the technician and the warrior

[anotheranon]

I'm reading Czajkowski's Understanding Fencing. The primary audience is coaches, but I picked it up at Nationals after flipping through it and seeing a lot of potentially useful information about sport psychology.

I've hit his chapter about two extreme types of fencing personality, which he calls the "technician" and the "warrior". They are polar opposites in motivation and how they measure achievement. Oversimplifying grossly, the "technician" is motivated by the process of learning and feels rewarded by gradual improvement, while the warrior is motivated by competition and feels rewarded by winning. According to Czajkowski few fencers are exclusively either but most lean towards one pole or the other.

I'm definitely more technician: curiosity fueled my getting involved with the sport in the first place and searching for the "sweet spot" in my own game is what keeps me in it. Sure I like to win, but I can honestly say I've never been bent out of shape over a lost bout - not at my opponent, anyway.

Which are you? What do you make of your opposite(ish) number? Or is Z.C. completely off base?

Comments

[kiya.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I'm not sure. I LIKE winning. Always have. BUT, my emphasis isn't on the that moment but on the technical aspect of what it takes to win. I LOVE the technical details, not of the learning as it applies to myself, but of the breaking down an opponenet. Working out that strategy. What works for them, where are their weak spots and how can I take advantage of them. On what side of the equation does that fall?

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

If you love the process more than the win, my guess would be you lean towards the technical. FWIW, I don't think I've met very many warrior "win or die" types, but that may be because of the company I keep :)