Can you teach yourself fencing? Can you learn HEMA alone?

Variations of this question pop up on Reddit all the time: can I learn fencing by myself? Can I learn sabre or rapier from a book? There aren't any clubs near me… etc.

Let's pick this question apart as it could have several meanings:

1. Someone wants to learn fencing from scratch, by themselves, with no other people, and no one teaching them other than videos and books.

2. Someone already has a base in fencing (perhaps longsword or sabre) but wants to independently learn a new system or weapon, such as the rapier.

3. Someone will be largely learning alone at first, in conjunction with, as a supplement to, or as preparation for, group-based learning, sparring etc.

Also, by 'learn fencing' we have to ask 'to what extent?' or 'to what level of competence?'.

The usual answers

Many people respond to these sorts of questions quite bluntly: 'It is impossible to learn a martial art by yourself...' etc. Others say 'join a club' (good advice, if it is possible). Others say ‘you can't learn HEMA from a book’ (which is the most ironic statement ever made, given that is what HEMA, basically, is). A few people will give some practical advice on how you can get started learning fencing alone - and these answers will often be downvoted.

Of course, everyone's situation will be different. Maybe there are no clubs in your part of the world, or you can't afford them, or there are other reasons why you can't join a club or practice with other people.

If you can join a club and practice with other people, then do it! (But that doesn't mean you will never train or learn anything alone)

And if you can't join a club then you should know to what extent you can learn fencing by yourself.

Here is my honest answer to the question, based on my experience.

The beginnings

My interest in HEMA stemmed most directly from the VR game 'Sword and Sorcery', which I was using to try to rehabilitate an injured knee. I had no idea what I was doing so watched some HEMA videos on YouTube to better understand guards and attacks with the longsword. I joined the local HEMA club and got my basis in longsword and sabre, taught to me by my instructors and honed through sparring. I started practicing alone from day 1 and reading the sources, but was very much learning fencing with others. I branched out beyond the systems we were learning in the club, attempting to teach myself Bolognese side sword, rapier and smallsword. I became an instructor at the club a few years ago and so have largely been teaching others (and myself) since then. 18 months ago I started teaching myself rapier, and then I started teaching others rapier - and of course in doing so, they taught me and I honed and corrected my technique and application. I was already a fairly competent fencer before I started teaching myself rapier.

Learning rapier

I'd sparred with rapier a few times (which got me interested), but had no formal or informal instruction and no real sense of what I was doing. I bought a rapier, and bought ‘The complete rapier workbook’ by Guy Windsor. I read the book and watched the videos he provides, I watched other videos on YouTube, I read other stuff, and I wrote about Capo Ferro's system on this blog (we remember 10% of what we read, but much, much more of what we write). I practiced what I could by myself using the method below. When I could, I sparred with people at the club. When the opportunity came up, I taught rapier for around 6 months or more, and in doing that I learned alongside my students to put theory into practice. I couldn't have done that if I hadn't already taught myself rapier at a conceptual level and (to a more limited extent) at a practical level too.

What can be learned alone?

This is a quick model I've put together: a fencing system has theory, techniques, and then practical application.

Can theory be learned alone, from a book or a video? Yes, it can. For rapier, this is ultimately stringeren theory (which is similar to strong and weak in German fencing theory) and tempo (timing). This is entirely on the student to internalise the theory and make sense of it, regardless of whether it is being taught to them from a book or by a person.

Can technique be learned alone, from a book or a video? Perhaps not all techniques, but yes of course this can be learned alone, to an extent. For rapier, the following can be learned alone as long as you have the right equipment and know what you are doing:

• Footwork

• Gripping the sword

• Guard positions

• Lunges

• Thrusts

• Thrusts with opposition

• Ceding thrusts

• Finding the blade

• Stringering the blade

• Being stringered

• Disengages

• Disengages to attack or counter attack

• Parries

• Beats

• Various other blade actions, such as 'the slaughtering' and the flanconade

• Using a parrying dagger

• Using the offhand

• Void attacks

This already makes up the majority of techniques in Capo Ferro. Learning these techniques alone won't be enough, and you won't be able to simulate being attacked, having your blade controlled, being grappled, etc., other than with a lot of imagination. Any solo learning you do here will need to be repeated with a partner to hone and even correct the techniques, to learn timing, etc., and of course learn those things that you simply can't learn alone. But you can get, perhaps, halfway there.

My method of learning techniques alone

I created a sword dummy. This is a bike repair stand on which I can mount a second sword. I can position this sword into guard positions. For rapier, the most common will be Terza, with hilt about chest height and the blade pointing at my face. Against this, I can practice all of the techniques listed above. I can simulate being attacked by having the blade straight at me and close to my chest, against which I can parry. I can easily practice attacks in opposition. I can position myself so the dummy blade has an overbind on my blade, and now I can disengage and thrust, or disengage and gain a bind. I can duck under the blade and attack. I can approach and retreat with footwork. I can practice controlling the blade with a dagger or offhand as I thrust. I can position the dummy sword upright and use it as a pell to practice cuts against. I can mount a mask on top to practice cutting to the opponent's head. You'd be surprised what you can practice with a sword dummy.

Can practical application of the theory and the techniques be learned alone? No. To a certain extent, with good imagination, and experience of fencing real people, you can practice a form of shadow fencing, even against a pell or a sword dummy, but it is a very poor substitute for a real person. Practical application - the fencing against real people - is a skill in itself, and this simply cannot be learned alone. Similarly, you may have a great understand of fencing theory, but the practical application of that theory - where things do not go as they should or as you expect them to - will take time and experience.

In short, no matter how much you think you have learned the theory and the techniques by yourself, you will suck at fencing until you have learned to apply (and correct, develop, hone) your skills and knowledge against a real opponent. But guess what? You do that by learning the theory and the techniques and then applying that by fencing people. That means that, even if you learned the techniques by yourself, as soon as you start fencing people, you are no longer learning alone!

Answering the question

Can you teach yourself fencing? Can you learn fencing alone?

I have no idea if someone can teach themself theory and techniques from scratch without having first learned any type of fencing in a club or with a group of people, as I have never done it and can never do it. However, to the extent that I've demonstrated above, I see little reason why not, using a sword dummy, videos and books (I doubt a book alone will suffice). There is a lot that can be done without a partner. Yes, it is a poor second to being taught, and a poor second to learning with a partner. But can it be done? Sure, I don't see why not.

The student must also be very mindful of what they are doing. They need to look in the mirror or video themselves. They need to mimic others. I've been teaching myself stuff all my life - piano, guitar, violin, computer coding, and now certain styles of fencing. I do not believe that everyone has the same temperament or capability to do this.

It will be much, much easier if the student already has a basic competence in fencing of some sort, whether that is HEMA or modern fencing or something else.

Ultimately, the point of fencing is to fence other people, so if I couldn't apply what I'd taught myself in class against real people then I'd have no idea if what I was doing was correct, and there would be little joy in doing it. But maybe that's enough for you, at least for now?

Boxing as an analogy

In my mid 30s I decided I wanted to learn boxing. I started with VR boxing (Thrill of the Fight), which is basically shadow boxing. I bought a boxing bag and some gloves. I eventually joined a boxing gym, but mostly worked the bags and did other things to improve my fitness. I sparred once for a few minutes early on, but I was quickly gassed out and nervous. After about 3 months of bag work etc. I did a spar and was much much better. But that was the extent of my boxing against an opponent. I trained by myself 99.9% of that time, with most of that being bag work and VR boxing against a computer. Then COVID hit and I didn't really get back to the gym, and trained exclusively at home, with fitness being my main goal.

• Can I box? No I haven't done it in years as I moved house and have nowhere to put a bag.

• Could I box at the time?

  • Against a human? I don't know, probably not, at least not without gaining more experience doing that, but I think I had a good foundation and was probably at the point where I could start. Fighting a human would basically be learning a new skill on top of what I could already do.

  • Against the computer? Yes.

• Could I work a boxing bag for 6 rounds or more? Yes. Being able to measure progress like this (2 rounds, 3 rounds, 4, 5, 6+ rounds) is one of the best things about boxing for fitness.

• Could I move? Yes.

• Did I have good physical fitness? YES and YES, I was in the best shape of my life.

• Did I fuck up? Yes, early on in the VR boxing game I messed my shoulder up trying to knock out the VR opponent with very poorly formed hooks/haymakers, that was before I started working the bag. That set me back quite a lot.

  
  

You decide: did I or did I not 'learn' boxing by myself? Answer that question, replace boxing with fencing, and that gives you an idea of how far (or how far away) you can get by learning fencing by yourself.