Okay, so I left off last Wednesday, right? Thursday was Ladies’ Night. I got together with some other lady Kravists and went over some techniques that weren’t quite solid for me yet.
Last weekend was the Pensacola Renaissance Faire (and Pirate Festival). I was there for both days doing fencing demonstrations with the SCA and the UWF club. It looks like people are interested in trying it out. One of my favorite things about Ren Faire is seeing little girls (especially ones dressed like princesses) interested in swords. Nothing is better than a sword fighting princess!
Last night was Krav practice.I’m working on using combinations instead of just relying on the same one or two strikes. unfortunately, somewhere between “throw what you know” and “don’t overthink it,” I end up doing weird things that may not be martially sound. I’ll sleep on it.
My finger is getting better, but I still don’t have range of motion. I’m hoping to try holding a sword with that hand this Friday night at practice. Wish me luck.
Now it’s time to prepare for Gulf Wars. I have a week until I pack up and ship out!
This week has been wild. I hardly even know where to start.
I guess I’ll start with skipping practice on Monday. I hate skipping practice, but my finger really hurt from being in the splint, so I took the splint off, took my pain meds, and rested.
On Tuesday I thought I’d get back into things slowly with yoga, but yoga was cancelled when the campus closed because of inclement weather. A storm system with a lot of tornadoes was headed our way. One of those tornadoes touched down in my neighborhood. I lost power for about 36 hours, but my neighbors weren’t so lucky. I am grateful for my life, my loved ones, my pets, and my home.
On Wednesday morning I saw the orthopedist. He confirmed that the finger is not broken, told me I didn’t have to wear the splint anymore (yay!), and cleared me to fence with caution (double yay!). I’m buddy taping most of the time and slowly and carefully working and massaging the finger to get my range of motion back. I still have trouble picking things up, and I swear everything around me wants to bump into it, but I’m seeing some definite progress.
I went to UWF fencing on Wednesday night and practiced left handed (and took a hot shower). When we went to bed that night, we had no idea how our weekend would go. Fortunately life got back to normal on Thursday, so Nik was able to pack us up on Friday, and we headed up to Atlanta that night.
We woke up bright and early on Saturday for Meridian Challenge of Arms (MCA). This was the first ever MCA, and the turnout was fantastic (over 60 fencers!). Before the fencing started, my longtime friend and mentor took me on as a formal student under the new rapier peerage. Then the real fun began! I signed up for every tournament, and I fought all day with my left hand (with my finger back in the splint and refused as much as possible to protect it). I had some really awesome fights. Then I had some fights that I lost and just couldn’t figure out how. Then I had some more good fights. Then I had a few more not-so-good ones. It was an erratic day, and at times it was frustrating, especially since I had trouble looking back and figuring out what went wrong (more on that in a couple of paragraphs).
That evening at court, however, one of my dreams came true. I don’t care if it sounds cheesy – it happened. I was induced into the Meridian Order of the Blade.
If you aren’t familiar with the SCA and its awards, the MOB is “an armigerous [meaning it bears heraldic arms] polling order given in recognition of excellence in skill, instruction, leadership, and service to the sport of rapier, the rapier community, and the Kingdom.” In other words, a bunch of people I really respect voted and decided that I am on their level. I’ve aspired to this honor since I heard about it because I wanted to be part of that group of elite fencers. They recognized me and welcomed me as one of their own last night, and I’m just floored.
Today I have felt every movement I’ve made with my left arm. I try to condition both sides, but I used those muscles in a way they haven’t ever been used. I think I was having a decent amount of fatigue, but I was so hyped I didn’t recognize what it was. I’m home now, though, so I see a bath with Epsom salts in my future.
Tomorrow I should be back to my normal routine. Thanks for staying patient, and I’ll try not to be such a slouch about updating (no promises until after War).
I smashed the index finger on my right hand learning about getting out of headlocks on Thursday night, so bear with me. It still moved, so we kept training (falls and rolls), and then I iced it, buddy taped it, and went on my way.
It still hurt Friday, so I visited the ER for an x-ray. It isn’t broken, but I need to follow up with ortho to be sure.
Nik and I also presented multiple panels
and participated in a couple of demos at Pensacon this weekend. I fenced left handed and wore my splint (except on Friday – then I fenced left handed and hoped for the best).
My plan for the week is to fence rather than go to Krav to get ready for Meridian Challenge of Arms this week. Fingers crossed… or not.
It’s time for another catch-up post!
Wednesday
Krav happened. I’m having issues working on the body mechanics for some of these elbow strikes. Other than that, all is well.
Thursday
I met up with the Krav ladies, had a short practice (lots of kicking), and then went out for TCBY. After TCBY, I helped my fencing students finish their rapier fighting shirts. They’re going to look really sharp out on the field.
Saturday
I went to the SCA event Midwinter Arts & Sciences. I taught a class on making period fencing accessible to new fencers, and I attended some classes. I learned a lot about Paschen’s disarms and also some drills and exercises to help my students with fundamentals of fencing (explosive movement, distance, etc.). It was really neat breaking it down that way.
Sunday
I went to SCA fencing practice in Atlanta before making the long trek back home (even longer since we stopped to visit in Birmingham on the way). Worth it.
I went to UWF fencing practice. I did 100 lunges and the around the clock drill before gearing up and running a few passes with Nik. I tried something new, and it didn’t work. That’s okay, but when I went back to familiar territory, I still fenced poorly. It was frustrating, but I took a break and went back to it and ended the practice on a good note.
Monday
We worked on advancing and retreating while punching. This is one of the few times that “fencing” at Krav has been helpful.
Tuesday
Stretch it out! I went to yoga. We did a bunch of flows, and the movement really helped me stay connected to my breath.
On Friday I went to UWF practice. I did 100 lunges and the around the clock drill. I did some sparring, but I ended up gearing down early because I misunderstood when we were supposed to leave.
On Saturday morning, I woke up bright & early and took my P1 test for Krav. I passed! I didn’t throw up or embarrass myself, so I think I get a gold star. I feel super strong and empowered.
Today I participated in the Shire Rapier Championship at our mini-event Light the Fires. I lost two bouts, but they were good losses to good opponents. Every person I fenced was a challenge in some way or another. I learned a hard lesson – when you start to drop your dagger, just drop it. Don’t juggle when you’re supposed to be fencing.
Dragon-mom came out with some friends to see me fence. They missed the tournament, so Nik and I did a few passes for them. Her friends were excited to finally see my fencing, and she commented on how much my fight has changed in such a short period of time.
Today Nik and I held SCA rapier practice. I did 100 lunges and the around the clock drill before free sparring. I worked on feints with my long blade and getting in close with my shorter one. I was really pleased with my execution of things I’ve been practicing recently, and my point control was consistent with both hands. I am a happy fighter today.
I was feeling pretty good, so I put in 100 lunges this afternoon. My right shoulder/back region started tingling about halfway through. I was in third hand position. I don’t know if the problem is hand position, body position, repetitive motion, or the time spent holding the sword out in front of me. Up to this point, my back has gotten tingly from sitting down. Leaning against a seat back usually helps.
I’ve noticed that when I do this drill, I square off a lot more than I usually do when I fence. I’m trying to turn sideways to present less of a target (you know, the way I was taught to fence in the first place). Unfortunately, whenever I think about narrowing the available target, then my lunge becomes narrower, or I stop hitting my target.
hi friend! as an epee fencer, i would suggest keeping your back straight instead of turning sideways. as youve noticed, you tend to miss the target. I too used to lunge like that but my coach told me to stop – for one, it’s also incredibly difficult to do a second action after the lunge. naturally, you should do what fit’s you best but my advice to you is to always keep your back straight and to not lean – this will stop bad habits from forming.
i think it’s really great that youre doing 100 lunges every day! that’s the kind of practice that will get you far.
Hi! Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep on doing what I was doing before then, but I have a question.
When you line up to fence, are you turning your body sideways, or are you more squared off with your opponent? When I do foil, epee, or single rapier, I try to present a small sideways target but almost always end up squared off. When I have an offhand device, being squared off has its advantages, but when I don’t, I’m not sure that I’m doing myself any favors.
If you’re interested in the 10,000 Lunge challenge, I’ll send you the document with details about each day’s prescribed drills. You’ll probably have to modify it to fit epee, though, since this was designed by a historic rapier fighter.
usually, i am squared off. i find this a lot better because your point control increases. i like doing a mix between stophits and parries (im defensive) so its important for me to keep my back from turning because otherwise i will miss and my opponnent will get the point. this said, i do have a bad habit: when i lunge, i turn my back so you can only see my side (as well as a lean). this makes it impossible to see what your opponnent is doin and you cant do a second hit. its always important to have at least a second hit planned because most likely your first one isnt going to hit.
leaning in my lunge has resulted with tendonitis in both my knees which is why i dont practice lunges anymore. i need my knees to heal first. but thank you very much for the offer!
i love fencing and talking about fencing so if you have any other questions please let me know! or if you just wanna chat, im there too 🙂
Hell yeah! I’m always stoked to make fencing friends. This isn’t my primary blog, but I’m working on creating a new fencing-blog account and adding it as a contributor here so that I can follow blogs, send asks, etc. and keep all the fencing stuff in one place.
As far as lunging is concerned, I don’t do a lot of it if I can avoid it. I study Italian rapier, which involves a fair amount of lunging, but as I’ve made it my own and adapted to my own body type (imagine a personification of a Welsh corgi – barrel chested, short arms and legs), I’ve found that I enjoy a close fight much more than the distance game. I don’t have a lot of reach unless I lean in and present my head as a nice, vulnerable target.
I’ve been doing the lunge challenge mostly to connect with my fellow fencers, but I thought that practicing more lunges might encourage me to lunge more. I’m planning to pick it back up since taking it easy didn’t really make me feel any better. As I get back into it, I’ll let you know how it goes.
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