Author: fencingmarie

Tuesday was not a rock wall night. I came home from work and sacked out on the couch, and Nik let me rest a bit. I appreciated that.

We lifted weights and did cardio. I noticed that when Nik bench presses, he doesn’t quite hold his arms the same way, so I helped him keep an even posture on both sides. Then Tiny Nick! met us at the gym for an extra fencing practice. I fenced a little bit, but I mostly watched the fellas fence. I took videos so that they could see themselves, and I think that helped. I was definitely Coach Marie on Tuesday.

Yesterday I had LASIK done, so I didn’t work out at all. I didn’t even get my steps in. I’ve worn glasses since I was 10 and contacts since I was 15, so this is a huge change for me. The procedure was scary because I was awake, and when they cut that flap out, you can’t see for a few seconds, but my doctor was fantastic. He and his assistant had a great manner. I was allowed to hold Lord Mousington during the surgery (sometimes quite tightly), and I was allowed to talk. My fencing for yesterday consisted of babbling at the doctor about swords to distract myself from any discomfort I felt during the procedure. We’ll count that as theory.

I know this is my fight blog, not my eye surgery blog, but because of the surgery, I can’t get any sweat or tap water in my eyes for about two weeks. I’m allowed to fence, but I’m not allowed to sweat. I’m thinking that today will be another theory day, or it’ll be a drill day. I don’t intend to dress out. I’m excited, however, to see how this procedure has affected my depth perception and reaction time. I’ve been assuming I’ll be in the same boat as I was when I was wearing my contact lenses, but I’m not sure. Only time will tell, so expect occasional eye updates. 

I’d like to do some light sparring tomorrow, but I’m not making any promises to myself that I can’t keep.

Wow, I’ve been slacking. Sorry about that, friends.

Last Wednesday I taught Krav with Michael. That went well. I worked with the P1s while he took the P2s, and then we worked on some really sweet looking kicks (P4) after everyone left.

On Thursday Nik and I met up with our UWF fencing students for some extra fencing time. I didn’t feel too hot, but I went anyway. I figured some fencing was better than no fencing. I found a “hole” in my defense. I was also having issues with one of my toes. I dropped a book on my foot a little while ago, and apparently my toe decided to swell up on Thursday. I taped them together on Friday, and everything has been peachy since then.

Friday was a regular UWF fencing practice. Nik helped me deal with the “hole.” Knowing about it seems to help. Tiny Nick! and I have been exchanging lessons on knife fighting – mine from Krav Maga and his from Fiore. It’s a beautiful conversation.

On Saturday I helped teach a Krav seminar in the early afternoon. I had trouble generating volume when teaching; I don’t know if it’s because I was outside or if I was feeling froggy in my throat. It’s easier when we’re in the gym. I came home and swapped out my Krav gear for my fencing gear and headed to the gym with Nik for extra practice with the UWF fencers. We fenced a bit, and then I got in a quick run. I managed to squeak in a mile under 10 minutes, and I only wanted to die twice. Progress!

On Sunday Nik and I went to the park for SCA fencing. Tiny Nick! joined us and helped us show the basics to some new people. We had a pretty good turnout.

Yesterday was Krav night. Michael and I taught kicks (high knees and front kicks for P1; roundhouses and stop kicks for P2s). Everyone did the stomp kick because why not? After practice we worked on some P4 blocks.

Tonight is going to be a rock wall night. I’ve slept on it, and I’ve thought critically about my fears, and I think I’m going to make it to the top this time.

Last night Nik and I went to the rock wall and attended the clinic. I learned how to tie knots and how to belay (including belay calls). I belayed for Nik, and then I climbed up. I went even higher than I did last time – 2.5 panels from the top! It occurred to me later that I don’t fall. I just kind of get up there and bail out. I  don’t know if I’ll feel better if i let go a couple of times or what, but as long as I’m making progress, I’m happy.

After that, we didn’t really have time to work out, so we ran a couple of laps and then met up with our students for fencing. Nik fenced a bit and then his the weight room, but I wound up fencing for about two hours. I was working on my aggression (and helping one of my students with his), so I feel like I got enough cardio. My shirt was drenched when I took off my fencing jacket.

Tonight is Krav night. Michael and I are going to be working on hammer punches (or hammer fists) and advancing/retreating punches in class, and then we’ll start looking at P4 for ourselves after that.

I did not fence last Thursday, but I felt my time was well spent with my friend.

I ran UWF fencing practice on Friday since Nik was out of town. I spent some time working with some newer students, and Tiny Nick! stepped in to introduce the new students to some drills. He’s shaping up into a good instructor.

On Saturday I had informal practice at my house with my students from UWF. We fenced until the sun went down and then had some “mus’ go soup” (made when you have a bunch of ingredients that “mus ‘go” in the soup)..

Nik came back Saturday night, and we had an SCA demo on Sunday. We had an informal tournament, and I feel like I did some good fighting even though I didn’t win the tournament. I saw good sportsmanship and good fencing from my students, and our bouts ran well even though people were sharing gear and trading weapons between rounds.

Last night Michael and I were back at it at Krav. I think we’re building our new core group. We have some people from before the break and a couple of new faces. I’m hopeful that we can keep the momentum going.

My biggest challenge right now is that one of my students has some trouble with coordination because of other medical issues. I’m working on figuring out the best way to adapt what we’re teaching to suit his needs.

After class, Michael and I ran through some ground work and a kick defense for P3 and worked on figuring out a schedule for ourselves. I think we’ll probably look at techniques after class and then work on conditioning at other times (either together or reporting back to each other). Last night I came home and used the medicine ball for some core work while I was watching TV. I did sit ups (wihout the ball), twists (with the ball), and ball drops (obviously with the ball). I need to inflate my yoga ball a bit more so that I can get off the floor and do some more dynamic stuff during TV time.

Tonight Nik and I are hitting the gym and then meeting up with some of our students to do some fencing (speaking of momentum). I’ll probably do some light weight lifting, but i need to do more cardio to get ready for CIC.

Krav went well enough last night. I didn’t do exactly what was on my lesson plan, but the plan was flexible, and people seemed to learn and have a good time. I did get punched in the face while demo-ing how to block. NOT LIKE THAT, OBVIOUSLY. I have a good idea of what I want to do differently next time to make my class more effective.

There’s an opportunity to fence with the UWF club tonight, but I need to be with a friend. Fencing can wait. Did I mention that cancer can go eat a bag of dicks? Because it totally can.

Last night Nik and I went to the gym and climbed the rock wall. I made it about halfway up, got stuck, got nervous, and bailed out. Then I watched him climb to the top. I tried one more time and made it almost to the top (four panels shy) before I got stuck and bailed (I didn’t really give myself time to be scared the second time). I had a really good time, and I think I climbed pretty high, even though I didn’t ring the bell. We’re going to try that again for sure!

After the rock wall, we did some weight lifting. Then we met up with Marco and Tiny NIck! for some fencing. We planned to fence 8-9, maybe 9:15. We closed the gym at 10. I’d say that was a good practice.

We did some sword and dagger work and made the boys practice sword and dagger against case (or brace – two swords). We also played with the dussacks. I showed some “hand sniping” techniques as well.

Tonight will be my and Michael’s second day of teaching Krav unassisted. I came up with my lesson plan yesterday and feel pretty good about it.

Tonight Michael and I taught our first Krav class on our own. I was nervous at first, but it went well.

After class, we talked about our plans for the class and our training, but we didn’t really work on anything. We’ll practice on Wednesday.