I had a fantastic night at Krav. I got to use my brand new MMA gloves for the first time, and after practicing blocks and counters, we got to do some sparring.
At one point I was working with a fellow who is roughly twice my size: tall, broad, experienced with Krav. Anyway, because his reach is so long, I knew I’d have to get in there to be anywhere close to my striking distance. I did get in there, and I missed a block, and he legit punched me in the face.*

Now this fellow is very kind to his training partners, and it was not his intent to punch me in the face, so I got to see the look of “Oh, shit, I just punched this little gal in the face” flash through his eyes. So before any of that can leave his mouth I started laughing through my mouth guard (I stress-cackle, apparently) and moving in for my next attack. I earned a little street cred and had an awesome practice with some real-life application.

I came home and told Nik that since we’re sparring in Krav, he’s going to need to re-calibrate me each time I fence so that I don’t get too in the zone.

I feel so alive.

*This is why we wear gloves and sign waivers. I’m fine. I don’t even think I’ll have a sweet bruise for work tomorrow.

I realized I essentially taunted anyone paying attention by hyping you up for a visit from my mentor and then never posting about it again.

The visit went really well. I didn’t get to fence with him a lot, but my students did. He had some advice for each one and had nice things to say about everyone. I think everyone had a really good time.

On Friday, we had a short class (Fridays are always 1.5 hours instead of 2 hours), and I spent some time working with a student who has some spatial relation issues. If any of you out there in the fencing world (or the contact sports world in general) have any insight on how to help her, please drop me a line! In the meantime, we’re working slowly with the building blocks we have.

On Saturday, my mentor found out that he has won the new highest fencing award in the SCA. He’ll become a Master of Defense the first week of December. I’m so proud of him, and I’m excited to help him with the event to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Last night at Krav we went back to basics and worked on technique. It could have been tedious, but I thought it felt really good to work on that stuff, especially since I could feel the difference in my legs. I remember when I first started and how sore my calves would get. My calves are still sore, but they held out so much longer. It’s a little improvement, but it’s an important one.

Last week at Krav I trained so hard I forgot what day it was. I said, “See you Wednesday!” to my friends as I was leaving, and they looked at me, confused, and said, “…it is Wednesday.” I’d call it a good night.

This is the month that we’ll start training toward passing the proficiency tests. I’m super stoked to see the new curriculum tonight.

On Friday I got to go to fencing. I spent the session helping a new lady fighter. I’m trying to figure out how I can help young women who are new to the sport make it work with their body mechanics.

My mentor is coming to town this week, and he’s going to visit my students. I can’t wait to see him and to see him interact with my “kids.”

All in all, I’m just super excited about all the fighting in my life this week.

Oh, yeah… I dropped one pants size.

Today on my drive home from Krav, I realized I wasn’t in any pain. I wonder how long I’ve been not hurting.

Oh, and BTW, I’m drug free. No ibuprofen before or muscle relaxers after.

I’m looking forward to taking my Krav evaluations when I get to that point. It’s not what I was looking for, but it’s nice to have a measure of progress.

Still haven’t done a lot of fencing lately, but I’ll keep you posted when I do.

I know it’s been awhile since I updated. I got a tattoo last Tuesday and am letting it heal, so I haven’t done much fighting.

I did attend a fencing event last weekend. I took classes and marshaled the field. It was nice to absorb knowledge without worrying about when I was supposed to be on the field to fence. It was lousy that I couldn’t fight, but my friends were all supportive even if they were disappointed. People I respect told me that I’m on the right track. I’ll be cleared to fight next Tuesday, and after that, I have some specific things to work on.

Tonight I’ll be co-presenting with Nik at the university tonight. We put together a panel for this year’s Pensacon about the portray of swords in the media versus the way swords were (and still are) used in real life. It was the most popular non-celebrity panel, and we actually had to turn people away, so we’re trying to make it more accessible to people who are interested. We’re hoping to have a bigger space next year!

So basically right now I’m all talk and no fight. I’ll let you know when I’m back.

Day 24

Doing the advance-lunges at home is difficult in the space I’m in, but I did it.

I’m having a lot of trouble with this exercise from a pedagogical standpoint. I’m going to keep doing it while I’m looking into how exercises like these help people. However, I’ll be modifying each day’s routine into a paired drill.

Day 23

Today I went to practice and helped teach. I did my official lunges before class and while Nik was explaining hand position.

I also did lunges and basic footwork with my students. Sometimes I go to the front and help teach, but I like being in the ranks with everyone else to show that even if you’ve been doing this for a few years, it’s always good to go over the fundamentals.

The shoulder is okay. Lowering the target helps. My quads are still tight. I stopped to stretch frequently. I think this tightening might be causing me to narrow my stance a bit. I don’t know how much this change will impact my fencing. More on that later, I suppose.

Krav was rewarding but brutal today. I think my attempts to improve my running have only fatigued me and tightened my legs up so far. In addition to fighting and yoga, I spent some time on the elliptical twice last week. I guess I need to slow down or do something else for cardio. I’m also going to add more rigorous stretching no matter what I do. I always stretch before activity. Apparently I’m not doing enough.

As always, if anyone out there knows good stretches for the quadriceps, I’m open to suggestions. My calves could probably use some love too.

Day 22

Today I skipped Krav and went to fencing to see off my friend who is moving. I got to help teach and spar a little bit. I also worked in 100 lunges. Now we’re adding an advance step.

My legs are sore, but my shoulder is finally piping down. No anti-inflammatories or muscle relaxers for the past few workouts.