|
|
Prof. Roger Crosnier Roger Crosnier, the first British National Fencing Coach, died on 24th December, 1981. In this article his career and life is remembered by Bob Anderson Roger Crosnier |
Bob Anderson Roger Crosnier |
To many of the fencers and coaches active in Great Britain today, the name of Roger Crosnier would mean very little – if remembered at all. The name may have popped up when listening to a coach relating “how it was done in my day” or perhaps when browsing through some fencing books and unearthing “Fencing with the Foil” – Sabre or Epee.
To those of us old enough – and fortunate enough – to have started our fencing in the late forties and early fifties, during that great period after the War when there was a terrific upsurge of sport in Britain, Roger Crosnier was the name mentioned in the corridors of coaching, along with Geoff Dyson in Athletics and Al Murray in weightlifting.
National Coaches were few in those days and it was the dynamic drive and foresight of Charles de Beaumont, then the Secretary of the AFA, that convinced the Government that FENCING, although a minor sport, was worthy of a grant to bring across the Channel the French Olympic Coach, Roger Crosnier, to be our first National Coach.
Between them Charles and Roger developed a system of class instruction based upon the classic French school of technique which laid the foundation of a National Training Scheme, and which proved in the years that followed to be one of the most successful schemes under the British Government.
Where did Bob Anderson come into all of this? Bob was a comparatively young (he was then 27) fencing coach who did a bit of fencing in the Marines as part of his job (Fitness Instructor) and attended one of the first courses Roger conducted after his appointment in 1949.
How Roger and Charles managed to talk the Marines into releasing Bob for three years to travel and train with Roger is still a mystery. Anyway, they did and those three years opened up a whole new world for Bob. Already skilled in many sporting activities, Roger trained Bob in the art of pure French Foil techniques which captured his imagination and enslaved him to fencing, it seems, forever.
They traveled to every corner of the British Isles, demonstrating, coaching, organizing examinations, building coaching panels and generally laying the foundations of the coaching scheme and building up a nucleus of provincial coaches who would develop clubs and keep fencing alive within their own areas.
Such names as Laurie Bennett, Frank Luckman, Ronnie Tule, Laurie Wood, Arthur Bracegirdle, Pat North, Alf Mallard, Joyce Pearce, Bill Harmer-Brown, Eric and Kit Pearson and a host of others from all over the country, bonded themselves to form the first Leaders Club and who were destined to shape the future of British Fencing coaching tin the Provinces.
But for the dedication of these coachers, Roger’s coaching scheme would have failed.
However, the example he set in all aspects of fencing and coaching was so undeniably right in those early days there was little room for argument. The few disbelievers were soon convinced by the artistry of his foilplay.
The outward, physical impression Roger gave was a total denial of his true self. A man of medium stature, mild mannered and bespectacled, changed almost instantly when the Foil came into his hand and he confronted you “en garde”. The feline grace of his movements, backed by a swordhand of remarkable strength and grace, reduced all opponents to mere pawns in his game of physical chess. The speed and artistry of his ripostes and counter-ripostes left us in little doubt who was the Master – and yet he always allowed his opponents to retire defeated but with the dignity of a few hits to their credit.
He was equally competent in offence or defence. His point arrived home undeniably on target but “placed” with skilled fingers, timing and superb control. You were hit but not hurt or demolished. No electrical apparatus was needed as there were few “off target” and none were doubtful.
His foil seemed to have a life of its own, controlled only by tactical genius and premeditation. As with all true experts, he made it look easy and seemed to know what you were going to do almost before you knew it yourself. “Could it be that he planted ideas in your mind in the first place?” we used to ask.
Roger returned to his beloved France with his wife, Madeleine and his son, Alain, in 1954 to be Manager / Coach to the leading Sporting Club in Paris, Cercle Hoche”. After five years he retired to the south of France to manage “Chez Les Ecossais” in Nice …. Lost to fencing forever, except for one or two brief visits to England and Canada.
On the 24th December 1981 Roger Crosnier died at the age of about 75. I (Bob Anderson) am sure that all the British and Canadian coaches who had the pleasure of training with this unique man would wish to join me in paying our respects to his wife and family.
He was, indeed, the Founder of post-war organized coaching in Great Britain and this country owes most of its teaching devilment to those Crosnier years. Another giant in the field of British coaching who also died recently was Geoffrey Dyson, the first National Coach to British athletes. Geoff once made a remark to a group of young coaches during one of his now famous lectures which admirably sums up the life of Roger Crosnier as British National Fencing Coach. “Remember, ladies and gentlemen” Geoff concluded, “no matter how good and famous you become in your particular field of activity, you are standing upon the shoulders of those who went before you” To the memory of Roger Crosnier I (Bob Anderson) say, “we are proud and honored to be standing upon your shoulders in 1982” - Prof. Bob Anderson BAF
|
|
|
| Sixte Quarte | Octave Septime |
|
Roger Crosnier demonstrating the supinated guard positions. From his book: Fencing with the Foil. |
|
ROGER CROSNIER
Roger Crosnier, the first British National Fencing Coach, died on 24th December, 1981. In this article his career and life is remembered by Mr. J.L. Hope.
The eldest son of Professor Leon Crosnier, who opened his Salle d’Armes in Edinburgh in 1909, Roger lived in that city from the time he was barely three years old until the outbreak of World War 11 in 1939 except only for the interruption of the 1914-1918 War and for a long Summer holiday every year when the Crosniers went back to their native Touraine.
It was this annual return to France perhaps more than anything else which led Roger eventually to choose French nationality, when he could have chosen British – and which certainly resulted in his bringing back the charming Madeleine from Chinon as his wife.
Except that he spent many long hours at Fencing under Leon’s instruction – so much so that as a younger he got no pleasure from it – his upbringing was that of a fairly typical Edinburgh schoolboy.
His formal education was at The Edinburgh Institute (afterwards re-named Melville College). His spoken French was coloured by local accent; and indeed, at one time, although that was always the language of the Crosniers en famille, he attended the Heriot-Watt College for French lessons.
Leon Crosnier was a superb teacher of the art of Fencing, and no one could have given Roger a better foundation for his career in that field. By the age of 17 he was helping his father in the Salle ‘d Armes.
|
Copyright © 2000-2012 www.fencingonline.com and Disclaimer |