Thesis for the Fencing Maestro exam

Abstract

This work consists of three parts.

The first describes my experiences as a wheelchair fencing instructor, from my first contact with the sport up to the present time.

I begin by describing the disabled athlete and what an instructor needs to know about disabilities in order to do the job well. I then go on to describe my own work methods, what takes place in the fencing hall and how a training session is actually conducted. I go on to touch upon the situation as it regards fencing whilst standing (a detailed, complex subject area and one which my thesis does not enter into directly) with a view to offering a clearer picture of the problems encountered by athletes in wheelchairs. There then follows a more detailed examination of the technical aspects and how it is possible to work in the face of the limitations posed by disabilities.

This is a way of exploring and illustrating the methodologies used with disabilities, presenting complex implications and casting some daylight on the process of training disabled athletes, a sporting fact about which little is often said or mentioned.

The second part of this document covers my field research. With the aid of a specially prepared questionnaire I conducted a study of the situation with regard to disabled athletes. I have given voice to their opinions, documented their sporting progresses and even the way in which they perceive the different aspects of the work that we do together with regard to fencing. It is my belief that this is the first time, at least in Italy, that disabled fencers have been interviewed with a view to gaining a clearer understanding of what they think. I allowed them to speak in order to discover what had drawn them to fencing, how they practise their sport and the difficulties they encounter, what their expectations are etc..

In the third and final part of my work I have drawn a comparison between the first two, i.e. the instructors and the athletes. My intention is to highlight the convergences and divergences between the methodology and the athletes' expectations, between the technical aspects of the work done by the instructors and the obstacles encountered by the athletes. I have also compared my goals against the conclusions that these young people have arrived at regarding their own sporting progress.

In so doing my intention has been to highlight the strengths and weakness of my work in order for me to reflect upon my (supposed) certainties and uncertainties as well as the frailties of disabled athletes.

Taken as a whole this work has been an opportunity to look into the future, to correct, improve and rethink. My hope is that it may prove a useful resource for anyone who may choose to read it and as far as I - the person who conceived the idea and wrote it - is concerned, that it may become an additional element to what is already required for becoming a Fencing Master.

Alessio Bonino

Translated by E. L

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