Behind the stage: András' and Kornél's story of work, progress, and ambitions

About half a year ago, Kornél Szűcs - one of the fencers of KRViSE - wrote me a message, asking to have a chat about ... fencing and stuff. We ended up talking for hours about the international scene, about fencing tactics, training objectives, working with coaches, his ambitions, and our outlook on the future of HEMA as experienced by competitors at his club. I saw an ambitious, hardworking young man who wanted to become successful in longsword fencing, and was eager to put in the work required.

A few months after this, I met him at the Vorschlag RAW event, where he gave his -so far- most impressive performance, winning the 3rd place in an international field of competitors.

The club's fencers have just returned from Brünner Stich, where Kornél finished seventh place in a field of fifty. This is an especially good result, considering that for some time, he and his coaches have decided to focus on the 'vor' style competition system (eg. Tyrnhaw, the RAW - KRViSE events, or the few years ago pioneering Paris HEMA Open) , while the Brno event used a combat-style ruleset, meaning that Kornél - and his colleagues had to be especially conscious of their tactical choices in this environment.

I have asked Kornél and András Berki (student in our coaching training program and one of Kornél's coaches), to write a bit about their experience, and progress, while having worked together in the past years:

András (coach):

As a coach I started working with him quite a long time ago, but the need from this fencer to place better on tournaments is relatively new. About 2 years ago we started to work more together, to improve his fencing. First, we established a base line in regards footwork, techniques, and overall fitness. Like most fencers, Kornél has his unique needs which as a coach I must consider when planning his training. In his case his hearing impairment is a big factor, manifested in balance issues. For him a good solution was to implement some gymnastics in the regular training. After everything seemed to be in order with his overall preparation and he developed as a fencer in a steady pace, I tried to focus on his strengths. In his case it's his long range, good adaptation ability and willingness to improve. Now we work on a weekly basis in private lessons, and he also closely work with Kelemen Tamás Pál, another coach in our association.

He has three group sessions and at least one private lesson each week. And it shows, his competition results are improving, and he is getting more confident with every result. As for the future, for his overall performance to improve we are now trying to establish a cardio regime (short distance running and skipping rope), after that some upper body strength improvement (low weight with high repetition and quick execution). For his fencing we will work more on his distance management (on the last tournament it seemed to be slightly lacking), parry-ripostes and long-exchange game. Besides all this we are working through some persisting psychological blocks. Overall, his improvement is good, and it seems to me that he still enjoys the sport and wants to improve even more.

Kornél:

As a fencer of Kard Rendje ViSE, this year I set out to do my best not just in our tournaments, but abroad as well. I picked up the interest to fight at tournaments mainly last year, and I had some nice moments as well. As part of preparation, I attend 2, sometimes 3 trainings a week, and some private lessons with our coaches (Berki András and Kelemen Tamás Pál) as well. So far this year, I had a 3rd place in our own Vorschlag-RAW tournament, and I got some much needed experience at Brünner Stich in Brno, with a 7th place. As always, I look to improve my fencing, to be well-rounded, and to be able to adapt every opponent I face.

In the cooperation with the KRViSE club, we are always looking for ways to improve the experience, the opportunities, and the expertise of the coaches and fencers involved, and it is a pleasure to see, that this work is paying off in various ways.

I hope to see the improvement that our efforts are bringing, manifesting in the successes of our fencers, and in being able to build connections with like-minded clubs as well. I plan to publish a series of little posts about fencer profiles, news of the refereeing and the coaching culture that nurtured quite successfully in the club.

-K