This month, I wanted to quickly go over the importance of warming up before practice, pickups, and tournaments. It’s something that is sometimes lacking the SCA/HEMA-sphere, either out of ignorance or
To start, it gets your body prepared for action. Fencing, even historical fencing, is a physical and dynamic sport. You need to be able to move in and out in all directions and move your body in some pretty unnatural ways. Warming up helps your body get prepared for the physical demands of fencing. It’ll increase your body’s mobility, prepares your ligaments and tendons for movement (including force production and deceleration), gets blood flowing to your muscles, and will enhance your physical performance.
All of this will help reduce the chance of injury, as well!
Warming up also lets you check in with your body. How’s it feeling today? How’s that knee injury from 15 years ago doing? How’s the arthritis in the wrist? Are you still sore from your legs workout the day before? Etc. Knowing how your body is feeling, moving, and operating on a given day is super important. In some cases, it’ll let you know to warm up those body parts a little more; in other cases, you’ll know that you’ll have to modify actions to not further aggravate an injury or limitation.
Now, onto how to warm up. There are a myriad ways of approaching it. At the Academie, we let fencers who have a set warmup routine they prefer do what they need. For everyone else, we have a set routine that starts from the top down, hitting our major joints and “fencer muscles.” From there, we move on to more dynamic and athletic movement, and games to get both our minds and bodies further warmed up.
If you have any trouble areas, you’ll want to give those muscles and joints extra TLC. For me, these are my hips.
For tournaments, you’ll also want to add in a few warm-up fights, but these should start at slower speeds that gradually increase in intensity. The goal is to get used to the body moving in a fencing manner and letting your brain wake up. Focus on moving in good order, moving smoothly, and tracking your opponent’s movements (both body & blade). No one gets an award for winning warm-up fights, so use that time to get your mind and body ready for action.
It’s important to also note that some folks will need a longer warmup than others, especially before tournaments. Doors for class generally open 15 minutes before class starts for folks who want or need extra warmup time. For tournaments, you’ll want to budget your pre-fighting time wisely to make sure you’re getting what you need before the tournament begins.
As always, if you need support in any of this, don’t hesitate to reach out!
—Justin
Head Coach, Instructor at Arms
Boston Academie d’Armes
(he/him)
