Special Topics USFCA Clinic - High-Engagement Epee Clinic for Coaches

High-Engagement Epee Clinic for Coaches

This clinic will provide participants with the understanding and tools to successfully turn a young athlete

into an elite epee fencer. Specifically, this is a highly intense, interactive epee clinic. It will allow

participants to:

- Integrate peak-performance and risk-management in epee coaching methodology

- Transfer knowledge to a large group of epee students

- Establish an effective quality-control function at club

- Understand different approaches to teaching epee

- Identify and teach the set-up needed for an action

- Teach the student to: observe and deceive; plan and act with confidence; execute

countermeasures; act intuitively; and react automatically; as dictated by the distance from the

opponent, which continually changes during the bout

- Break down fencing skills and abilities -needed in a tactical situation,  in the easiest and most

effective way for lessons and drills

- Inspire participants  to develop their own epee methodology

- Think like a fencing master  

 When and Where: April 19-21, Nova Fencing and Archery Club, 3505 Carlin Springs Rd., Falls Church,

VA. 22041. 

Meals: Nova Fencing will provide working Breakfast and working Lunch for the attendees.

Clinic Facilitators:

Maestro Gil Pezza (Gil PEZZA (pa2fa.com)

Maestro Marco Secco ( https://www.novafencingclub.com/coaches.html )

Maestro Carlos Valencia https://www.novafencingclub.com/coaches.html)

With the extraordinary participation of special guests:

Maestro Emmanuil Kaidanov (https://www.novafencingclub.com/coaches.html.

Maestro Damien Lehfeldt, Director of Strategic/Data (Epee) for USA Fencing

(https://www.novafencingclub.com/coaches.html)

Clinic Head Coach and Organizer: Greg Kaidanov (https://www.novafencingclub.com/coaches.html

- The Facilitators will be leading the clinic and its sessions by providing conceptual frameworks,

challenging participants with a series of interactive, content-creation, and creative problem-

solving teamwork sessions.

- Participants will be assigned pre-clinic assignments and assignments to be completed during the

clinic.

- Hand-on sessions will focus on the clinic’s Major Themes listed in the first paragraph, above;

specifically, the focus will be on CUING by the participant acting as Coach.

- The clinic may include a la carte sessions tailored to the needs of participants.

- Working lunches/dinners will include presentation/discussions such as: Peak Performance

Management System for Fencing Clubs (authored and presented by Marco Secco and Gil Pezza) ,

and Epee fencers Archetypes and Elite Epee Trends (presented by Damien Lehfeldt).

USFCA Certification: Testing in all 3 weapons will be available at the clinic for all candidates who have

fulfilled all the requirements for the exam. Testing will take place on the last day of the clinic from

5:30pm to 8:30pm.

GET THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!

As mentioned above, this is a high-intensity clinic. The estimated total clinic hours amount to

approximately 30 hours over two and half days. The “physical activity” part for the clinic aligns with

other USFCA clinics. The additional clinic hours are needed for the interactive part of the clinic

involving the content-creation, and creative problem-solving teamwork sessions. The clinic organizer

and staff are sensitive to the cost in terms of time and money for participants to attend fencing

clinics, hence, the enhanced value proposition of this clinic expressed in terms of its intense

format, goals, outcomes and topics.

NB: This clinic will cover topics/abilities that are typically not covered in epee clinics; such as, for

example*:

- scomposizione dei piedi (independent footwork)

- stretta in tempo (tightening in tempo)

- fuetto (flick) to: wrist, forearm, shoulder, inside/outside front thigh; outside, inside foot

- fuetto (flick) vs. coupe

- preparazione del colpo (set-up of the action)

- chiamata (entering into distance on the opponent’s advance)

o di ferro (with blade)

o di finta ( with feint)

o di corpo (with body)

- gioco di rimessa (remise)

- scherma sotto misura (infighting)

- colpo al piede (toe touch), ginocchio (knee) coscia alta/bassa (Low/high thigh)

*additional topics/abilities will be covered.

Hotels and Distance from Clinic Venue

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center  $115/night - 1.17 Miles

Hampton Inn Alexandria/Pentagon South  $105 – 1.02 Miles

Holiday Inn Arlington at Ballston  $62 – 2.26 Miles

Courtyard by Marriott Alexandria Pentagon South $101 – 5.54 Miles

Hampton Inn Falls Church  $119 – 3.04 Miles

Comfort Inn Falls Church $80 - 2.40 Miles

Airports and Distance from Clinic Venue

Reagan National – 6.18 Miles

IAD Dulles – 23 Miles

Baltimore - 34.98 Miles

SYLLABUS

Epee is a weapon of precision. Therefore, the epee fencer must have the underlying skills and abilities to execute

any set-up and/or action. All this, of course, is in tandem with the proper mental focus, tactical understanding of

epee as well as the ability to assess the risk for any course of action based upon ones own capabilities, those of the

opponent and the current score of the bout. (Gil Pezza – 2024)

DAY ONE– APRIL 19, 2024

I – WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

II - EPEE SESSION ONE. Theme: Establishing and/or Perfecting a Quality Control

System for Fencing Clubs – Quintessential Epee Footwork/ Bladework Abilities and Skills.

III - WORKING DINNER - Presentation/Discussion: Managing Parents Expectations

and Behavior by Establishing A Peak Performance Development and Management Systems for your Club

Fencers – By Marco Secco and Gil Pezza.

IV - EPEE SESSION TWO. Theme: Distance Moves like the Bellows of an Accordion (Gil

Pezza -2024)--Putting the Beginner on the Right Path to Learn Distance, in Lessons and Drills.

DAY TWO – APRIL 20, 2024

I - BREAKFAST – Discussion Theme: The Devil is in the Details – Teaching Beginners

how to Observe a Fencing Bout.

II - EPEE SESSION THREE. Theme 1: Close Quarter Shooting and Epee Fencing: The

Importance of Mozambique Drills in Both- A Teaching Progression to Infighting and the Remise &

Theme 2: In Search of the Toe Touch- A Teaching Progression.

III - WORKING LUNCH - Presentation/Discussion: Trends In International Epee Fencing

Epee -By Damien Lehfeldt.

IV - EPEE SESSION FOUR. Theme: Learn to Control the Blade to Fence in Absence of It –

A Teaching Progression.

V - EPEE SESSION FIVE. To Flick, Coupè, Angle or Thrust? That is the question – A

Teaching Progression.

All Clinic Session will include hands-on coaching and a selection of interactive, content-

creating and creative problem-solving activities. For each session, the facilitators will focus on

the underlying abilities and related skills, and offer a pedagogical, technical, and tactical

progression for teaching such skills and abilities in the context of group lessons, drills, and

individual lessons.

VI-7:30pm-8:30pm -WORKING DINNER: Discussion Theme: Risk Management in Epee.

VII-8:3-pm-10:00pm -EPEE SESSION SIX. The Four Faces of Speed; Educated Speed vs. Raw Speed and

Hand Speed vs. Foot Speed– A Teaching Progression on How acceleration Interplays with Tempo and

Distance and on How Acceleration and Maximum Speed are the Resultants of Correct Execution.

DAY THREE – APRIL 21, 2024

I - BREAKFAST – Presentation/Discussion: Epee Fencer Archetypes – By Damien

Lehfeldt

II - EPEE SESSION SEVEN. Theme: To Push, To Pull, to Enter- A Teaching Progression on

the Initiative.

III - WORKING LUNCH - Open Discussion on Fencing Club Management Issues

IV - EPEE SESSION EIGHT: Theme: A fencing action without an effective set-up is akin

to playing the violin without a bow (Gil Pezza -2024) -A Teaching Progression on Deceit.

V - RECAP OF CLINIC, FEEDBACK AND EVALUATION.

VI - USFCA CERTIFICATION TESTING