how he used this in his own fencing.
Like, he used to rush his attacks after being scored on.
He'd get flustered, try to force something,
and it'd be another mistake.
Oh, I've been there.
Big time.
That feeling of, I got to make this next one count,
and then, yeah, it all goes sideways.
Right.
But because he started seeing each failure
as this learning opportunity, he was
able to see that pattern and work on slowing down,
redaining his composure, refocusing on his strategy.
So he used his failures to, like, hack his own fencing brain.
Exactly.
And it's interesting because you mentioned
wanting to improve your counter attacks in your notes.
Yeah, the rear.
Imagine applying that same failure as a guide thing
to your counter attacks.
Each time one doesn't land, you analyze it, you pick it apart,
look for those tiny adjustments.
So you're saying that by embracing those moments
when my counter attacks fail, I could unlock a whole new level
to my game.
Absolutely.
And there's another piece to this
that we see in these sources you shared, mental toughness.
Mental toughness.
Everyone always says that.
But what does that even mean when it comes to fencing?
And how does this embracing failure thing play into that?
It's about resilience, that ability
to bounce back from setbacks, which, let's face it,
happened constantly in fencing.
And that American Fencing Magazine article,
they had some cool stuff about how parents can help build
that in their kids, even through letting them fail.
Right.
They were saying that by trying to protect
young fencers from losing, parents might actually
be hurting them in the long run.
Exactly.
It's about letting them have those losses, feel the emotions.
But then, and this is key, guiding them
through figuring out what happened
and how they can grow from it, teaching them
that setbacks aren't the end of the world.
They're like stepping stones.
So like that saying, you learn more from your losses,
except about dodging swords.
Exactly.
And this mental toughness thing, this embracing failure,
it's not just for kids starting out.
Even pros, even Olympic fencers, deal with it.
That League of Fans article you shared.
But what about fear of failure, choking under pressure?
Hold on.
You're saying even those fencing giants duking it out
at the Olympics, they get nervous like the rest of us.
Totally.
They're human.
They feel the pressure, the expectations.
And what's interesting is that the article
says accepting that you might fail,
not pretending it can't happen, that's powerful.
So instead of I won't fail, it's OK, I might, and I'm prepared.
Like you take away failure's power
by admitting it's possible.
Right.
Because when we accept that failure is on the table,
we don't tense up as much.
We don't get paralyzed by being terrified to mess up.
And that's where real confidence comes from, not from no fear,
but from going for it anyway.
This makes me think about something I wrote down.
I have this competition coming up,
and I'm already getting those pre-bout jitters.
Could this whole failure as an option mindset
actually help me with those nerves?
Definitely.
See, when we accept that we might fail,
it lets us shift our focus.
Instead of obsessing over the outcome, which we can't totally
control anyway, we can focus on what we can control.
Preparation, strategy, our mental game.
And that's really powerful.
So not what if I mess up, but more, OK,
what can I do right now to get ready?
Exactly.
That little shift can change everything in fencing and life.
Right.
And speaking of life outside fencing,
that blog post from the Academy of Fencing Masters,
that was smart.
Oh, yeah.
Dr. Aurora's piece is like he took this whole embracing
failure and fencing thing and said, hey,
this applies to everything.
Totally.
Dr. Aurora's point is that the stuff
we learn from messing up in fencing resilience,
perseverance, learning from mistakes, all of that,
those are skills that work anywhere.
And he had those great examples of famous people who totally
ate it, sometimes epically, before they were successful.
Like, I knew Abraham Lincoln had a rough time
at the beginning, but wow, that blog post really drove it home.
It reminds you that failing isn't some weird thing
or a sign you're on the wrong track.
It's just part of it.
Like Dr. Aurora said, it means you're pushing yourself,
getting out of your comfort zone, actually
trying for something that matters.
It's funny, right?
We focus on the end.
The big win, the awesome career.
We forget about all the times we stumbled along
the way.
Like, we just want the highlight reel,
not the hours of practice and those moments where you're like,
why am I even doing this?
Exactly.
But a lot of times, it's the failures, those moments
when you trip and have to get back up, that teach you the most
and make you who you are.
There's a quote from that blog post I loved.
It said, the fact is that a life spent making mistakes
is more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
Ooh, I like that.
So playing it safe might feel good for a minute,
but taking risks, messing up along the way,
that's where the growth is.
Exactly.
When you accept that you're going to fail sometimes,
it frees you up.
You can try stuff, take chances, go further than you thought
you could.
And isn't that what fencing what life is all about?
So wrapping up our deep dive into, I'm going to say it,
failing successfully, what's the big takeaway
for our listener today?
I think it's this.
Every missed point, every time you lose,
every time you walk off the piece, disappointed,
it's not that you failed.
It's a chance to learn, adapt, get better.
Don't run from those moments.
Break them down.
Let them teach you.
And remember, those lessons on the piece,
they're not just for fencing.
They apply to everything.
So take those insights, that resilience, that ability
to turn setbacks into.
Well, setups for better things.
Take it all with you.
That's all the time we had for today's deep dive.
Until next time, keep exploring, keep learning.
And most importantly, keep fencing.