Loosen Up!

"Stab some people for me!"

"You got it, love!"

Yep, it's a normal conversation for us, and my wife's way of wishing me a good practice and encouraging me to work hard.

Since I began fencing, I noticed, and it was mentioned to me, on a few occasions, that I always seems to start my matches a bit stiff and a bit too cerebral (see past post "Out of the Head, Into the Hands").

I headed down to practice, listening to Disturbed and just not giving the upcoming practice a lot of thought outside of stabbing a few people for my wife.

As I faced my first opponent and just before saluting, I bounced up and down a bit (something from my fighter days), then saluted and settled in.

I felt myself much more fluid than usual, it led to some successes!  I worked on keeping my weight to the balls of my feet more, making my attacks, counters, and blocks flow with one another more.
There were some encouraging results.

I'm still telegraphing here and there but, hopefully, I can keep the cinder blocks off my feet from the beginning.

Now, to continue researching footwork drills!

Roses and Bear Pits

In the SCA, when a Queen's time on the throne is done, she is known as a Lady of the Rose.  Each year, these Ladies have formed teams of rattan fighters, fencers and archers to compete against each other.

This year, I had the honor of fencing for Duchess Kienna; she's a great leader and an even better friend.

Great fights, I got to cross swords with people I had only seen fence before.  Well worth the wait!

It began to rain, so it was an interesting exercise modifying footwork on the fly so as not to slide and such.

Last week, at our Glen Gardner practice, we ran bear pits.  This is when two enter, the winner stays to fight the next challenger.

Depending on the setting, limits can be put in how many wins a fighter can hold the pit for.  For expediency, we made the limit three.  By doing so, it does not give a lot of time for the body to cool down.

This was a real contest of endurance as well as prowess and a lot of fun; we should definitely do more of them!

Home Turf

I finally was able to make it back to my home practice in Glen Gardner!  It's a great group of people, with a whole spectrum of talent and skill.  Just as important, it just has a good emery to it.

I decided to work on single sword most of the night, I almost forgot how much fun it it.  I'm working on maintaining my guard position through movement.

I ended the night using rapier and dagger against an arming sword (a wider, heavier blade) and buckler, my opponent using techniques from I:33 (a fascinating fight manual). They were tough fights, but a blast.

Tournament Saturday, looking to get some work done.

Catching Up

I know, it's been another stretch since my last posting.  Nothing too major has been happening and I'm still in love with fencing.

Over the last few weeks, I've been getting help with making my body mechanics more streamlined and smooth on top of making my sword work more instinctual.

Schedules have clashed, keeping me away from my home practice in Glen Gardner, but the Bhakail practice is really awesome and fast paced.  I'm looking forward to getting back "home" tomorrow night, though.

The old tendinitis is still barking now and then, and I started working with KT Tape (Kinesiology Theraputic Tape).  It's been making a difference , though I might explore the stronger, synthetic line as opposed to the cotton version that I'm currently using.