Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I give thanks to the First Bladesmith, the First Master and the First Student.
I give thanks to generations Martial Artist for their sacrifices so we may learn.
I give thanks to my brothers and sisters of the sword for sharing your skills and knowledge and your comeraderie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Single Passes

Tonight's  challenge was to complete fifty passes with single rapier. I'm recovering from a tendon injury in my foot from last week, but I didn't want to miss any practice.
I made twenty five passes across four opponents tonight.

Fight one was fun. My opponent brought rapier and dagger against my single rapier and off hand. They were fun passes, and I made sure to keep the dagger out of direct play as much as possible.

My second fight saw me telegraphing, due to mobility being compromised. Not a great habit, and I made sure to be conscious of it the rest of the night.

Number three was single on single, I brought a bit more of a cutting game and many of my kills were made in tight crunches.

I took breaks between bouts, I was feeling a throbbing pain start to develope, so I made my fourth fight my last one. It was a good challenge as we traded off power plays, and worked each other's angles.

So, twenty five passes instead of fifty. Eh, it happens. Healing is most important.

Rapiers and Storms!

"Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol’ storm right square in the eye and he says, “Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."

Driving home in a massive thunder and lightning storm WILL have me quoting Jack Burton from "Big Trouble in Little China", but I digress.

It was great getting back to practice tonight! Between Penssic and a broken AC, it's been three weeks since I got to fence anyone.

The 30 Minutes for 30 Days Challenge has definitely led to some improvements. My techniques are less forced and my stamina has increased.  I fenced one fight with rapier and buckler and all the others were single sword.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's practice in Bhakail tomorrow night.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 30, Final Day

Thirty days later, and here I am!

As in the beginning, my drills tonight we're all single rapier, both left and right side.

Stance training, footwork with shadow fencing and disengage training.

A lot of the motions feel cleaner and the ability to hold guard postures has definitely improved.

I used the phrase "Final Day", but I don't think it is.  I've truly enjoyed making this apart of my daily routine.  Granted, the times of day have varied, but it has not left me wanting to blow it off.  Some days, it was a temptation not to, but this is part of the reason for the challenge.

My goal is to keep this as part of my day to day living.  I will expand it into longer work outs, and probably won't do it the same days I have practice, but this is part of who I am and have been.

Thanks to everyone who have followed along, thanks for the nods of encouragement, also.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 29

Today's exercises were a repeat of last night's.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 28

Tonight, after shadow fencing and point control drills, I brought up a video on You Tube from a HEMA group in Bratslavia training Fabris techniques.

It is a short video that breaks down disengages as well as attacking on and off line.

It is mostly single rapier, then moves into dagger and cloak.

I focused on the single rapier section.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KKA-FRuDuLQ

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 27

I took a break from the drills that I have been working, and decided to work with buckler and rapier today.

For inspiration, I consulted Giacomo di Grassi's treatise "The True Art of Defense", beginning with The Manner How to Handle the Buckler.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 26

Tonight I repeated last night's foot work drills, then moving into some shadow fencing.

One of my wrists was acting up a bit, so I traded off disengage drills for stance training.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 25

For this work out, I took parts of the Fabris form and incorporated them into my footwork drills, then added lunges, parries and ripostes for the first 20 minutes.

The final 10 minutes was a combination stance training/disengage drills. Stances were held for three minutes each, while performing the disengages.  In order not to over stress my wrists, they were done in groups of 50 with small rests in between for the durations.

Right and left hands were used for both drills.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 24

Tonight was a repeat of last night's sequence plus point control drills.

30 Minute for 30 Days: Day 23

On WMAWiki.org, there's a section on Salvatore Fabris' rapier and dagger progression.

This was my focus of today's drills.

The first sequence is for solo work and is a progression of Fabris' stances that are described in his treatise, "Scienza d'Armeplates" , 49 through 70. This involves guards and movements and lunges from the four guards. (See link below)

When putting the sequence together, it's a form, (kata for all you Karate folks). I've always enjoyed forms training, and have found it to be invaluable in my Martial studies.

http://wmawiki.org/index.php?title=Fabris_rapier_and_dagger_progression

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 22

Tendinitis was twinging in my right elbow, so I ran my drills left handed tonight.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 21

This morning was a repeat of last night's drills:

stance training - three minutes per stance
point control - 150 traces each side
shadow fencing - advances, retreats, side to side and angles. Alternating lead hands.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 20

Tonight was stance training, point control and shadow fencing.

Shadow fencing was done left as well as right handed leads, full speed for a full 10 minutes using advances, retreats and diagonals.

Stance training has advanced to three minutes for each stance, changing leads.

Point control has advanced to 150 pendulum traces on each side.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 19

NOTE: Shadow fencing while The Inglorious Basterds is playing in the background leads to a rather aggressive and frenetic drill. :)

That aside, shadow fencing (like shadow boxing) was done cycling through single rapier, rapier and buckler, then rapier and dagger.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 18

Tonight I worked a variation of my point control drills, where I thrust at the pendulum, "disengaged" and delivered an off line lunge.  This was done at varying speeds, both lines and using both hands.

This made up the bulk of my drills tonight, preceded by stance training.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 17

My off hand weapon tonight was my buckler. That's a small shield with a center grip for those not familiar with it.

Because mine is all steel, it has some weight to it, so stance training went back into the rotation tonight. Being able to hold guard positions with as little fatigue as possible is important.

There are varying philosophies on how to conduct a fight. Some suggest to remain aggressive and constantly be on the attack, some suggest to control the fight from defense.  Others employ a game of attrition, "mentally" fencing, waiting your opponent out, then exploiting their first move or finding the opening needed.

Personally, I feel it is depending on the situation and who you are facing.  In any event, the latter two strategies require stoic guards and being able to keep position. The former requires the stamina to keep control of your weapons during heated attacks.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 16

I decided to repeat yesterday's drills, they felt more natural today and was able to move a bit quicker. Since I decided to fight left handed tonight (See: A Sinister Night of Fencing), I favored my left hand in today's drills.

A Sinister Night of Fencing

Sinister, from the Latin "Sinistra" meaning left

Tonight at practice, I decided to fight the night left handed. This is something I want to employ regularly, perhaps splitting my practice times between left and right sides.

Overall, the experience was good! Of course, I took more losses than usual, but I got an eye opener about how body mechanics can differ when changing from right to left hands.

Also, because I had to think more about using my rapier, my grip was more relaxed and I found my opponent's blade a little easier.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 15, Half Way There!

Beginning the second had of my challenge, I decided to add in off hand weapons. Tonight, I chose my dagger.

Guards change and the posture alters a bit. The trick to using an off hand weapon is not to get it tangled with your sword and not create an open channel that your opponent can exploit.

The first 10 minutes was footwork, using various guards and changing between sword lead and dagger lead. Also, changing hands for each weapon..

This flowed into the next 10 minutes which were parry/reposte/lunge combinations with both weapons., as always, working to not fall into the "1-2"  trap.

The final ten minutes were disengages with sword and dagger, 200 times each side, rotating weapons into each hands.

For the next two weeks, I'll be changing out off hand weapons to include cloak and buckler.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 14

Tonight was all about working combinations of attack. A trap that myself, and other new fencers, fall into is a repetition of the number of strikes delivered and tempo.

So this workout was focused on breaking that: varied speeds and timing, number of attacks as well as varied placement, and coordinated footwork so the position of delivery for those attacks (and counter attacks) can change.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 13

Today was spent at the Novice Tourney.  This is an event conceived and spearheaded by Tanaka.  I did not fight in it, I was learning how to marshal and inspection.

I decided that my thirty minutes was going to be a physical review of what I've been practicing.

I fought for thirty minutes with two other fencers. I did ok, but after not having fenced all week, I was definitely not as tight. It bothers me that a week off can have such an effect.

On the plus side, disengages were smoother, as was footwork

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 12

One of the ways I celebrated my birthday today was with footwork!

All thirty minutes were dedicated to footwork: slow then quick, linear, angles and circular, moving while changing my guards and making sure my blade stayed in point.

Great cardio while mentally running through scenarios and strategies!

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 11

Such a topsy turvy week, but there's work to be done.

Today's sets centered around the teachings of Salvatore Fabris.

I was successful in increasing my stance time to 90 seconds, though I should probably remember my knee brace for now. :)

Point control is going well. My left side still requires slightly slower movement for accuracy than my right. It will get better. Tomorrow, I hope to get outside and work with some moving targets.

As always, fencing begins and ends with footwork.

No practice this week..

I had a minor medical issue taken care of Monday morning, so I had to take this week off from hitting my practices, unfortunately.

I did go to my home practice in Glen Gardner on Tuesday.  A friend came with her son. He's 16, and a good kid. He found the fencing very interesting and talked with a few of our group, plus the Youth Fencing Marshal.  Hopefully, he'll be back next week.

I'm really proud of our practice. From the stage, I got to really see how hard everyone is working and how much fun they are having; it was pretty awesome.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 10

Tonight was a repeat of last night's drills, done with more speed where applicable.

Stance training times stayed the same, will most likely go for a thirty second to one minute increase tomorrow.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 9

My first 10 minutes were spent in fighting combinations. Stepping, parry, reposte, lunge in various combinations and frequencies. 

I'm working on breaking the novice habit of creating a countable rhythm of my sword work.

The next 10 minutes were, you guessed it, point control! I was able to increase the pendulum work from 100 to 150 times, each side.

My left side is getting stronger and more coordinated.

The final 10 minutes were given to stance training. Working the same postures as yesterday (see "Day 8), I held each for 1 minute, cycling through and back to each guard.

Aside from making my stances stronger, I'm learning to breath smoothly in the different stances, especially the more compact ones.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 8

First day of week 2!

I need to work my schedule better so I can stop doing these drills at 11:30 every night..lol

This week I introduced stance training into my regiment.  When I was training in Hung Ga Gung Fu, we developed strong stances by holding them for lengths of time, and increasing that time steadily.

Starting off with one or two minutes in the beginning; it doesn't seem like a lot, but you'll be surprised. Then moving into five minutes, ten minutes and so on.

The result is that all the proper muscles, as well as the ligaments and tendons, develope.  This creates the ability to have stronger footwork and be able to hold a guarded position comfortably. It will also develope conditioning and discipline, being able to work through discomfort with focus.

Tonight was five minutes footwork and five minutes footwork with lunges.

The next ten minutes went to stance training. I have been working with the Italian School (comprised of various Masters), Fabris being one of them.

I chose the following to work with:

Guard 1- Plate 51
Guard 2- Plates 55 and 58
Guard 3- Plates 61 and 63
(Images will be added soon)

I held each guard for sixty seconds, doing each twice.

The last ten minutes was for point control.  I did the same exercises, but used guard 3- 61 and 63.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 7

My ankle was feeling better so, after 10 minutes of point control exercises (trace the pendulum, 100 times each side) I spent the next 20 minutes on footwork combined with parry/reposte and lunge combinations.

The mojority of the time was done at half speed, as to not abuse the ankle, as well as pay attention to details of technique.

On and off line patterns were practiced, as well as turns, for a highly mobile opponent or multiple attackers.

Right and left sides were practiced

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 6

My ankle was a bit stressed this morning, so I had to leave footwork out this morning.

This day was spent on point control and static thrusts and also using shallow steps.

It was interesting,  looking to do more tomorrow.

Cutting Through a Cluttered Mind

My Martial Arts have always been a tool for me to clear my mind of stress and clutter.  Tonight's 30 minutes were needed (see previous posts: 30 Minutes for 30 Days)

Tonight, my Mother In Law took my wife and I out to dinner to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  It was an enjoyable evening.

When we got home, I saw that my friends band, Ardrenaline Mob, was in a terrible accident when a tractor trailer hit their tour bus while getting attire fixed.  This was in Florida.

It was released that there was one fatality, David Z., their bass player and that six others were injured.

Not knowing if my friend and his family (if they were in that bus with him) were ok (still don't know), my mind was a whirlwind.

My drills tonight  were not a distraction. Yes, as I began them, my mind was taken from the bad news; but focusing on technique and execution brought a peacefulness and calm to my racing thoughts.

I cannot change what has happened.  I cannot get the information I want any quicker and I have no control over what the news will be.

I only have control over myself and my actions. Each thrust and movement of the blade was controlled by me. My body's motions were controlled by me.

Each motion reminding to find peace in my small circle of control.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 5

Tonight's point control work included voids.  Many a good shot have been messed up because the rapier tip left the target and/or the body was not taken off line enough.

Continuing from last night's footwork drills, offline lunges and voids were added along with parry and riposte combinations.

Also, advancing and retreating while using thrusts to move from one guard to another.  This was a practice I adopted from the Meyer's Square in the German Longsword Tradition.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 4 + Practice

Day four was all about late night footwork!  Actually, I was happy to be able to get this in under the wire.

At practice, Malcolm ran us through some very cool "zig zag " stepping while working through third and fourth guards. We drilled in both advances and retreats.

Practice then went on to some good sparring sessions and ended with a Bear Pit. Those are always fun and we all walked out of there sweaty messes.

Once home, I decided to make the final 30 minutes of the night to be all about footwork drills.  It was interesting doing them while exhausted, but the motions felt relaxed and intuitive.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 3

Back to three ten minute drills, this time beginning with point control, slow, tight half circles around a pendulum, left and right hands.

For rapier, it's important to be able to utilize movements from the wrist instead of the arm.

Footwork was next. Five minutes slow, five minutes full speed. Today, I included pass throughs and turns; skills good to keep sharp in 360 degree combat.

Lunges were coupled with combinations, as in parry and riposte.  This moved into combining these attacks with footwork.

Performing parries and attacks while the body is in motion requires that the tip of the sword tracks the opponent.  All the angles relied upon when drilling linear, must be executed in motion.

Soon, I plan on including stance training. This is a throw back from my Gung Fu days, where fighting postures were held for increased amounts of time.

Forging ahead!

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 2 + Practice

Today (Tuesday) was an even split; 15 minutes of footwork, 15 minutes of disengages with lunges.

Like yesterday (Monday), each motion was brokent down into steps in order to keep correct posture, stance, for placement and alignment.

Disengage then moving into an attack is a staple of fencing.  My left hand will definitely need more focus.

During practice tonight, where the room was so warm, it was like breathing water, I paid attention to the details of my footwork and use of disengages.  While there was no physical epiphany, I did notice some subtle differences.

I need to keep distance and measure in mind, especially when working angles.

Tomorrow is another day!

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 1

Last year, a fencer I know took up this challenge: thirty minutes of sword practice for thirty days. For a half hour, every day, you must have a sword in your hand for your work outs.

I decided to take up this challenge and this was my first day.

My first 10 minutes was foot work. This, by itself, can (and should) be a 30 minute work out but, today it was the first 10.  In this, I broke the motions of advancing and retreating into parts so I could analyze my foot placements and balance.  The last two minutes were spent doing a burst of full speed motion drills.

What I learned, do not drag my feet, take care not to lean.

The second 10 minutes were spent practicing lunges. Again, breaking the motions into parts, working both right and left hands and working both on line and off line.

What I learned, let the rapier lead, keep the motions smooth.

The final 10 was point control. Tracing the edge of a pendulum using only wrist motions to train disengages.

What I learned, my left wrist needs much more work, don't be afraid to work small.

I am excited for the next 29 days!

Off Line

Wednesday saw a lot of buckler and dagger work.  One of the things I have been given to work on is the off line lunge, where you step off the center line and delivering the attack from an angled position.

It's important to both keep the sword arm extended and using the off hand to cover the lower exposed lines.  Obviously, timing matters as this works best if the opponent can't track your movements.

After remembering to disengage with smaller movements, I found success twice that night.  More work ahead.

Fireworks and Fencing

Well, this is in at the last minute.

With fireworks flashing and booming in the distance, we crossed blades and had some great visitors to test our skills against.

I started working on disengages and off line lunges.  Timing needs work as well as making the techniques cleaner.

There were good fights and got some buckler work in.

I also started putting together a home training program to work on techniques, footwork and stance training.

Busy days coming up!

A Night of Daggers

Our Hawthorn practice was small and we were all tried, but got some work done.  Malcolm taught us a couple of trap and parry techniques using rapier and dagger, so we pretty much fought that all night.

I did fight single a couple of times, it is important to keep skills tight with the first form.  I make it a point to do so at each practice.

An Off-Handed Buffet

"For the animal's soul is mine..."

Enjoying Disturbed on the way down to the Bhakail practice tonight, feeling pretty good.

I decided to fight all of my weapon forms tonight.

I opened up with single rapier, lots of binds and disengages.  Off hand could have been a bit more active but, overall, things went well.

Second match went rapier and buckler.  I haven't fought this form in about six months or so, but it came back quick.  Our bouts were pretty aggressive and I learned about a few new feints.

Next up was rapier and dagger. My opponent was quite smooth with her techniques and I found myself working a cutting game more than usual.

So far, all of my previous fights were matched bouts, my opponents having the same weapon form as me.

My final fight, I brought out cloak.  My opponent used a cane as his parry weapon.  These passes definitely kept me on my toes! The cane is really effective in trapping and tying things (like a cloak) up. The engagements traded off between patient and fast and furious.

A great way to end the evening.

In between bouts, there was review and discussion on technique and strategies.

I left there sweaty, tired and knowing it was an evening well spent.

Two of Swords

Of the Case of Rapiers

"There are also used now adays, aswell in the schools, as in the lists, two Swords or Rapiers, admitted, and approved both of Princes, and of the professors of this art, for honorable and knightly weapons, albeit they be not used in the wars. Wherefore I shall not vary from my purpose, if I reason also of these, as far as is agreeable to true art. To him that would handle these weapons, it is necessary that he can aswell manage the left hand as the right, which thing shall be (if not necessary) yet most profitable in every other kind of weapon. But in these principally he is to resolve himself, that he can do no good, without that kind of nimbleness and dexterity. For seeing they are two weapons, and yet of one self same kind, they ought equally and indifferently to be handled, the one performing that which the other does, and every of them being apt aswell to strike as defend. And therefore a man ought to accustom his body, arms and hands aswell to strike as defend. And he which is not much practiced and exercised therein, ought not to make profession of this Art: for he shall find himself to be utterly deceived."

                                                -Giacomo DiGrassi 1570, Translated by Kelly Hatcher

The challenge put forth by Master Orlando last night was for "every older fencer, having been fencing for three years or more, to seek out the newer fencers and for the newer to boldly take on the old. Moreover, I challenge all to take on a new weapon form they have yet to try or an old form that they rarely use."

I decided to spend the night fighting two sword, or case.  It was a huge challenge, and I took more losses than wins, but it was a lot of fun.  Because of the equal lengths of the weapons, the risk of getting them entangled was a lot greater, footwork being paramount to navigate proper defense and offense.

This is not the first time I used two weapons, the Asian Arts have dozens of forms of wielding twin weapons, yet the conventions of European Fencing, a weapon that I am still young in learning and new footwork made this a very good challenge.

I plan on purring this weapon form further but most likely, not until the end of summer, as time permits.

Round III

It's a small group that comes out to Hawthorn, but it gives everyone a chance to fight everyone and we can take a little more time to break down our matches and see where we need to improve and what is working.

Doing three practices in a week felt pretty good.  My goal at the moment to to keep a minimum of two practices weekly, if I can keep three, that will be a bonus but two is my requirement for the foreseeable future.

Round II

I finally for down to the Bhakail practice in Philly, it was as fun as I remember!

It's another great group of people with a lot of talent, I had some good fights and did a lot of dagger work and a few hard lessons on the value of retreat and regroup.

It was good to be back there.

Good Practice

We have a really good practice at Glen Gardner; a broad range of skill sets to keep everything competitive, capable teachers and a welcoming atmosphere to get new people started.

With all of this, when visitors from other practices join us, its always a high energy night!

I got some good lessons in distancing and disengages as well as creating a better flow with my techniques.

Stepping Up

When I first started, I was pushing two practices a week, then, as always, like got crazy, and I was only able to make it to one.

In all honesty, I got a little comfortable with it and Ive been working with one practice for a while now. 

It's time to step my game up.

This passed week, that changed and I got to a second practice. It was small, maybe five of us, but it was a great chance to really analyze and break down what worked for us and what we needed to improve.

It was a good night, with some really good fights.

I'm planning on  continuing with, at least, two practices weekly from now on.

Did You Fence Today?

I saw a flow chart for musicians in one of the schools I was substituting in a little while back; it was fun, but also pretty direct.

I figured I that I (and other fencers) could use something like that.  It was fun to make, too!

Steel Therapy

"Steel Therapy" is a term that many fencers I know have come to use.

It could be a rough day at work, all sorts of stress crushing in and it's amazing what a couple of hours at fencing practice can do to ease things.

This was definitely needed on Tuesday; some sibling stuff blew up and left me upset and a bit scrambled. After talking to my wife she said "you are going to fencing practice, yes?".

Yes.

Suiting up, rapier in hand and the therapy began.  There's just something about losing yourself in a match; nothing else exists except for your weapon, your opponent and their weapon.

By the end of the evening, I'm soaked with sweat, lessons learned, some laughs had, and much more centered.

Gotta love Steel Therapy.

Growing as a Fencer

Like any martial art, learning the sword is more about the journey than the destination.  It sounds cliché, but is there really any Master out there who can honestly claim that they have learned everything there is to know about their craft?

Each time there is a breakthrough, there's a whole new set of challenges to meet; new angles of attack, manipulation of distance, methods of attack and defense, better conditioning, and so on. 

It's a quest for the perfect technique, as we celebrate brief moments of the pieces lining up, while the sword seems to hold all the secrets: "Just get the timing and angle right, human, you'll be amazed at what I can do!"   Sometimes it's an encouragement, sometimes it's a bit mocking, but it works all the same.

A Fencer's Mardi Gras

I must say, the cloak is a tiring parry weapon, but damn fun!

I'm getting more comfortable with it, but I have to work on smaller movements and keep an angled guard.

It can encompass some pretty intricate strategies as well as simple voids and wards.

Master Orlando brought a bag of Mardi Gras bling for fighting incentives: beads for anyone who can beat him three out of five fights and chocolate coins for those whose fighting showed style as well as skill.

He is an amazing fencer, so the challenge was very real; so much so that only one of us, Malcolm, won the challenge.

For myself, I was only able to score one win off of Orlando (single rapier), but he observed that my guards and defense had improved and earned a coin.

Good times!

Cloak and No Dagger

"That I may continue in the weapons which are most unusual and most commonly worn: After the Dagger, I come to the Cloak: The use whereof was first found by chance and reduced into Art."

-Giacommo di Grassi, 1570 (Translation by Norman White)

Might as well do a quick follow up.

Last night I went to practice with my dagger sitting home and a full length wool cloak in its place.  Good fights were had that night as I began my "single rapier/cloak only " trek.

I began studying this form a couple of months ago but, as discussed previously, the dagger was a huge distraction.

Cloak is an interesting parry tool.  It gets wrapped around the forearm and the rest drapes.  In its use, it can mask your own sword and footwork as well as deflect and redirect the opponent's weapon(s).  It also requires a certain amount of conditioning as its a constant weight hangi from an outstretched arm.

The arm and hand are at risk, so situational awareness and position of the guards is paramount.

I'm really enjoying this challenge and after a series of bouts, I was able to qualify in its basic proficiency.

Time Keeps on Slippin'!

Wow, has it really been two months?  Yea, there's reasons, but never great ones, that's the bad part.  The good part is that I have been fencing all of this time, so..cool.

Last weekend, I joined 174 other fencers in Milton, PA for an SCA event called AEdult Swim 2017. Two days of fighting and classes with people from all different parts of the country,  and at least one from a whole other country, as we tested our skills against each other, shared advice and encouragement, laughed a whole lot and sweated even more.

There was a great class on Tempo and Measure that I took.  It was a good thing, going back to basics, though there is nothing simple about becoming skilled in either of these things and we all worked hard to grasp as much information as we could before heading back into the fight floor.

I was lucky enough to go against some very skilled men and women.  Each tested me and challenged me in different ways; every victory I had was hard earned, every loss was a good lesson.

My fencing received a couple of really encouraging compliments and some solid advice from people who I knew, but had not seen in quite some time.

My arms and legs were like jelly by the time my friends and I hit the road for the three hour ride home, and it was totally worth it!

I learned something else, as well; I have become a bit too reliant on my dagger as an off hand weapon.  So much so that single rapier had begun feeling foreign when I was fighting in that form.

I decided to put myself on a "dagger moratorium" for the next month, and dedicate my time to the use of cloak and single rapier.

Getting too comfortable is never a good thing, I have to keep learning.