The Four Sons

For this I’d like to take a look outside of the fencing corpus for a moment at a text older than any fechtbuch to date.

It is currently the week of Passover. For those of you who have never been to a seder (and had properly made brisket), there’s a part in it where the sages teach us about the “four sons”, a template for how to answer different kinds of questions. Seeing as this is a model that’s been used to teach one ancient subject for years, I figured why not try applying it to another ancient field.

The wise student.

This is the student who will hound you with, “What about this?” or “How does Fabris explain that?”. At times, this student might feel like one of the ten plagues being sent your way. Whenever possible, though I try and see this student as a blessing in disguise. Truly, having a student who is so engaged they always have another question lines up is a thing to be envied. Most teachers have trouble motivating their students to be interested in the first place. Here we have a pupil with the motivation already baked in. Sure, there will be times when the answer needs to be, “Happy to go over that later with you, but I don’t want to derail the rest of the class right now.” If they don’t do take it upon themselves, make sure you still go an follow up with them afterward. People can smell bullshit, so if what you’re doing is just trying to politely tell them you don’t want to answer their questions, they’ll see right through you and might turn into a wholly different kind of learner.

The wicked student.

This is the student with the chip on their shoulder. The one who actively pushes themselves away from the rest of the community, who comments to try and prove themselves superior as opposed to asking questions to better the class as a whole. Sometimes the answer here is to let them try their genius hypothesis in front of the class and have it fail in front of their peers. Other times, though, there’s a deeper conversation that must be had. To this student you must tell that it is not enough to be at the party and drink other people’s beer. Had it not been for all the people who gave you rides to practice. Had it not been for the friend who saw your broken down tent, took you to the store, and bought you a tent and a cot you still use ten years later. Had it not been for the wisened old man in the corner who say your youthful mistakes not as a black mark, but as a part of the learning process. Had it not been for the kindly marshal who instead of hitting you with the book, brought you in and had you help out with a second chance at the very end. Had it not been for any one of these people, you would not be standing here today.

The “simple” student.

Here is the person who does not cite chapter and verse or come at you with a bone to pick. Instead, this is the student who walks by a Destreza lesson having only ever seen Italian, and asks, “What’s this?”. This is the student who emerges befuddled at the end of your exchange and asks, “What just happened?” To this student you must respond with nothing but kindness. Their questions aren’t a show of strength, they’re openly a show of weakness and vulnerability. This student admits that they have shortcomings, an act that shows incredibly bravery. You must meet them where they are and encourage them to continue with their openness and willingness to fail, not to sadden them every time they make a mistake..

The student who does not know how to ask.

This is a stage that all of us go through at some point. We step in to something new and get overwhelmed with the art form as a whole, being rendered unable to ask what to the experienced class member might seem like the most basic of questions. That right there is where you must come in. Not with hundreds of pages of theory, not with long lists for them to memorize, but instead to help give them the words to express themselves. Don’t worry about trying to get them to memorize all twenty plus longsword guards before they get to do anything else. Instead, lays out the tools for them one at a time and wait for them to get used to using one before going on to the next.

Thank you all for reading this far. This is an article idea I’ve had for awhile now and is something I’m happy to have finally written. For those of you who would like the chance to learn with me in person, you’ve got two big opportunities coming up to do so.

May 10th I will be teaching a three hour seminar on Bolognese longsword at my favorite event every year, the Constellation Academy of Defense in central Indiana.

Then on May 17th I’ll be teaching a class on finding your area of excellence at Skewered V: Tenoch’s Table, just outside of DC.

If you haven’t already, please feel free to pick up a copy of my book “Bolognese Longsword for the Modern Practitioner” available both in print and digitally at FoolOfSwords.com