Tag: uwf fencing club

Today I had a good day at fencing. I loved running around and playing freeze tag during the warm up.

After that, I took the new students (1 or 2 practices in) aside and went over the basics. I really like going over the fundamentals, and I had a great group today.

I got to fence with Nik a bit. I geared down because practice was wrapping up, but we didn’t leave right away.

Instead we stayed late so that Nik and some of the others could practice ringen. I didn’t participate in the wrestling since I don’t trust myself not to deck somebody. I did answer some questions about practical defense and tumbling. We stayed later than I wanted too, but we had a nice night.

Today was officially rest day for me. I got some stuff done around the house, and when Nik went to lift before fencing, I tagged along to do cardio.

At the gym, I tried a new machine that appears to be the unholy union of an elliptical and a stair master. I tried to keep my heart rate between 135-145. That was certainly a challenge. In 30 minutes, I think i logged about 3 miles.

After that I went to fencing. I was a little bit nervous, but I got to work with new people, and I did more actual fencing than I have in ages. I had a really good practice. I felt really healthy today.

Serfo 2017 has come and gone. UWF Fencing brought 8 fencers to the tournament this year. Nik medaled in ringen, conventional rapier, and first blood rapier, and one of our students won the Franco-Belgian tournament. I’m proud of both of them.

Leading up to Serfo, we had to lift less because I was experiencing muscle fatofue when training, but we did still did both (just less intense lifting). In addition to all that, I got a sinus infection the Monday night before the event. I medicated it aggressively and felt better for the tournament – not 100% but better.

Believe it or not, I felt at my best when I was fencing. I never made it out of pools, but I did some good fencing, especially on Sunday (I don’t feel proud of my performance in the first blood tourney). I competed in Women’s Longsword, First Blood Rapier, Conventional Rapier, and Sword and Buckler. Women’s Longsword conflicted with Franco-Belgian Rapier, and I didn’t care to do the Open Longsword or Ringen. I’m pleased with my longsword and conventional rapier fights, and I feel like I absolutely crushed the buckler tourney in the last fight of my pool.

In addition to competing, I attended a Friday night class on rapier and observed part of a cutting class on Friday morning. I took a lot of notes on drills we can do in the club.

I also took notes on what needs to change about my own fight and my expectations for tournaments. I want to increase my muscular endurance, my cardio capacity, and my timing. I have the skills, but I got caught flat footed more than I’d like. We debriefed our students and have some feedback on things they want to improve as well. It’s never too late to start preparing for next year, right?

We drove back Sunday night, rested Monday day, and returned to fencing Monday night. Nik and I hit the weights again today. I intend to have a fitness assessment done in the next month or two so that I’ll have a direction for my physical training. As far as fencing in particular goes, I think I need more drills, more conditioning – all the tedious stuff that really makes a difference.

There hasn’t been much to report.

The attendance in my Krav class tanked to the point that it wasn’t worth it to have regular classes. I’m looking forward to some seminars last month, but that was kind of a downer.

The good news is that I can fence more now (remember that Friday Knight Fights were keeping me from the only day per week that I could practice). I’ve held a regional SCA practice, and I’ve participated in fencing and conditioning with the UWF group (there’s lots of overlap). Fencing at UWF is great, but my SCA classes are poorly attended. I can’t help but wonder if I’m doing something wrong since my classes keep drying up. I have to remind myself that life gets in the way. I’m not necessarily a bad teacher.

There’s an SCA event coming up this weekend. I haven’t competed since MCA.

I’ve been hitting the gym with Nik – weight lifting mostly. He wants to go to the gym daily, and I tag along when I can. I was having trouble fitting workouts in with these ten-hour days. However, my job situation is about to change, so I’ll be able to (at least temporarily) devote more time to fitness.

I still take lots of walks on the beach.

I’m not doing yoga (my old yogi kind of spoiled me), but I have been taking acro classes here and there. I took an acro chair class and learned some neat poses. I’d like to do that and Lyra again. I’ve caught wind of a hand stand conditioning class, and I may try that out too.

I hate to boil down months of working out to a few short paragraphs, but it would be tedious if I didn’t. I will, however, brag that I worked out enough to earn my free movie tickets through my workplace’s employee fitness incentive program. One month of working out for at least 30 minutes per day 3 times per week gets you a water bottle; three months gets you a bag (this time – last time it was a pedometer); and six months gets you two free movie tickets. Last time I got the first two prizes but not the movie tickets because I lost my incentive sheet and didn’t know where to pick it back up (also I think I lost a week when I was sick).

Anyway, I have some changes coming up in my life soon – change in employment, going back to school, etc. – so I have no idea where my journey will take me. Literally I’ll still be in Pensacola, but aside from that, I’m not sure. I think we’re going to try to get a Krav class going again, and I’m looking forward to a new school year and recruiting new fencing club members at UWF.

Wednesday was a quiet day at Krav because of the holiday. Some of our students were at Ash Wednesday mass, so it was just me, Michael, and two students. We got to jump in during conditioning, so that was nice. We watched the P5 video and feel pretty good about our understanding of the content. At this point, we just need to practice more.

Thursday was a much-needed rest day.

On Friday, I went to the gym after work for a quick run (30 minutes on the elliptical). Then I met up with Tiny Nick! and Nik to go to the fairgrounds to set up the tent for Ren Faire. Then we ran back to the university for practice. We had practice and ate dinner with our students (I did some sewing) – nothing too outrageous.

Saturday and Sunday were Pensacola Renaissance Faire. I was present for two demos on Saturday and one on Sunday. I managed to smash a finger during a long sword bout (while wearing full gauntlets, I might add). It isn’t broken, but I am buddy taping for support for the rest of the week. I went to a memorial service on Sunday afternoon, so I missed the second demo and most of the take-down. I arrived in time to load the car and head home.

I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend, but tonight is Krav. I’m hoping that moving around and doing some hitting will help me blow off some steam and reduce my stress. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed today.

Thursday was a rest day last week, and Friday was a travel day. Nik and I took a bunch of our students to the Meridian Challenge of Arms (which took place Saturday).

I don’t even know where to begin. Our “kids” fenced so well and were so awesome… they made us look really good, and they weren’t even trying to. They were there to compete and do their thing, but they were just so awesome at it. One won a tournament, two others made it to semi and quarter finals. Some were competing for the first time and winning fights I’m not sure I could win. Nik and I each got taken out of tourneys by our own students. It was an amazing weekend.

I can’t brag on them the whole time. I did do some fencing myself. Like usual, I didn’t bring home the gold. I feel pretty good about my fencing, but there was a bout that I thought I should have put up more of a fight for and another that I think I should have won if I’d taken some chances earlier on. However, barring one exception, all of the touches landed on me were by masters or my own students (and I managed to take out one of the masters I fenced). I can’t complain about that.

Monday was a bit overwhelming after having been on the road. Michael really picked up the slack when it came to planning class, so I’m planning tonight’s class to pay him back. I got to jump in and do some conditioning and cardio with the rest of the class. That was great after being in the car most of Sunday (and eating whatever I could get my hands on over the weekend).

Last night Nik and I went to the gym. We lifted, and then I got in a run. My goal was a mile and a half. On the indoor track, 8 laps is a mile. I managed to run seven, but I broke and walked the eighth. Then I ran laps 9-11 and walked lap number 12 (plus two more to cool down). Even with walking interspersed, I managed to do a mile and a half in about 18 minutes.

It looks like my Krav friends are doing the McGuire’s 5K this month. I’ve been curious but never gone since the run conflicts with Gulf Wars. Since I’m not going to War this year, I think I’ll give this run a try. I’m supposed to predict my time when I sign up. I think 40 minutes is a safe bet. We all know I’m not crazy about running, but I need all the cardio I can get before CIC1. Plus there’s a decent amount of drinking involved after this particular race, so there’s some more incentive.

I rested a lot on Wednesday night and had full sight on Thursday. I still passed up on fencing to nap. It seems like when I rest my eyes, I end up asleep.

Today I went to fencing! I was a little nervous, so I spent some time working with new folks. Then I put on my mask and was able to see! I fenced Tiny Nick! and my reaction time was so much better.

I could do only a few passes because I’m not allowed to get sweat in my eyes, so i called it in early and then walked a couple laps on the indoor track.

Today was a good day.

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.

Monday night when I was getting ready for Krav, I felt really warm and looked flushed. I took my temperature and saw that I had a fever. I called Kita, told her what was up, and we agreed I should rest, so I settled in on the couch with my cat, some water, and a couple ibuprofen. I did some homework and took a nap. Apparently that did the trick because I was back at work the next day. It stinks that I missed a practice night, but I guess my body needed it.

Tuesday was wild. After working a normal day, I enjoyed yoga class. Then I went to my night class, and from there I went straight to Krav for my P3 test. I felt pretty good walking into it.

I felt FREAKING AWESOME walking out of it. I had to correct some things here and there, and I always have room for improvement (plus I got punched in the face – I don’t like this new tradition), but I think I passed. We get our results tonight. I’ll let you know when I remember to update.

If I don’t update, it’s because I’m frantically getting ready for Magna Faire this weekend. Nik and I are taking some of our fencing students up to Birmingham with us. They are so stoked – I hope it’s contagious.

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).