måndag 25 februari 2013

Swedish Foil Team on European Championship

Its time.
For many it was a main goal for this season, for few is just another Championships.
Sweden is sending full team in Cadets (8) and full team in Junior (8).
Chances for winning? ... not really
Chances for great results? ... not really (even if I want to belive, we need to be realistics)
Chances for good fencing? ... I hope
Chances to learn something and get more expierence? ... I wish
Chances to be more motivatet, and se what we need to do to be better? ... its my expectation

Usually to be in cadett or junior national team is quite a great thing.
I remember when I was in national team and get my "POLSKA" track suits..
Swedish fencers need to buy their "SVERIGE" track suits by them self.
They pay for travel, hotel, entry fee, referee fee and everything what you need to pay.

I always try to understand how cool is to practice whole season, travel on few national and international competitions (always pay for everything by them self) and when you get quite good results you can jump in to national team.. and pay by your self if you would like go to European Championships.

I do many things without reason, becaouse I want it, and I just hope that my fencers do fencing with same motivations..
I see no carrot in this system, so I can just wish that mine students parents have good economic situation and their kids likes fencing and has great motivation to work hard.

This is f..g annoying

I promissed to avoid criticism.. so I cannot write more about it.

So here we go, those foil fencers we can see on fencing pistes in Budapest:

Women - Cadett
Ester Schreiber, GFK, 1997, rank 1, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Linn Löfmark, FKC (but GFK actually), 1996, rank 2, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Harriet Rundquist, EGF, 1998, rank 3, coach Tomasz Goral
Julia Engström, EGF, 1997, rank 4, coach Tomasz Goral

Men - Cadett
Josef Rizell, GFK, 1996, rank 1, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Elis Wickman, EGF, 1996, rank 2, coach Tomasz Goral
Carl Ahlgvist, MF19, 1997, rank 3, coach Dmitri Lee
Vincent Mindelöf, EGF, 1997, rank 3, coach Tomasz Goral

Women - Junior
Ester Schreiber, GFK, 1997, rank 1, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Linn Löfmark, FKC, 1996, rank 2, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Alice Engström, EGF, 1995, rank 3, coach Tomasz Goral
Alida Falkenström, EGF, 1994, rank 4, coach Tomasz Goral

Men - Junior
Julius Martin, GFK, 1994, rank 1, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Simon Rizell, GFK, 1994, rank 2, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Josef Rizell, GFK, 1996, rank 1, coach Henrik Lundegard*
Ludvig Flyborg ÄFK, 1993, rank 4, coach Aliksandr Siniak

*You should know that Martin Roth Kronwall is working as a coach in GFK too, but Im not sure which fencers hi is working with, so as a know Henrik is a head coach, so I wrote head coachs name behind all GFK fencers, it can happend that Martin should be there too. :)

Maybe for few of you it seems little "boring" that 2 clubs has so many fencers in this team...
I will wrote about it little latter.

Good Luck for all fencers!
Remember is always just 1 hit which is counting right now... and than another one.




lördag 23 februari 2013

A Championship effort


I found very good text by David Littell . So I hope you will enjoy it too.

Maybe some of you will understand little more what coach are saying now.

 

Since retiring from competitive fencing I have turned my fencing energies toward coaching. I expected that this experience would require teaching fencing skills, strategy, and motivation. But I had not anticipated that it would be hard for students to understand what it took to be good at a sport. I had been an athlete for so long that this stuff was just part of me. Over the years I have been struggling to find the words to explain to my students what I think learning fencing, and for that matter, any sport is all about. Here it is.

 

I hope that you love fencing. Please, please, please, do it because you enjoy it. There are so many sports and other activities out there to pursue. Do yourself, your coaches and your families a favor, pick activities that your really love. I’ve never met a parent that doesn’t want that for their children. Also, I’ve never felt bad losing a student to another passion. I only feel bad losing a student to fear, lethargy or lack of commitment to anything. In addition, if you look around almost all the greatest athletes are the ones who simply love playing their sports.

 

I expect that you will try as hard as you can to master the skills. This is often the hardest. Although it seems simple, it’s really a complex idea. It requires that you appreciate several key concepts of sport. One is " it is not as easy as it looks". Each and every one of us is guilty of this one. Somehow, in the human experience, we think if you can do it, I can. The second concept is "mastery is in the details." Getting good is as simple as learning to master the skills. However, no matter how many times I say this most students don’t practice their lunges, extensions, disengages, footwork and other fencing skills. I wish I could come up with other ways to say it, but the bottom line is learning requires more practice then you can imagine.

 

Develop an appreciation for how hard it is to master your sport. Mastery is difficult. In fencing you have to master a million skills, put them together in some orderly fashion, develop strategies for different opponents, and learn to do this under pressure. Then you have to start over at every new level of competition. Getting good is hard. Truly knowing this also means that when you do succeed you will enjoy it more. If you ever listen to athletes on TV you notice that the best athletes have a sense of humility about competition. They know that every time they go out there anything can happen. This respect for competition comes usually after losing and getting up and trying again. And when these athletes succeed, you can sense the appreciation even the awe of their performance. On the other hand are those athletes who get frustrated and quit. In my estimation, many of these never appreciated how hard it is to get good. They act defeated and as if they have a lack of self-confidence. They say things like, "I should be farther then I am", and "I can’t believe how bad I am". When I hear this I don’t hear a lack of confidence, I hear overconfidence. In most cases the reality is your right where you should be!

 

Clearly decide where fencing fits in your life and go for it. This means figure out how important this is to you now, balancing your other interests and responsibilities. This requires looking at the time available, your level of interest and your goals. I primarily see the function of goals as helping you determine how much work your going to do. Once this is done, now get down to work! Establishing priorities helps you get what you want and also helps you to enjoy the journey.

 

Become coachable. This is easy for some and almost impossible for others. It requires the belief that you need something, that the other person can offer it, and a willingness to diligently try to master what they have to offer. It seems to me that most fall down in the first category. For many different reasons people have trouble opening themselves up to advice. Be it fear, embarrassment, bad experiences in other learning environments (like school) or overconfidence, opening up to advice and new ideas is hard. Also, know that if you’re going to be great, you have to learn to become coachable. At the same time, I don’t think being coachable means being blindly following the leader. You have to learn to be discriminating. At times, I am certain that you will have to reject some advice- and it might not feel easy to do.

 

Learn to make an honest and rigorous self-evaluation. This means giving full weight to both the positive and the negative aspects of your game, your training program, and your competitive demeanor. If you don’t appreciate your strengths, two things might happen. One, you’ll get depressed and discouraged. And two, even more dangerous, you might throw away what you do best. Another trap here is that sometimes what seems to be a weakness is really a strength. For example, if your best move is your counterattack- it may not mean that it’s time to start over. It may only mean that you need to figure out a better way to set up your counterattack. On the other hand, it’s also important to be able to look at your weaknesses openly and honestly. If you don’t you’re doomed. Saying after every loss "I choked" isn’t going to get you anywhere.

 

Learn to reach out for what you need . Think big. Many people have a closed view of where to get help. The coach, the coach the coach. You, not the coach is at the center of your fencing. This is your activity and the coach as well as the rest of the world is full of tools that will help. Please try and stay and touch with the fact that fencing is yours and where you go with it is up to you. Other life. Part of thinking big, means knowing that what is going on in your whole life can impact on your fencing. For me, those people in my life that support and value me for things other then fencing- have been crucial to my athletic success. They helped to keep fencing in balance and to never seem to important. Also, in many cases, the stuff that keeps us from getting good at fencing has to do with problems outside the sport. When I went to the Olympics I met many athletes, who were not problem free, but had overcome personal problems in order to get there. Keep your ears open. If you listened carefully, everything that you need to know to become an Olympic athlete was said on television by the athletes during the recent Atlanta Olympic Games. Be creative. When you read biographies of athletes, you see that each had a unique road to the top. Many times they chose unusual and creative paths based on their own personalities and experiences.

 

I expect that you will practice good sportspersonship This is not easy, and I have carefully chosen the word practice. It also means that if you fail, you apologize immediately. Still, I’m not sure that I say this enough to my students- it does really mean a great deal to me. One of the hardest parts of being a good sport in a one on one sport is appreciating your opponent’s efforts. It’s easy to be miserable, but it truly is important for you to say to your opponent, congratulations on your performance, today you were the better fencer. And the fact is, it’s true!

 

I expect that you will try to try to win until the last touch. All you can do is try. And as easy as that sounds, it is almost impossible. Almost all athletic contests are over before the end. Most times one of the athletes has conceded by the end. It’s so hard- yet so simple- try and win this touch, then after that try and win the next one.

I want to finish by saying that often fencers and their parents ask me if I think that they can make an Olympic team. This question is unaswerable, especially in a sport that has so many paths to success. However, what is almost always easy to say is "I believe that it will be a valuable experience for you to pursue a goal of making the Olympic team". Because, doing so means having to pursue mastering all of the goals that I just mentioned, and these can help you in any pursuit that you choose. Also notice that this same process goes for pursuing much less lofty goals. If you succeed at most or even some of these goals, you will take something away from the sport that will be invaluable throughout your life. Also, I, as the coach will be completely, totally, and absolutely satisfied, even if you lose 5-0.

 

fredag 15 februari 2013

When spotlights shut down

Nobody thinks about it, nobody thinks about it so much because everyone hope this is not about him.
But what if things go not exactly as we thod?

Most of us dont think that things can go wrong.
We do fencing, sometimes whole life, running after our dreams.
We achieve our goals and give great moments to our fans, federations and sponsors.
Big time when carrier is end. New life, sometimes just same but on other side, when you decide to work as a coach, or get great position in federation. Some of us are great lawyers, doctors, politics or businessman.
Fencing people usually get what they want, we are succesfull people.
We are great fencing family. Fencing give us our best friends, fencing give us our wives and husbands.
Here are people we can count on in hard times. Thats why Im writing this time about Jacek Gaworski. I hope, there is someone who will read it and can help Jacek as many others fencing friends already do.

There are things we cannot controll.
Illness or accidents which change our life in few seconds.

Jacek Gaworski was a great fencer, I hade oportunity to meet him on the piste. I was young cadett when hi was att the end of his succesfull carrier.
But after all fencing duells in his life, Jacek has one more to win... this time about his life.

Video with slideshow about Jaceks carrier

Multiple Sclerosis became a opponent that Jacek need to fight against now!
Jacek is great fighter, and never give upp. Hi is doing well! But hi need our help.
Fencing, this time on wcheelchair is helping him... and fencers helps him too!
Unfortunatelly health system in Poland cannot help him. There is many administrative bulshit rules.
MS get also help and try destroy Jacek together with cancer, but Hi got us in this fight!
We are members of Jacek Gaworski team..
Hi started foundation "Help fight about life"
Hi can count only on us, other fencers!

About Jacek Gaworski

About Foundation "Help fight about life"

måndag 11 februari 2013

About sport in Poland..

There is a lot of discussion about Polish sport now. Big changes, new ideas, seems like sport ministry has no idea how sport works.
I would like to share my opinion about it. Its about Poland.. my country, its about sport.. my love.. so this is important!
I have many friends working there, coaches, PE teachers, instructors.. all trying hard to make champions! I wish them well, but when I see what hapend there Im not so optimistic.

I was thinking about it, read about it a lot, so I have questions and few answers too, few ideas also.

Its a big reform in polish sport on the way. Sports became divided to 3 categories and depends on it will get, or not money.. team sports are separate categories.
Many questions, many very bad ideas, but I found also quite good, just quite good.
It can works, but is polish sport ready for changes like those?

Is it so hard to find a guy (for me guy means also women in this case) who know his things about sport, and has idea how to manage polish sport?
Is it so hard in 38mln people country to find a 1 person like this?
Our sport ministry Joanna Mucha maybe is a good manager.. but no shit about sport.. and in sport its not enough to be good manager.. you need to fell it.

I totally understand that is not so easy to find right person just because of politics reasons..
but fuck politics reasons!..
its about sport... NO GAMES (politics).. JUST SPORT.. as a Mell Gibson said in one movie,

Is it so dificult to make a team of people who can help a sport ministry to manage sport in country?

There are many specialist in Poland, in every sport! Very good coaches, sport directors, people who knows how sport works, people who has ideas how this sport can works better.

Is it so hard to ask every sport federation or the main organisation for it and delegate one or two people to represent their sport and present what this sport need to be better?

Maybe every sport should present some kind of program, without all this bullshit "we will" .. just write what kind of ideas is possible to start in practice, what can give more kids doing this sport, what chances for succe have they, show how situation looks today, how many coaches can and will work for it, how many clubs are interested to work hard for better future, what possibilities have they, what kind of projects can start together with schools, what kind of project can this sport start on "comercial" fields - becouse there are sport which have little easier to get money from there.

Later every project can get own budget.. no money just for ferederation or sport, just money for speciall projects and special group of people who will take care about it.. without totally unnecesary administration. this is olso part of new ideas, but the way how it became annonced and way how poeple from goverment make it its not best one.

What is important people who decide about it should understand that sport need a time and stabil situation, is impossible to start some kind of project "make a champion" during 2 or 4 years..
yes is impossible if you already have "almos champion"
but Im talking about working on the ground of piramids.. with small kids, with clubs, with schools...
we need a thousands kids trying be champions.. to get one champion!

Is it necessary to have sport ministry?
Many countries havent and they works some how.
How much it cost to have sport ministry? Many people working with sport "on the papper", many departaments... milions of polish zloty which can be used to work with kids

Poland have good Olimpic Committee and there is many great people there, everything they do around olimpics works, so maybe they can do everything around sport in Poland?
Offcourse its need bigger reorganisation to do it, but is it impossible?

How much money we can safe on administration and use to real projects when we have just one organisation takin care about sport?

How much money we can safe if we liquidate all regional administrations?

Is it so hard to look around and watch how others do, if they do good maybe is a worth it to try that same?

Its not so easy to copy some solution from another country, but there are always som details of whole solution which can help others be better.
Academic sport like in USA.
Army, Police sport like in Italy (especially in fencing)
more commercial solutions in sport like in GB or USA that people pay quite a lot for it becouse until some level you will not get any money from goverment

I read also that 1 $ invest on sport with kids can help save around 6 $ on health care
Is it not good idea to make som kind Super project with ministry of health, education and sport ?

Maybe even financiall ministry could help and arrange som kind of speciall rules for business, that companies can count "off" all money they put to the sport? its working in other countries (Hungary).

There is many ideas to get better. BUT
Ideas its not all, even if ideas works and money come, more places to make sports builds..
we need good people who can take care about sport!
Proffesionall people. Coches, instructors, PE teachers, sports managers.. with good education, knowledge, and what is even more important...passion!

I see one big problem in Poland... 50 years of communism!
It was a great time for sport! ... but there is no communism anymore around..
unfrotunatelly a lot of people still thinking like during communism..
"we should get money.. becouse.. we should" :)

Its quite easy to change some system, make it new... but change people its not so easy.
so maybe its time to say "thank you and goodbye" .. give chance to younger without "bad habbits".

Sport in poland need young blood, wise solutions, and time with stabil situaton around it.

lördag 9 februari 2013

måndag 4 februari 2013

Dreams

I have a dream ...
Many knows those words, but there are dreams which comes true actually.

Many of us dreaming to be Champion..its quite simple and popular dream for every sportsman
(I think)..
and many sportsmen become National Champion, World Champion, Olimpic Champion, few of them even many times. Heroes!

There is always some one else who is standing behind those Heroes... I would like be this man standing behind a Hero.

Its always same draft..
It start with dream, passion, than you make a plan, plan how to do it, than you need a lot of consequence, maybe little luck to step by step come closer..sometimes earlier than You thod, sometimes later, sometimes.. never.

There are small dreams, plans raither.. "I will do it", "I want it".. and you do it, and you have it.
Simple. Because you are ready, you deserve it.
When it hapend, you say: it was good day, it was god practice, it was good, it feels good

There are bigger dreams, dreams which demand more from you, more work! more conseguence!
more efforts! more sweat! more tears! ... more pain!
And when it hapend, you cant stop you happines... few moments is the best reward for all this hard work.

There are great dreams, dreams you can reach only by heroic work, heroic conseguence, heroic effort.. and what is most magic in the sport.. without any guarantee that you will ever reach it.
And when it hapend, you cant stop you tears, you cannot breathe, you cant stop thinking "I make it.. now I can die"

If you are lucky, if you work hard enough you will get earnest of it.
Earnest of you dreams.
I think sometimes is just enough to go forward.. to run after you dreams.
Usually earnest make you stronger. Make you more motivated in your work.
But not always.. shit happends and you need to go forward!

There is no guarantee that you or I will reach our dreams!
But I think its worth to just try it..
Try to make it hapend.

I make my dreams come true.
Not all, but quite many, maybe I have quite simple dreams, or maybe I just choose right steps I should take to go still forward and reach my dreams.

I always have one rule:
Everything you do, do your best!
Its not easy rule... and I need to say that sometimes I need to give up.. go back or wait.. and try it again.

As I wrote before I never planed to be a coach... it wasnt my dream.
BUT
Im coach, and I believe that this is the best way for me, best way to create something!
I have dreams about creating, I wanna be great creator
Im not sure if I will create something as a coach... I will try!

Im quite sure that I will work hard to make it happend.
As a man with great passion for fencing.
As a man with dreams about fencing.

Some day I will open door to great fencing center...

Some day I will meet a boy or girl with great passion to fencing, and togheter we will do something no one have done before

Some day I will show them all results of my work, something speciall

Some day I will be surrounded by houndrets of my fencers, my pupils

Some day I will stand behind swedish foil fencer.. olimpian

Some day I will meet my old fencers with their kids who will start fencing too, with me, next generations

Some day, some one really good will replace me, some one who get this passion from me

What about your dreams?