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.