What I learned from Fencing
– Activity
Sabre - Fencing is probably not the best sport to give it a shot if you are not allistic or neurotypical.
My subtle dyslexic arse with a lack of dopamine gave up proofreading after multiple tries. If you see grammatical errors or some awkward sentences, move on. Use context clues to understand my post.
I found that Fencing may not be so much a ND-friendly sport.
This sport requires technique, rhythmic interpretation, ostinato internal listening, endurance, and physical stamina.
Which - lots of neurodivergent people would struggle with their whole lifetime.
Find the right people to train with. Stay away from non-supportive and condescending members or clubs filled full of them.
If you are doing competitive sports, be sure to be around the right people. The more competitive your loved sport is, the more mental damage can be caused by people being self-righteous. Those people’s effect is quite significant and may also negatively affect your performance.
Another blocker to continuing this sport is Elitism. Of course, you will face a jerk anywhere in every field. Due to the nature of this athletic sport, you can’t be helped not to be competitive. However, putting others to compare other members is just crap attitude, and I have seen this is accepted among sports clubs, especially more commonly in fencing clubs. I quite frequently have had a moment of internally shouting, ‘Leave me the fuck alone.’ It’s pretty unpleasant to hear somebody constantly putting your motivation down by comparing you with others - and of course, I never asked those shitty comments ever.
In most clubs, most of the population is under 25 years old or people who already have a full-time proxy to train themselves. I can’t afford to compare myself with those who have the time and resources for that sport. It’s good for them to do so, but not everyone has the same privilege as theirs. Some people who are absorbed in this sport (well, more likely on themselves doing this) often show off and butt in my business while I try to enjoy this sport as a recreational activity.
Those people don’t need to unnecessarily comment or make judgements about someone else like me, who is OBVIOUSLY approaching this sport as a HOBBY. I wonder why they can’t just focus on themselves and mind their business.
To be honest, I don’t care how good the fencer sitting next to me is better than me. I don’t care how suck I am.
I only care if I have improved since yesterday. I am not an olympian. I am an engineer who works like a neo-capitalism slave in the corporate jungle. My allowed time and resource for fencing is limited. The hell, Even fencing consecutively one time per week is already pushing me to the marginal line, and it’s a miracle for me not to quit it yet.
It is quite devastating to see those types of members commonly in the athletic field. Of course, they don’t represent whole fencing communities, but those kinds of people are annoyingly the most vocalised ones. The “Gate Keeping” gets worse If the club’s vibe tends to be more exclusive.
Thus, my love for this sport won’t be in despair. Albeit, I have to try and have a bit of taste in various clubs. I was lucky enough to find a club where the coaches were aware of my style and willing to tailor their teachings to my state. The only cons are…they locate pretty far away from my town.
Advice is valid only when it’s asked.
It’s okay to provide pieces of advice to other members - but only provide them when it’s asked. People who provide advice when no one asks are pretty bad at themselves.
Either what they know is quite outdated, or they don’t track my learning curve in real time - their advice did not suit me, which can misdirect you in the wrong direction or encounter against your fencing philosophies that are specifically tuned to your progress. However, those people giving lousy advice always dare to have the audacity and constantly interrupt my training or retro-reviewing moments after my bouts. I am like, ‘Thanks for your attention…but I will only listen to my designated coaches, so leave me alone.’
Unless you have an iron heart to easily ignore those words, stay away from anyone giving unwanted advice or nasty comments about your current performance. They don’t care whether you are improving out of your ongoing endeavours. They only see your imperfection so they can feel better about themselves; They are not interested in walking along your fencing journey.
They only care about themselves being self-righteous and will judge you because your current status is lower than theirs. They don’t see how far and outward I have made but only compare their seven or ten years of experience towards me, who only fenced eight months.
Stay close to members who support you and weed out the annoying ones. How to find who the right people are? Trust your gut. You will know.