Tag: update

Let’s see where we stand…

I managed to get in a week of Krav (Monday and Wednesday). Then we took a week off for Thanksgiving.

I tried to fence in the interim. I went to practice Friday but didn’t fight. I realized on the drive over that I really didn’t want to go. I was in a negative head space and was worried about injuring myself or someone else since frustrated fencing is generally unsafe fencing.

I slept through practice on Monday because I felt completely lousy. I had some kind of dry head cold that messed with me all week but didn’t keep me down too hard. We cancelled yoga on Tuesday because it was the day before Thanksgiving Break at work. I went to practice on Wednesday, fenced a few rounds, and geared down. I kept getting overheated and felt like I was moving through JELL-O. Friday practice was cancelled. I stayed home Sunday and graded papers while Nik ran practice.

As far as fencing is concerned, I’m in one hell of a slump. I have an event this weekend, and I don’t really want to go, but I need to go.

Tonight is my last night of review until my P3 test. We were going to test tonight, but some dates got mixed up. The test is tomorrow. Wish me luck, folks.

I have use of my shoulder, but I’m still not 100%. I can test safely, and I can fence a little bit, but it still hurts to put pressure on it when it’s extended upward (like laying on my right side).

Krav on Wednesday was awesome. We had a guest from out of town come practice with us. We had a small enough group that Michael and I got to jump in and participate instead of teaching. I had a great time and blew off some pent up steam from skipping working out on Tuesday.

Yesterday after work I used the punching bag at the gym again. I wore my gloves this time, but I should have taped underneath. The scabs on my knuckles from last week all rubbed off. Oops.

Today after work I plan to work in a run before I come home. Then Nik and I will have UWF fencing practice. I don’t count on fencing to give me much cardio, so as much as I dislike running, it’s best if I do it today. I’m staying in town this weekend, so there will be plenty of opportunities for local practice.

I had my second weigh-in this morning (my previous report was delayed – I weigh on Fridays only). I’m down 3 lbs total since I started tracking (that’s 1 lb this week). I’m not noticing much change in my endurance, but it’s only been two weeks. For once, I’m glad to have the scale to measure since strengthening my cardio will take longer to show in my day-to-day routine.

My weekend went as I expected, and it was awesome. I got to do some fencing, and I spent ample time with my far-away fencing friends.

On Monday I was back to work at Krav. I’m settling into my new instructor role. I did warm-ups with the advanced students and fine tuned some skills for some brand new students with special needs. It was super rewarding. After that, the other P3s and I stayed to work on getting out of headlocks on the ground.

Yesterday I went to yoga, and I had planned to run at the gym (I didn’t need to go to my night class), but I had a lot of work at home that needed to be addressed, so I did that instead. Now I’m simultaneously fatigued from staying up working and antsy from not getting much physical activity in yesterday.

Krav tonight should be fun.

If you’re interested, since I started tracking, I’ve lost 2lbs.

Last night I took my P2 test for Krav Maga. I drilled and fought for an hour and a half with no breaks except for those precious moments of slugging down water when the proctors were adjusting the room for us.

I honestly don’t know how I did. I walked into the test feeling really good about it, but I know for a fact that I had some techniques backwards. I know I missed some stuff and went the wrong way a couple of times. I think I managed to fix the little screw-ups along the way, but I honestly have no idea whether or not I passed.

I find out on Monday, and I’ll let you know when I know. Honestly, though, even if I didn’t pass, I’d call last night a success. I did my best, worked hard the whole time, and left with my head held high. If I need to re-test, I’ll re-test. I hope, though, that I get to progress with my partner. We have a level of comfort with each other that I don’t want either of us to have to re-cultivate with a new person. 

There’s no point in dwelling on what went wrong last night or what might go wrong next week. I’m proud of myself for making it through.

True to my word, I was back at work on Wednesday, but I didn’t go to Krav, and Ladies’ Night was cancelled. I was wrestling with whether or not to go to fencing on Friday when Nik reminded me that we were foregoing practice for the sport club banquet.

I made it to fencing on Sunday! It was nice to move around and fight for the first time in ages. There’s a new guy in town who has done rapier before and just authorized with us. I also talked to a gal who is interested in taking up the hobby, but I got pulled away and didn’t get a chance to fill her in on any more details, so I hope she comes back.

Tonight I go back to Krav, but I’m going to try to take it easy. I still have a bit of a cough from the sinus stuff that came with the ear infection, so I’m not looking forward to running around, but I am excited to go back because…

…I need to start cramming for my P2 test next month! I’m super stoked and a little bit nervous. I’m sure I’ll be ready when the big day comes. In the meantime,I’m trying to remember what everything is called so that I can be a good partner as well as get my hand rehabbed so that I can use it.

I started therapy last week, and I have exercises I’m supposed to do on the finger every day. Range of motion is improving, but it’s still painful. It’s coming along. We’ll see where I am in four week!

Krav on Wednesday was a review class. I noticed that there are a few techniques that I understand in my head, but my body isn’t doing them properly. It would have been a good idea to review those concepts in detail on Thursday, but I didn’t go. My best friend wanted to hang out, and I hadn’t seen her in awhile (the first thing she asked me was “What did you do to your hand?”), so I figured I could skip one.

I had my follow-up appointment with the ortho on Friday afternoon. I need to have an MRI done to check for scar tissue. If everything is okay in there, it’s time for “aggressive physical therapy.” I’m ready to not be hurt anymore.

I was sore from my exam, so even though I went to an SCA event on Saturday, I didn’t fight. It was nice to see my friends though, and I got some business done, so I think it was time well spent.

Sunday was my first beach trip of the new year! That isn’t really fitness related unless you count my walks, but I’m super stoked to be back on the sand.

Last night in Krav we worked on backwards rolls and putting together combinations. I had a really good night, even though I did jam my finger a couple of times. I’m still trying to work out exactly how much tape I need when I’m training. I wear buddy tape during the day, and I have some on my gloves. However, I didn’t wear my gloves to do rolls, so maybe I would have been better off keeping the tape on from the day. Then agian, when we worked on combos, I did end up needing the gloves. Maybe I could do the Miochael Jackson thing and just wear one glove… Any thoughts?

Holy cow it’s been wild.

Monday March 17 was my last night at Krav before I left for War. I led the class’s stretching, so that was pretty cool. I don’t remember exactly what we covered, and I’ve missed three days of class, so tomorrow will be one hell of a night.

Nik and I left for Gulf Wars Tuesday after work (so I skipped yoga). We set up the tent and visited with friends that night.

On Wednesday, Nik got up and mustered for the armored ravine battle. I volunteered to be a water bearer so that I could be near the action. After that, we mustered for the rapier field battle. Our army is small, but we held off the other side as long as we could – they had to send wave after wave of reinforcements to deal with us. I was especially proud of my fencers – my sub-unit consisted of six fencers, four of whom had never been in a big melee before. They did me proud.

On Thursday I attended my first Meridian Order of the Blade meeting. I was elected chairperson and am looking forward to filling this new role. I went to muster and walked down to the town battle, but it was canceled because of the weather. Nik tried to minimize the wetness in our leaky tent, and we hung out with friends until court. Court went well until the storm hit. I learned a new term: microburst. Apparently a microburst is “a small downdraft that moves in a way opposite of a tornado.” The wind was moving in a single direction, and it was gusting, not constant. I helped people get inside, and once I had done so, I made sure that my little SCA family was safe. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it was pretty scary. I’m glad there was a permanent structure were people could take shelter, and we’re fortunate that there were no serious injuries. Our tent was undamaged but absolutely drenched inside, so we had a sleepover in Mikolaj’s RV – high and dry!

All activities for Friday were cancelled, so we spent the day packing up. We had planned to pack and leave on Saturday, but we went ahead and got our act together Friday instead since we had another trip looming ahead of us. While we were doing so, Her Majesty stopped by to check on our camp and see how everyone was doing. While she was there, she told Nik that if court had not been cut short, he would have received his writ to join the Order of Defense. It’s still official, even though it was issued privately. We have a LOT of work to do to prepare!

Now we’re caught up to Sunday, March 20. After spending two days washing and drying clothes, cleaning the rugs, and otherwise doing damage control, we packed up and got back into the car to head north. It had been awhile since I’d seen my family, and Nik had never met them at all, so we were overdue for a trip. We visited my aunts in Clarskburg, MD. Unfortunately I was too wiped to get Nik to fencing practice while we were there, but I promised we’d come back up and fight some Marylanders. We didn’t have an opportunity to practice while we were in Media, but we did do a demonstration.

See, my grandparents had never seen me fence, so I told my grandmother that we would bring our gear so that she and my grandfather could see. I told her that if any of their friends wanted to see, we could work that out – I was picturing a couple of passes in the courtyard or something. I should have known better! My grandmother contacted the activities director and secured some time in the auditorium for us. We saw flyers posted in the mail room and heard announcements in the dining hall! We had a decent turnout, and Nik and I talk about fencing with some regularity, so we had a presentation ready to go. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and my family managed to get some good pictures too. The retirement community even gave us an honorarium, so now Nik and I are professional fencing lecturers.

We got in last night and are getting settled today. I have to go back to work tomorrow, so we wanted to have a day to get re-oriented before getting back to the daily grind. In addition to rejoining our humdrum professional lives, Nik and I are getting back into our healthy habits. I’m looking forward to getting back to the activity level where I was in January. I feel like I’m full of energy that’s just bursting to get out. I want to harness that and take my fight to the next level.

Anyway, I’m back in town and will stay here for… oh, I don’t know… five days? However, when I come back from that trip, we are taking a much needed BREAK.

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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).

On Monday there was a great storm, so my Krav class was small. We did some review, and I helped a classmate with some skills he missed the previous week. I liked teaching. As I told one of my instructors, it’s more like Krav tutoring when it’s one-on-one.

Today we went over things we covered last Wednesday and introduced our classmates to the material we covered on Thursday during Ladies’ Night. I’m still working on getting my physics right on my roundhouse kicks, but it’s coming along. After that, we worked on single tempo defense and counter attacks. It’s another time that fencing helps instead of hinders in Krav.

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.