16: Nightcrawler (Jamie Braddock)

As I am fluent in German I saw no reason not to talk to Kurt in the language. If nothing else he was going to want to know how he did, and he was going to hear some stuff he would not want to hear. It would be better if those within earshot didn’t understand what I was going to have to tell him.
“If your tail comes into view Kurt I am considering it a valid target. Remember what I said about disrupting the piste. You might want to look at keeping that under control.” I quirked a grin at him as I cracked my fencing jacket open. “I reckon I can score a hit there easily enough, now I have seen it move. It’s clear that it is integral to your balance.”
I plonked myself down on the bench that was set off to the side of the piste.
“Your basic starting stance is good. Now… I am taller than you so I will be in range before you, I think you can see the sense in that. Shorter fencers can compensate with good technique, footwork and distance management. You need to work in all those areas. But you are fast, and you are aggressive on the piste. Your father might have trained you well, but that training has slipped, you’ve learned a lot of bad habits. So you are going to need some remedial training. I can see from how you stand before we fenced you have had training. But there’s a lot to do. You might win a bout or two but your chaotic approach will only bamboozle an opponent for a while. Fencers above a certain level can spot holes in technique and use them against you to score points easily. If I fenced you properly I would beat you fifteen to zero.
I could see the disappointment on his face. “Cheer up matey, all is far from lost. We go back to square one and start again, while you unlearn almost everything you know about fencing.
I asked him what were the two things at the core of fencing. He knew, attack and defence. I was aware that he knew the fundamentals already, this guy could be phenomenal. On the attack your biggest flaw is your accuracy, once that improves you will increase your hit ratio. A good fencer can hit to the wrist, the arm, even the foot. You have speed and reflexes. Once your accuracy improves, you will be able to take advantage of the slightest opening.”
I could see that he wanted to fence, and tossed him a tennis ball, it was deliberately off centre but he caught it without effort.
“Hang that in the corner of your room, you can see the height that’s needed from the one we used over there. I want you to practice until you can hit the ball fifty times in a row without missing it once. Stick to simple attacks, no lunges, just a simple extension of the arm.
“You Gil and I will do one on one training each weekday morning from five thirty. I can get you to the next level Kurt, but it is going to be a lot of work.”