FENCING IN 20005

 

11:17 pm - Fencing January 19

The plan today was to go to the gym, change clothes at home, and go to fencing practice. The best laid plans often fail and today was one of those days where I stayed just a few more minutes later until almost two additional hours had passed.

Since it was too late to go home, I went straight to the gym. Fortunately, I had sweat pants in the car. Unfortunately, I had only my good dress shirt. No t-shirt was available.

I had a mostly good workout although I note that I always start out horribly in warming up. I'm still making huge, sweeping movements and I'm rushing forward without a clue what I'm going to do until the other person moves.

There's lots of room for improvement.

This weekend, I'll be fencing in Columbus, OH.

On an odd note, I checked on my membership application and they verified it... for Linda Dunn in California. Um... that's not me. That Linda Dunn is about 2 years younger and fences (very well from her standing) two weapons

09:22 pm - Return from Columbus Open
Obviously, the fingers weren't crossed sufficiently. Near the Ohio border, traffic parked on the interstate for 20 minutes or so while a truck and its debris was removed. Fortunately, we left early and still arrived in plenty of time to warm up and compete. Unfortunately, most participants decided not to make the trip. Fortunately, that meant we had fewer women sabre fencers than we had trophies. Unfortunately, most of the fencers there were far more skilled than I and thus I didn't win a single bout. Fortunately, I still got a third place trophy.

There is no glory in receiving a trophy for showing up. OTOH, there was one point difference betwen me and second place so I don't feel quite as much like I cheated.

The drive back was mostly uneventful although we did encounter some weather on the return trip that we didn't encounter on the trip out. Near home, we began encountering blowing snow and some icy patches on exits, etc.

I think I'll go to the next meet next weekend. I need to dramatically improve before the Nationals.

05:49 pm - Fencing in Denver
I now have non-refundable airline tickets to fly out to Denver late Friday, fence on Saturday, and return Sunday.

I have to work late the Friday before and be on the job first thing in the morning Monday. Thus, my original plans to take a few days off won't work and I'm very glad I waited to buy tickets.

I shall now go to fencing practice at every available opportunity and I fear I shall probably still finish last in the women's veteran sabre competition.

07:48 pm - Sitting on the Horse
No, this entry is not about horses. This is about how one stands and moves about while fencing. It really does -- when you're first starting out -- look and feel like you're sitting on an imaginary horse. You need to be properly centered or you start to fall over and while it's a little awkward and tiring, it does enable you to move faster.

Once you master moving this way at all.

I bribed my husband to come to a practice session and talked a few people into bouting with me for the purpose of taping the action so I could review some of the things that I need to improve.

Issues I need to correct include:
(1) Wide swings. They take longer and thus give your opponent opportunities to hit before you can react to stop them. They give your opponent inviting openings. They burn more energy, which is great for exercising but not so great for serious competitions.
(2) Footwork. I hadn't realized that when I move forward and backward, my trailing foot tends to drift into an awkard position which impairs my ability to move quickly. I'll be moving up and down the hallway very slowly for the next few weeks, working on insuring the feet stay at 90 degree angles and properly spaced.
(3) Directing. One really and truly should learn how to direct (imho) so one learns the rules of right-of-way and thoroughly understands what he/she is doing so one doesn't forfeit right-of-way, hit at the wrong time and thus open yourself up to a hit from the opponent that WILL count, or otherwise do things that will hurt you in competition. I'm experiencing major problems with this one. He who is attack mode (threatening the opponent with his weapon, which means pointing it AT the opponent and not the ceiling or the floor or at an angle that is not a clear threat) has right-of-way. This person is usually (but not always) moving forward.

A simple bout wold be ATTACK FROM THE RIGHT -- NO ATTACK FROM THE LEFT -- POINT TO THE RIGHT.
A little more complicated would be ATTACK FROM THE RIGHT -- PARRY FROM THE LEFT -- PREPARATION FROM THE RIGHT -- REPOIST FROM THE LEFT. POINT TO THE LEFT.

But it's seldom so simple and often so fast that I quickly lose track of who did what.

Foil is easier. Whoever hits first wins.

Greg is now hunting for the cable that has gone missing from the television set so he can hook up the camera and play back today's recordings.

In the meantime, I'm revising the time travel novel and looking for a title. For the moment, Ancestor Quest is in the lead for possible names. Other contenders include Days of Future Past, The Ancestor Game, Folding the Past into the Future, and a few others that are immemorable.

I wish Patriot Games wasn't so well known as that would be a very good title for this one.

05:48 pm - Fencing Lessons Feb 05 2005
Today, I stayed after practice to have a joint lesson. I'd noticed the coach was starting to give dual lessons and after having my first, I decided this is a definite improvement over one-on-one for me.

February 12, 2005: 08:34 pm - The Fencing Trip to Columbus a.k.a. I can't Believe We Did This!
The trip to Columbus for the fencing trip began later than Greg planned (no great surprise) and I wasn't too concerned because I'd told him I needed to be there a half hour before I really needed to be there. The trouble began about 30 miles into the trip when Greg reached back to check for the memory stick on his camera. Memory stick? The video camera uses a memory stick?

For the next fifty miles, we argued about this miscommunication as I'd asked Greg this morning if he remembered the camera -- thinking video camera. I'd talked at him for over a week about making a DVD of the fencing event and he, being a typical male, didn't hear a word I said except "camera".

The comment that angered me was Greg's statement that it was my responsibility to check and double-check that he'd bought the right piece of equipment since I was the one who cared. Obviously, it wasn't important to me or I would have exerted more care in ensuring he had the CAMCORDER [he stressed this word] rather than the camera.

So after 50 miles of pointless arguing, with him refusing to take the blame and me madder than heck that we were missing the first opportunity in a year and probably the last opportunity in a year for him to record me fencing in a tournament, we did the incredible thing.

By now, some of you can probably guess what outrageous thing we did. Let me drop a hint: Our camcorder is 4 years old.

We stopped at WalMart and bought a new camcorder, film, and a battery recharger/adapter so we could plug it into the car and charge it while enroute to the event.

I figure I'll be kicking myself for weeks over spending money unnecessarily. OTOH, if I hadn't done this, I would have been furious with Greg for the next several weeks and the argument would have resurfaced again and again and... well... buying the camera -- I mean CAMCORDER -- made sense when I thought about it that way. Besides, you can add a memory stick to this one and take high resolution still pictures as well as record video.

So when we reached the Ohio State University campus and went to the fencing facility, I found that this was a tournament unlike any I'd attended before. The emphasis was upon learning. Before starting, the coach lined us up and had us warm-up with certain moves and then he assigned one of his students to each of us out-of-towners to work out with us and help us with any problem areas. When we started fencing, we divided females/males and fenced everyone. While fencing, it was not at all unusual for my opponent to stop me and explain a mistake I was making and offer suggestions.

I was squashed so hard on that strip that they needed a spatula to scrape me off. The only bout I won was with someone who hadn't intended to bout but saw us three not-college-student women talking and came over to talk about fencing against other adults. We talked her into fencing that day.

It was a tight win -- 5 to 4 -- and I came from behind to win. The problem here is that we kept doing a simultaneous attack where we both lunged and scored points at the same time. The first two times I tried something different to try to gain an advantage, she scored on me. Thus, I decided that my strategy would be to wear her out.

I may be 52, but I work out 5 days a week at the gym and the one strength I have is endurance. I'll never win a sprint or a marathon, but I figured that I could Everready Bunny Rabbit just about anyone.

[For those who are unfamiliar with the Everready Bunny Rabbit, he keeps going and going long after all the other batteries have failed.]

I succeed. I didn't worry about form or anything other than landing a good touch on a lunge over and over and over again. Greg said he didn't count but he thinks we did this at least thirty times. I assure you this is tougher than it sounds. I was still going strong. She had to pause a few times to catch her breath.

I lost every other bout and I lost them badly because (1) my swordplay is dismal and (2) I react rather than respond. There are many times when I should retreat rapidly or jump back and instead, I try to counter-attack or attack when someone already has the right of way. This is doing me in and I've printed out some of the rules of right of way with plans to read them over and over and over again and to practice retreating for the next few weeks at practice.

Tomorrow, I'm driving north for about 4 hours for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. I now have to shift my attitude into a positive one and not focus on my problem areas because if I do, I won't be able to do anything right.

You cannot think about what you're doing on the strip. You have to do all your thinking BEFORE you get to the strip because once you're bouting, there's no time to think.

The trick is to condition your body to respond properly. I've got too many deeply ingrained bad habits.

February 13, 2005 07:33 pm - St. Valentine's Day Massacre
I performed very poorly at fencing today. I lost every bout in the pool and then won only one direct elimination in the women's saber fencing morning event. I think I finished last in the afternoon's mixed event.

First, the skill set was higher this time than the last time I attended a tournament at this location. Second, my own abilities have taken a nosedive.

Know how sometimes you plateau on a weight loss and then you do all the right things, exercise, cut back, etc. and you GAIN three pounds? It's like that.

Before, I was lucking into doing some right things. Now I'm beginning to understand them but not well enough to do them automatically. Thus, I'm stopping to think. Stopping is never good in fencing. Never.

This week's objectives are to
(1) Continue working on footwork
(2) Improve my lunge. The lower portion is fine. My arm is extending too stiffly, the shoulder is going UP, and there's no flex. This means that if I miss, I cannot respond quickly.
(3) Practice retreats and parries. I'm committing malparries. That's a partial block. Think of a foul ball in baseball. If I parry successfully, I have the right of way and it's a riposte. If I fail to parry properly, then I've merely interrupted the opponent's attack and they still have the right of way and they can finish.

A fencer today suggested I stop focusing on all the terms and keep it simple. If I did something that didn't work, I just lost right of way and need to do be en garde and ready to repel the attack. Retreating is one possibility. Beating the blade is another. Parrying successfully when the opponent attacks is another.

I really do think I'm going to get there eventually. I'm just not certain how many years it will take me.

We carpooled again. Tim took 4th place in men's sabre and Janna took 3rd place in women's sabre.

---

The NAC Division II/III/Veterans competition in Denver

I've turned in my application and reserved a room for the competition and I'm merely waiting for a confirmation before I make an airline reservation. It's downtown in Denver, 4 blocks from the convention center, and thus NOT a cheap room rate.

The competition begins Friday, March 11, 2005 with Men's Foil Division III, Men's Saber, Veteran, Women's Epee, Division II, and Women's Foil Veteran

Saturday, we have: Men's Epee Veteran, Men's Foil Division II, Men's Saber Division III, Women's Epee Division III, Women's Saber Veteran (this is one in which I hope to compete).

Sunday has nothing in which I'm scheduled to compete. Men's Epee Division II, Men's Foil Veteran, Women's Foil Division III, and Women's Saber Division II.

Monday is Men's Epee Division III, Men's Saber Division II, Women's Epee Veteran, Women's Foil Division II, and Women's Saber Division III (my second and last competition.

Based upon my business trip to Colorado Springs, I've decided I need to take along lots of bottled water. It's true the air is dry and I felt more dehydrated there than I ever have anywhere else. My throat still aches.

I can't remember everything we did, but I'm going to skate across the highlights partially so I can look back at this post and remember what I want to practice this week.

First, he reminded us that we'd now reached a point where we should understand that while we'd practiced parry repoiste, it often doesn't work to our advantage in competition because our repoiste comes too late and we should use our own judgment on this at next Saturday's competition.

X and I lined up in front of the coach, who was wearing his black instructor uniform (lots of padding). The first thing to work upon was attack. Explicitly, we were going to practice touching the back of his wrist (the hand is not a target) and moving forward to deliver a blow to the head. The objective is to learn a somewhat more complex attack than before as it's two movements and needs to be fluid and unbroken. We did this slowly and then faster.

After my partner had done this a few times, it was my turn. The coach corrected my en garde stance and then I did what my partner had done earlier while she shadowed what I was doing.

Next, was step-lunge. While this might sound easy, the objective was to step lunge while keeping our distance correct so we could reach him. Thus, he's standing opposite and moving forward, back, forward, and then offering an invitation (dropping or moving the blade out of the way. I was doing mostly okay on keeping my distance but need to lunge lower and longer.

A lunge attack -- according to the coach -- is like an explosion. Bang! It's there. You either hit or you don't and if you don't hit, you're dead. [You get five lives in a pool and 15 in a Direct Elimination.]

At this time, he called over the other two adult fencers who'd been practicing/waiting and had them follow us through this with the suggestion that we stay afterwards for a few minutes to practice what we'd learned.

One problem I had was that my arm wanted to go UP before going out. Think of someone pulling their arm back before hitting. By the time you move it forward, you've probably already been hit. Same thing. I need to practice this (and did) over and over and over again until it's an instictive action.

The coach stressed that you do not think while you are fencing. You do not have time to think and analyze once the action has begun because everything is too quick.

Next was the one move I just couldn't get for the longest time: Bring the blade down and UP to touch the underside of your opponent's arm just above the wrist. One mistake I kept making was to turn my blade (no, I don't know why I wanted to do this) and the coach wanted me hitting up with the flat side, not turning it. It was a valid point, but I wasn't giving him what he'd requested. It took several attempts to get this move because it requires quite a bit of control and it's easy to miss that small section.

Last was trying to judge when to attack. Think of dance partners going back and forth, facing one another, and holding a sabre in their fencing arm. When it is up, it is not a threat. You can both hit at the same time. You've got to know timing and when to parry and when to attack.

This is going to take a great deal of practice on my part.

I recorded what we'd done and sent myself an e-mail from the JCC so I could type this in when I returned home. Then we practiced what we'd learned and fenced with some of the newer members who were in the later class.

Next Saturday, I'm going to the Ohio State University to fence and then Sunday, I'm going to Culver to fence. I'm taking Monday off work to recuperate.

February 18, 2005 07:16 am - Fencing is like an onion
Ever notice how hard it is to find the center of an onion? Pull off one layer and there's another and another and another and so on until you feel like you'll never reach the center by pulling off one layer at a time.

Fencing is like that, imho.

I can feel the tiniest flicker of beginning of understanding about right-of-way (FINALLY!) and it's making it worse instead of better.

I've reviewed my Culver performance and while I'm pleased that the footwork is improving (still a long way to go), I'm annoyed that I'm giving up so many points. When the opponent lauches an attack, the proper response is to parry by blade or distance. I'm rushing forward to attack. This is the equivalent of waiting at a four-way stop and hitting the gas to try to race the car that has the right-of-way to the center of the intersection. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

it's a reaction and a bad reaction that needs to be unlearned with the proper response substituted. I don't know how long it's going to take to train my body to respond properly.

And I woke up this morning all stressed out because I couldn't remember how to do a warmup with parries.

Argh!

08:16 pm - Fencing February 19th
Today, I was feeling a little off but went to fencing practice anyway and stayed until the intermediate class ended. Yes, I needed remedial classes. Honest.

My skillset has now degraded to the point where I can't win a bout against anyone who has gone beyond the beginner's class. Part of the problem is that I'm moving at a snail's speed while trying to note and correct every error and part is just a plain overall awareness of everything I'm doing wrong.

Practice, however, is the place to address all these issues.

I've given myself some homework.

(1) Practice moving the arm as it needs to move for lunging. Do it in sets, just like a regular exercise and do it throughout the day, whenever thinking about it. Stand next to a wall to insure the arm goes out straight. Push from beneath like you're throwing away a ball (overhand) so the arm doesn't lock up. Keep the shoulder down.

(2) Sit on the horse (drop low) and go up and down the hallway. Check the feet. Small steps.

(3) Lunge with emphasis upon keeping the feet at 90 degrees. Keept the trailing foot straight. [This one keeps slipping at an angle).

(4) Squat exercise up and down the hallway.

I'm also going to try to talk Greg into putting on some gear and trying to hit my shoulders while I try to parry. I don't want him to go for the head because I'm afraid I'd hit the ceiling (literally).

---

05:50 am - Fencing 2/23
Last night, I was fencing miserably, unable to perform simple exercises in parry-riposte when I sat down with Andrea and started doing 3-4 while sitting there. Sam (Andy's son) pointed out that I was moving my whole wrist.

I knew better. I was told better. And yet for the last 9 months, I've gripped the sabre like a hammer in a tight grip that makes it difficult to manuever.

A sabre should be held with the thumb and first finger and the other fingers are just there for support.

The good news is that this is the root of some of my serious problems.

The bad news is that it's going to take time to break this habit and I've effectively going to have to relearn darn near everything. I'm going to have to focus on holding the sabre and I need to build muscles to hold the sabre correctly.

One good exercise is to walk the fingers down the sabre (you're actually pushing the sabre blade up).

Three times a day.

I can only reach the middle before my fingers give out.

Good news/bad news.

We found the problem; it's going to be hard to fix.

---

06:58 pm - Fencing February 26th
Today, fencing felt like an improvement until I stayed for the intermediate class to work out with them and discovered I was still doing many, many things incorrectly.

My parries are my second biggest concern of the moment as this is costing me quite a bit in competitions. I will be spending some time in front of the mirror going 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4 until I've got the form right. 5 risks hitting the ceiling with the sabre so I'm doing 5 slowly and near the wall so I can insure I have my elbow-to-wrist flat against the wall. This helps keep me on course.

I note that my right wrist is hurting again so I must be doing something right. It had stopped hurting mid-winter -- possibly December -- and I figure this is when I stopped holding the sabre correctly.

There are so many things to remember that I frequently think I'll never get it right.

I note the students in the intermediate class can take me out when I focus on defense and parries. I'm that bad at parrying those attacks. I'm also constantly pointing rather than cutting with the blade. This is like throwing out half your arsenal.

More work. More to do. More to learn.

But if it was easy, I doubt I'd be as interested in learning it.

---

10:37 pm - Backing up
Tonight's fencing focus was upon backing up. I asked several other fencers to help me by attacking me while I tried to backup and/or parry their attacks. I am still making mistakes and still countering rather than parrying, but I'm getting closer.

It's so frustrating to be so slow!

10:54 pm - Fencing March 2
Tonight's fencing included a bout with one of the fencers who sometimes gives lessons on another weapon and thus I lucked into a mini-lesson for which I am very grateful.

One thing he pointed out is that my arm seems to be tied to my foot. I cannot move my arm without moving my foot. Thus, I'll be practicing moving the arm first and foot last in an effort to build muscle memory. In this case, the objective is to break the feeling that I must move forward if I'm responding with the sword.

Another thing he pointed out is that I'm bringing the sabre around, up and over rather than making a simple cut. Wasting time. Wasting motions. Giving the opponent plenty of time to counter.

Tonight's focus was on holding the sabre correctly: thumb and index finger. I must be improving because my right wrist is back to continuously hurting.

March 11th, 01:43 pm - Fencing in Denver
Later today, I will board an airplane and fly to Denver so I can fence sabre with 32 other women over 40 at a national level.

Is this really me?

This is a fifty-something that I would never have envisioned for myself even a couple of years ago. I always loved the idea of fencing but I'd never had an opportunity to learn and there was no place to learn in Indianapolis... or so I thought. Once my son sent me a URL to IndyFencing and then I followed the link to lessons at Indy Sabre I no longer had an excuse. I signed up and quickly learned that this was nothing like the fencing on television or in the movies and my hearing loss was getting in the way of me following instructions. More, I was the slowest learner in the class and everything I did felt wrong, stupid, and pointless (no pun intended). But I'd paid for the class so I stuck it out for the six weeks of non-fun and somewhere along the way I became determined to conquer my inability to fence properly.

So here I am a few months later, flying off to fence people who have been fencing for years and whose skill levels will undoubtedly be greater than my own.

I can't help wondering if I'm going through some form of middle age senility that's causing me to abandon my usual frugal lifestyle and do outrageous things.

This is not me. At least, not the me that I'd expected to be at this point in my life.

 

March 13th, 05:56 pm - The Denver Fencing Competition
My first fencing bout did not begin at the convention center, but at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Denver shortly after checking in. I tossed my shoes off and sat down on the bed and noticed a cockroach advancing towards me.

"En Garde!"

I retreated and grabbed a shoe. Advance. Cut to the head. The cockroach did not retreat and its parry five failed. The cockroach recovered and advanced again. I responded with a complex attack that left the bout finished at 2-0. No additional cockroaches were seen, but I spent the rest of my stay shaking out clothing before dressing.

Women's Veteran Sabre check-in was not until 0930 hours, but I wanted to arrive early. Thus, I stepped onto the elevator at 0700 hours and met a woman who was wearing a "Fencing Mom" T-shirt and who was accompanied by the referenced daughter. Since they'd arrived earlier and knew the route, I followed them to 16th Street, where we could take the free shuttle a few blocks closer to the Denver Convention Center.

This is when I decided that I needed to buy a bag with wheels. My simple fencing bag is fine for practice and local events, but lugging that bag past three more streets and into the convention center and down the long hallway, up the stairs, etc. was exhausting.

I found Hall D and watched the epee fencers gather, practice, and begin their bouts. I also looked around to find and introduce myself to a few other Women Veteran Saber fencers and bought a new glove and a T-shirt from one of the vendors.

By 0900 hours, I'd met a dozen other competitors in my category and bought the ever-popular T-shirt that reads, "Society of Menstrual Swordswomen. Be afraid, be very afraid."

Words cannot express how great it was to meet other fencers my own age, exchange stories, and compare experiences. I warmed up with a few of the other fencers and it was immediately obvious that most of these women were fencing a very different style from what I was used to facing.

In the pool, the best fencer was one who poked for every point and I learned later that she was an epee fencer who only fenced sabre occasionally. Point-in-line was my kyptronite at this event and while I retreated well and managed to do most of the right things (if not necessarily on time), I simply couldn't compete with the pokers.

I did manage to win my first bout, which was again a fencer whose skill level may have been better than my own (but not at that particular moment). Ours was a more traditional saber bout and I finished the pool with 2 bouts won and a standing of 21 out of 32.

There was a very noticeable difference (IMHO) between the 40-something fencers and the older fencers. The younger fencers were obviously more familiar with saber style and moved up and down the strip aggressively. The older fencers were more likely to poke, not move nearly as much, and to win through swords play.

I lost my direct elimination 5-10. The bout began with me giving up three points before I figured out what I needed to change. I could not recover and I was fencing someone whose skills were overall better than mine. As I adjusted my style to score against her, she adjusted her style to match mine and retained the lead.

Overall, I was simply a little too slow to parry and I made at least four mistakes on right-of-way. Still, I am happy with how I fenced overall and this was to be a learning experience. I walked away from this with much learned about this particular event and a determination to do better in Sacramento. (Assuming I can get time off work to participate.)

I stay until the end of the fencing event and note the last few bouts were very competitive. The last bout was a particular heart-breaker as Rita Combs faced Sharon Pestotnik. Rita was ahead about 8-4 when Sharon suddenly scored point after point and won.

Eight places were awarded with two fencers tied for third place. I tried to check on my standing, but was unable to learn if I'd fallen due to losing my direct elimination while others won or not. I'll have to wait until the web page is updated before learning where I stand.

I rode back to the airport the next day with Jane Eyre, who finished third in this tournament and who had won this event before. We had a pleasant discussion about fencing, styles, our respective cities, and how to fence against the one fencer who gave me the most difficulty at the competition.

Do I want to go to Sacramento?

Of course.

But I also want/need to learn to fence better between now and then.

Someday, I want to be standing on one of those boxes with a medallion around my neck.

March 18th, 07:33 pm - Stupid fencing injury
I'm going to a sectional meet tomorrow and I'm trying to figure out what I can do to my fencing hand to speed the healing process.

I have a hard knot of my forearm from a bout two weeks ago, but I've managed to fence despite that. This time, however, the injury is affecting my grip.

My index finger is rudy red from an inch above to an inch below the knuckle AND there's a fair-sized bump where the thumb bone connects to the wrist bone. It doesn't hurt as long as I don't use it and I'm wearing an icy-hot sleeve in hopes that will help, but I can't seem to hold/manuever a sabre without discomfort and that's going to impede my performance at the sectional. I strongly suspect that when I try to parry, the sabre is going to fall out of my hand or I'm going to wince in pain. Maybe both.

Where is Star Trek medicine when I want it?

---

April 2nd, 06:14 pm - Fencing Lesson April 2nd
Today marked the beginning of the time I could start taking fencing lessons again so I stayed late for that and learned I've developed several bad habits. The key words I'm trying to remember at the moment are 45 degrees. That's the angle at which I need to hold the sabre in en garde position and that's the angle I need to turn for parry 3. I've been turning too much/overcompensating, which is probably why my parries have been failing so badly. I've been deflecting rather than stopping blades.

For the next week, I intend to pick up the sabre, drop into engard position with weight resting forward, not back on my heels like I'm resting my butt in a chair. I intend to repeat this over and over and over again until it becomes second nature. I also intend to practice the parries.

Little finger. That's the key word for the parry three. Use the little finger to manuever the blade so the opponent's blade strikes on the cutting edge rather than flat. If I've turned too far, then my thumb doesn't have the proper position to resist the striking blade.

Another thing to practice is throwing my arm out. No, I don't mean out of socket.

When one lunges, the arm needs to go out first. Actually, it goes out just a hair trigger of a second before the foot moves. I have somehow fallen into the habit of going out and over or moving the foot first. I will be lunging across the yard tomorrow if the weather is good.

April 7th, 10:08 pm - How many days?
How many days should I stay in Sacramento? Is it worth the extra hotel nights to stay and fence in Women's Sabre in addition to Women's Veteran Sabre? Decisions, decisions.

Tonight's fencing went rather well. I'm still doing many things wrong but I've become accustomed to that and thus am feeling less frustrated about my shortcomings. I was fencing beside the coach, who was giving a lesson when I heard him say something. I turned, wondering what I was doing wrong and he said, "Very good, Linda."

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

I said, "Thank you."

He said, "Thank YOU." [Implying, I presume, thanks for applying the lessons he is trying to teach me.]

I note he also complimented the woman I was fencing with and yes, she had earned the compliment. We were both implementing what he'd been showing us to do and while we weren't wildly successful, we were making a good attempt.

Scotland is coming up, too. I need to call SATO and talk about flight arrangements and prices.

2005 is going to be an incredibly expensive year but I did say at the beginning of the year that this was the year I was going to stop being cautious and have the time of my life. Next year, I'll revert to being cautious again.

April 16th, 06:34 pm - Results of the Purdue Open
In a nutshell: I had it in the palm of my hand and I threw it away. Sigh!

I fenced better than ever before in the pool and finished 10 out of 25. I even defeated someone I haven't been able to defeat a since she was a novice.

So there I am, fencing in my direct elimination and it's 8-5 at the break and then 13-11 and I throw it away. I've been trying to figure out where I went wrong and I'm coming to the disappointing conclusion that it was a combination of factors.

First, let me explain that in the pools, you fence every member of the pool one time to 5 hits. Whoever gets to five first wins. In direct elimination, you go to fifteen hits. Fifteen is not many, right? Well... it's not just fifteen bouts. If you go simultaneous again and again and again, you could easily be going for a long time.

You can probably guess one of the things I'm going to blame: exhaustion. I did not really feel tired, but I lost patience and started doing things to get it over with so I could relax and go on. I did NOT make stupid mistakes (I think) except once when I cross my legs going from en garde to advance. In fact, I did that twice today when I've never done it before. Both times, I was feeling a little... well, less than refreshed.

I've always been proud of my ability to be an Everready bunny rabbit and not wear out but today, I felt... well... not tired, but tired. Does this make any sense? My feet were okay and I wasn't winded, but my mind was definitely tired. I wanted it over. I should be careful when making wishes.

One of the fencers from the club was second for women's sabres. She won 2 out of her pool and one direct elimination. Does this give you some insight as to why I feel particularly frustrated? I could have been up there, and instead I blew it.

I was tenth and dropped to seventeenth.

Ouch!

And when I returned home, it was another ouch.

I stopped at HomeDepot and purchased three bags of rocks to put around that stupid tree in a semi-circule up to the hostas. The wheelbarrow turned over and thus I was crouched down under the tree, moving rocks, when Greg walked up to say something to me. I didn't hear what he said so I turned up.

WHAP!

I stood up into a tree branch. It felt like I'd forgot to wear my mask while fencing and took a good on in he head. Looks like it, too.

Greg, meanwhile, insisted that there was no mark on my face and told me that he wanted me to keep the cats in the house while he went for a walk until such time as he was far enough away that they wouldn't follow him. Once I had the rocks moved where they belonged, I went into the house, turned on the bathroom light, and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

Either the sun was in Greg's eyes or my husband needs glasses. I had a nasty red streak across my right cheek, just below the eye and I scrubbed it to insure it wouldn't become infected. When Greg returned, I insisted on peroxide.

"Why?" he asked. It didn't break the skin. It's not bleeding.

"It did break the skin," I insisted. "If it hadn't broken the skin, the peroxide rinse wouldn't have hurt."

It's a pity the mark will be gone before the next fencing practice. I could claim a fencing injury and most people would believe it.

And back to the original subject: I've decided to revert to my old routine of working out 1-1/2 hours at the gym. I'd slacked off at the suggestion of a personal trainer and now I think that an hour every other day on the ellipical trainer is a good idea. Work hard. Work long. Be prepared for the next bout.

I can't go back and redeem myself on this last one. I can only go forward.

Next time, I'll be better prepared.

April 23, 05:00 pm - Fencing April 23rd
Today was a short fencing day in some ways because the JCC (Jewish Community Center) closed at 4pm due to Passover. Coach told me that if I stretched, he could give me a lesson before the others arrived. [One of the benefits of being the first student seen.] Thus, we began working and I fumbled as always but hit a roadblock on stop-hit followed by lunge. Coach stopped the lesson after I kept making the same mistake over and over again. My foot moved first and then my arm and it should have been the other way around.

"If you close the distance before you move your blade, you will die."

So I spent the next fifteen minutes practicing the move on the dummy, then I fenced, then I spent another half hour performing the same moves over and over again.

Advance stop-hit and then lunge to the head.

Working in air is not as good as working on a moving target, but the objective was to train the muslces to go arm first and then the foot. Of course, this should be done so quickly that most people wouldn't notice which went first. However, I've been closing the distance and then moving, which gives the opponent an opportunity to take right of way. Blade first and then move. If done correctly, it works well.

On a positive note, I realized that I'd been lunging so much lately that my lunge is now almost where it should be. I'm going longer and lower and that's the way I want it. I expect ner to have one of those incredible lunges that one sees in competition; but I do hope to be able to close the distance well.

Coach offered to work with me again for a few minutes after his last lesson but with a short day, there just wasn't time.

I plan to traumatize the cats tonight by going up and down the hallway.

I note again that my right hand is killing me. I am convinced my earlier theory about magnetic fields around injuries is correct. Once you have an injury, then object jump out to hit that injury and slow down healing.

Yes, I had it checked by a doctor last week. The x-rays were fine and he suggested I probably popped a bone out of joint and then right back in again and that's why I have that bump that invites other injuries.

I did not suggest my theory of magnetic fields around injured areas to the doctor as I did not want to wear a white coat with long arms and spend time in a Rubber Ramada.

Footwork is critical. I think I'll spend part of this week going up and down the hall. The cats will freak.

May 8th, 07:00 pm - Qualifying for the Nationals
After partying in Cincinnati and returning home in the wee hours of the morning, I got into the car again about 630am and drove north for 3-4 hours so I could fence at a competition to qualify for the national competition.

A few speedbumps occurred.

First, they were on Chicago time, which is Indiana non-daylight savings time and I got real, real confused and thus arrived 2 hours before I needed to be there.

Second, my mask failed the punch test. This is a major problem and while they kindly offered to loan me a mask, they only had one. I would have been fencing somewhat awkwardly except....

No other women sabre fencers showed up so I finished both first and last and automatically qualify without ever so much as going into en garde position.

I feel like such a fraud.

Now the next question is: How do I pay for Sacramento if I stay four extra days to fence division II and III?

And where do I buy a replacement mask?

I love my mask. It fit comfortably and it was just becoming as comfortable as an old shoe. Now it's covered with stamps and I can't use it again because there's a spot right in the middle, just above the forehead, where I can now clearly see a gap.

Do you know how bloody expensive a good mask can be? Argh!

May 11th, 10:17 pm - Fencing Mask
I came very close to buying an Olympic quality fencing mask today. The faceplate offers a wonderful viewing area and it carries the added advantage that hits there will not count.

I lust after that mask, but I decided to take the safe route and buy a stainless steel mask instead. I know how well I can see/fence through that while I don't know how the other mask might fog up (I had problems with my glasses fogging and the spray on stuff didn't help) or how often I'd need to replace it after bouts.

But the mask was uber cool.

If you're curious, click here

If you want to see what some of the detractors have to say about this (and see some funny pics in the process), take a look at this

May 14th 05:54 pm - Fencing May 14th
Today, I took along my Sony camcorder to practice because I wanted to tape the coach showing me again how to parry riposte.

At Thursday's lesson, Coach said I should stand in front of a mirror and practice these moves. Two weeks of this, he said, and the moves would be fixed in muscle memory.

The problem -- as many of you may guess -- is that I forgot everything he'd shown me when I stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Thus, I took the camera along to today's practice and asked him if I could tape him.

Boy, did he do a good job! He had me stand in front of the mirror and Sam (another fencing student) use the camcorder so he could show exactly how to stand, move, etc. No masks were used because Coach had control of the blade at all times, moved it into and out of position, moved my hand into position, and finally demonstrated why my parry fives were failing. [Because I was holding my hand at the wrong angle. When he hit my blade, it fell from my hands. I could NOT hold onto it.]

Now all I need is for Greg to transfer this to DVD for me.

And this is where it gets expensive.

On the way back from practice, I missed my turn and decided this was fate. Thus, I stopped at Best Buy and found a portable DVD player. If all goes according to plan, I will be able to stand in the bathroom with the DVD playing and follow along at the mirror.

Obsessed? Gone over the top? Out of my mind?

Who, me?

My husband is going to be horrifically shocked when he finally gets off the telephone and see what I've purchased.

I suspect his first reaction will be to tell me I bought the wrong one and that if I was going to buy one, I should have purchased X, Y, or Z.

Practice today was not great as I was trying some things and they just weren't working. I understand now why.

When I parry, I'm moving my whole arm TOWARDS the blade as it's moving towards me. This gives my opponent an opportunity to avoid my blade and I'm now in a position where I can't move it where I need it.

With parry 3, you cannot see your arm while looking in the mirror. The blade is a perfect line and any attempt to hit from the side will/should hit that blade instead. With parry 4, The opponent can hit the top side of your blade and run down the blade without ever touching your body.

These positions have been known and practiced for years for one reason: They're effective.

I must learn them.

Parry 5 will be the most difficult one for me to practice at home for one simple reason: I do not want to poke holes in the ceiling.

The muscle memory I'm trying to develop here is to parry 3 and immediately riposte. A riposte means, you missed hitting me, nyah! nyah! Got you back! Nyah! With parry 4, it's just the same thing from a different angle. Parry 5 is the tricky one as you block, then (strictly with wrist action), release his blade while turning your wrist such that your blade hits his mask.

The reason ripostes are tricky is one of timing. Once you release your block on their blade, they're not going to continue standing there, frozen in place. That blade is going to move and it IS going to hit you. To score a point, you must make the scoreboard light up and the new timing means you have to score that riposte within 0.325 seconds of their blade touching you.

In a real sword fight, you'd both be wounded. In the sport of sabre fencing, the one with right-of-way wins and a parry gives you the right of way but not for more than 0.325 seconds after they touch you.

Coach said we would build upon this lesson.

I intend to spend a great deal of time in front of the mirror, going over this over and over and over and over again until I can do it with my eyes closed and still have the correct form.

Think of the Karate Kid movie. Wax on. Wax off.

Cue Rocky I movie theme song in background.

---

May 21, 07:39 pm - Sell Your Car
"Sell your car," is what the coach said to me when he saw me practicing parries in front of the mirror. "You are sitting back in your seat... with a drink... a big cup." So he moved me back into position: leaning SLIGHTLY forward with the shoulder DOWN.

During practice, J and I decided to go into another area and practice footwork. The idea was to play the glove game but with the glove game, you're not really working on distance. Coach saw us and asked what we were doing, shook his head, and made an analogy about tools. The glove game was for beginners and for warm-up. "Practicing footwork is good, but you learn best when you have your weapons so you can see distance." So we continued working on what we'd been trying earlier: advance with SMALL steps, go from advance to retreat quickly, and jump back by kicking back with your trailing foot and pulling your other foot backwards with you. I was also trying to find the ever-elusive TEMPO. Watching a good fencer is like watching a ballet and watching me fence is like... well... you remember that music video with some kid dressed up as a bumblebee dancing badly? Yes. That bad.

By the time J and I returned to the main area, most fencers were done practicing for the day. we practice our advance and retreat with sabres for a while, took a break for water, fenced a while, and I stayed for a lesson.

Coach said that he did not want to work on technique because I plan to compete at the nationals and what he wanted to work on were things that would help me score. AFTER the competition, he suggested I double the number of lessons I'm getting. Why? Because I realistically don't expect to do well at the Nationals and will be delighted if I simply win my first DE after the pool and place better than the bottom third. Next year, I want to be in the top half. The following year, I want to be up there with the best fencers. By the time I'm in the 60 age group, I want to be good enough to make the world team.

So we worked on attacks. I am NOT doing well. Not at all. Think of the kid in the bumbelee costume in the video again. I am that uncoordinated.

One of the things the coach has consistently pointed out which I recognize as a major problem is that I tense up. I over-react and I parry too far, which takes me out of range. I am afraid and Coach said I had to let go of that fear.

I suspect, but do not know, that some of that fear flows from a 12-year marriage to someone with a violent temper who could lash out with physical violence with no warning. Forget everything you have been told about patterns of abuse; that's just the bell curve.

I also suspect, but do not know, that if I ever do manage to let go of that fear while fencing, I will not only be a better fencer but a healthier individual. I strongly suspect that if I can let go of the fear there, I can then let go of it everywhere else.

Fear is emotion that has been with me constantly for as long as I can remember. Fear of being hit, even today. Fear of poverty.

I cannot imagine myself without those two big fears, but I note that I'm no longer AS afraid as I once was so there may be hope yet for conquering these fears.

And fencing lessons are so much cheaper that visits to a psychologist. [grin]

After I return from Scotland, I will double the lessons and start preparing for the following year of competitions.

---

Fencing is a good tension release and I'm looking forward to doing things that I'd never thought possible.

I can afford to buy the equipment and compete. I am still mostly healthy. There's a club within driving distance and a good coach.

Life is good.

I was thinking this on the way home and wondered if I was evoking the wrath of the gods by daring to flaunt my happiness. Isn't that what happens when people are happy? Life slaps them in the face with something awful?

I hope not.

I am a mostly happy person. We are both gainfully employed. Family members are in mostly good health. I realize everything can disappear in a heartbeat but for the moment, I'm very contemp to lean back and sigh happily.

Next week, fencing camp begins.

Note added later: Pay close attention to my earlier comment that life has a tendency to slap someone in the face when they are happy because that's about to happen here.

---

June 12th, 2005

09:19 am - Point in Line June 11th
Point in line takes priority over all other attempts at right of way in sabre fencing and this has confused me from the first time I saw an opponent thrust out his arm and point his sabre at me.

What am I supposed to do with this? And is is really true that a PIL (Point in Line) thrust out there as I'm advancing takes away my right of way?

The coach noticed another newbie fencer and I were trying to figure this out and thus my lesson for the week was PIL.

Point in Line has right of way, but only if you get that blade out there before your opponent. I cannot stand there while the opponent advances with blade extended and then throw out my arm in PIL to impale the opponent and expect the director to award the point to me. Sometimes directors do just that, but it's bad directing.

I spent my lesson time learning first how to get my blade out there the moment my instructor started moving his arm and before he had established right of way. [This is harder than you might think.] He was also moving forward and I was to keep my arm out in PIL position until he finished his attack. I had to avoid his attack, which means (1) getting the hell out of the way and (2) pulling my arm back like BFWS (Blade Fold, Wing Stow) on an V22-Osprey, only much, much faster. Then I was to advance and attack.

Part of this exercise is because I'm not maintaining good balance when I advance and retreat rapidly. My center of gravity is off and thus I'm caughter flat footed (almost literally) each time I change direction. Thus, this incorporated a little of PIL into the existing lesson of how to move up and down the strip quickly, in response to the opponent.

It took the entire lesson just to get me to the point (no pun intended) of me being able to do this attack without being touched and being able to return the touch. [He always managed to touch me with his blade before I could touch him.]

The goal for today is to go up and down the hallway, finding the best stride that keeps my center of gravity where it belongs.

More and more, fencing makes me think of dancing. Everything must be perfectly coordinated and each must each respond to their partner's /opponent's movements.

---

And this is when we point the reader back to my earlier concern about being too happy and wondering if this meant something bad was about to happen.

I am at Mother's house. She is asleep after she, my sister, and I spent most of last night and part of this morning a the emergency room. They would have checked Mother in overnight for observation if all the beds in the neurology section had not been full. Instead, we're to see to it that she's not alone until we can see her regular doctor on Monday.

---

12:27 pm - Fencing
I forgot to mention that I fenced on Sunday, getting a much-needed break. However it was a C-2 fencing competition. [Fencers ranked B, C, D, and E were present and a specific number of participants. If one more fencer had competed, it would have been C-1.]

I finished 23 out of 24. This is not good. #24 could have outfenced me left-handed (he's right handed) any day of the week. We simply didn't compete against one another and I happened to get a higher score in the pool than his.

I returned home to mega-problems with Mother. Sigh!

I had been saying all along that I was going to Sacramento this year rather than wait until I was a better fencer because you never knew what the future might hold and this might be my only chance.

Looks like this may prove truer than I realized. At the very least, I'm going to be spending an hour a day checking on Mother (including driving time). This is going to impact my ability to get into shape, stay in shape, and practice. Please note that I'm begrudging the lost opportunity. I recognize my responsibility and I'm not going to take the easy way out on this. Mother will be happier and healthier at home for however long we can make whatever accommodations are necessary for her to stay there. The house is all electric so there's no concern about gas and cooking. She's still physically active so the only concern there is that she might decide to over exert herself.

I would have been horrified at the thought of leaving her unsupervised a couple of days ago but plan a, b, and c didn't work out and the remaining possibilities are far worse than the potential risks of leaving her unsupervised during the day.

Ideally, we could find a professional to check in occasionally.

---

09:46 pm - Scotland
My trip to Scotland is cancelled, due to my Mother's health.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. However, Scotland will be there for years to come and I cannot say the same about my mother.

---

July 8th, 2005 08:30 am - Fencing at the Nationals
I just returned home from Sacramento, having cut my trip short due to my mother's medical condition and thus NOT fencing Divison III as planned.
I finished 13 out of 18 after the pool and lost my DE to Jane Eyre, who finished first.

Now what should I do to prepare for next year?

Details:

In my pool: McLoughlin, Shirley J was 16th in the national ranking for 05. I won that bout.

Michael, Sarah B was 13th in the ranking. I lost 4-5

Turunc, Rosemary was 8th in the ranking and blew me away very badly. Her style totally overwhelmed me. I never saw it coming and never felt a single touch.

Brynildsen, Karen was 11th in the ranking and after Rosemary, I was just not in the game mentally. She was not that much better than me, but I lost badly.

Brown, Betty was unrated and I kept thinking prior to the bout that I could win against her based on what I saw of her style... but I misjudged her. She understood right of way and I kept failing to wait for her to finish her attack.
Bad mistake upon my part and one of my long-standing problems.

My score at the end of the pool was -5

Jane Eyre was rated 1st for 2005, but hadn't finished that high in her pool. I hadn't a prayer, but I did hold my own for the first few touches. She was ahead 5-3 at the half and I think I lost 5-10. Don't remember clearly. Every point I scored was defensive or a simultaenous attack (in my opinion -- but the director called them in my favor) and every touch I lost was offensive.

---

August 20 Fencing in Mishawaka
The Indiana Fencing Academy in Mishawaka is close to South Bend, which is near Nortre Dame.
Of COURSE they have a strong fencing club although I note that the majority of their members are epee fencers. On designated Friday nights, they have tournaments which qualify as USFA tournaments and which are often A and B rated (for the epee fencers). As some of our epee fencers were going, I tagged along to fence sabre and finished tied for third place out of 6 fencers. [During Direct Elimination, an even number means a tie unless they fence-off the tie and they usually don't.]

This was my first chance to get back onto the strip since the Nationals and I was worried that I was losing everything due to distractions. Thus, I was eager to get back onto the strip and see how I was doing.

Every time I fence in a pool, I realize just how far I have to go to be where I want to be as a fencer. Although I won two bouts (against two other female fencers who were (a) younger than me and (b) less experienced) and lost all my bouts to the male fencers who were way ahead of me in skill level. The plus side of this is that they were not so far advanced that I couldn't learn anything from the bouts. Also, Tim was between DEs when I was fencing my first and second DE and was able to give me some pointers on things I'm doing wrong.

One thing I'm slowly picking up on is a major mistake I make frequently: I go in for the attack, parry their blade and then I am SURPRISED when the other person gets the point. Of course they got the point. When I'm in attack and I hit their blade as I'm doing (and calling it a parry) I'm actually giving THEM a parry and thus right of way. We both get our hits and it's their point. Simple! And yet I commit this same mistake over and over and over again. I don't have it driven home in practice because there's no director to say it's the other guy's point. I do get it in a pool and I'm hoping that I'll do less and less of this.

I also tend to reach out, slow, and tap the opponent with my blade rather than throwing my arm out as I should. There is no advantage to slowing down. There is a disadvantage to slowing down. Why am I doing this?

Also, we discovered at the Nationals that doing this usually results in a call of preparation with the other person winning the point. I've got to work on this as well.

Lots of things to remember and that's the real reason for these journal postings. Occasionally, I cut and paste them into a larger html document and then I review my progress, kick myself in the butt a few times, and focus on what I need to do again.

---

September 8th, 2005 08:06 am - Splitsville
The Indianapolis Fencing Club and IndySabre Club have split. This leaves me with a foot still in each camp and divided loyalties. My coach IS IndySabre (although they might have to change their name). My fencing friends are mostly in the other club. I will probably belong to both.

IndySabre is a mostly young fencers club. The average member is probably 13 years of age. Indianapolis Fencing Club does not have a coach.

The problem is largely that IndySabre grew and became more than half the club while the original half found their floor space vanishing to these kids.

Details remain to be resolved.

I may be fencing at three sites as Alexander is moving to another facility and taking most of my epee friends with him. There are advantages to all weapons and (imho) learning to fence each allows you to take new tricks with you when you fence other weapons.

I feel that I have been caught up in a friend's unpleasant divorce. Unfortunately, I like both and I feel a little stressed by it all.

---

September 25th, 2005 09:16 pm - 2005 De Cicco Open
5 women fences at De Cicco. Four received awards. I tied for third place.

I don't have the final score for the mixed but I was 13th after my pool, won my first DE, and lost my second. Some luck was involved. I am a happy camper anyway.

This was a much needed sanity break.

September 30th, 2005 11:05 am - Fencing practice
Last night's fencing practice was a good stess reliever.

Esther said she won't be joining IndySabre so Thursday night would be our last opportunity to fence together. We parried to warm up and then I showed her a trick I'd learned on how to stop what I'd come to regard as my greatest skill: Going under the opponent's blade while lunging. When competing against a skilled fencer, this is parried easily. We practiced parry 2 and riposte.

The trick -- which every good fencer knows -- is to meet the blade, twist down and right with your wrist, so the blade is pushed out of the way, and riposte before the opponent has an opportunity to recover.

Esther was having great fun with that one.

Today, we're off to Terre Haute for the Rose Hulman Homecoming. First, I have countless errands to perform, including delivering some items to Mother and... WARNING!!!! RANT APPROACHING!!! persuade her to have cataract surgery. It seems that Mother was told IN MARCH!!!! that she needed surgery and she must stop driving until she had this surgery. She declined the surgery and continued driving. There is no possibility she misunderstood as she cried over it but simply could not undergo surgery.

I have to try to talk some sense into her.

PARENTS!!! Just when you finally get the kids out of the house and settled....

October 2nd, 2005 10:22 am - Fencing and a Normal Sunday
Yesterday's fencing lesson was probably more stressful for the coach than it was for me. I couldn't grasp the simpliest thing. At one point he wanted me to drop the blade and advance, lunge and I was watching what he was doing, focusing on everything he did except the fact that he was dropping his blade. He finally had Emerson show me and THEN I got it. Every time I advance lunge, I've got my blade right out there because I'm intent upon the director seeing it. This is fine for a first attack but not so good if you've already got right of way. Drop the blade and the opponent doesn't see it or know where to parry.

Argh! The simpliest thing...

Today, I went to the gym for almost an hour, building back up to my old routine slowly so I wouldn't have too many sore muscles. More work awaits at Mother's house but we're on the home stretch and we won't be boxing up anything more until the last person goes through the Fostira. I may take some home and box it to save for David once he is in a house again.

---

October 9

My fencing lesson ended just a little early because I couldn't do the simple thing that looked so easy when I saw everyone else doing it. In fact, I stayed later and worked in front of the mirror, moving slowly and carefully and it still took ten minutes for me to manage to do what I was supposed to do.

What could possibly be so complicated? Not tying my hands to my feet.

The instruction was to advance, parry 5, feint, AND THEN lunge with a parry 5 and cut.

Sound easy? Every time I tried, my feet kept moving or didn't move at all. There was no reason for my feet to move except that I've developed the comfortable habit of tying my hands to my feet, like a string puppet. Going to thrust, then lunge. Going to lunge, then thrust. Doing something different while lunging or cutting while not lunging while the other person looks (to my novice eyes) to be too far away [this is actually step two without a step: feinting)

I'd been watching the other students -- high school kids -- do this without fail and so I felt particularly stupid and frustrated when I couldn't do it.

The objective for this week: Go up and down the hall, practicing
Advance, parry 5, feint
lunge parry 5, cut.

---

October 16th, 2005 08:46 pm
Saturday's fencing session went fairly well despite me feeling like I was drunk. And I do mean drunk in the Douglas Adams way. What's so bad about being drunk? Ask a glass of water sometime. Blah! I even blew off exercising at the gym that day and today as well. Headache. Stomach somersaulting. Not a good day to attempt anything at all.

However, there's something about fencing that tends to make me focus such that I can sometimes block out feeling cruddy for a while and Saturday was one of those days. The lesson did not include anything more difficult than a simple attack so I did not do poorly and I was even told "very good" a couple of times.

After fencing, I stopped at Sunrise to see Mother and it was scary how normal she seemed that day. It was just like the last few months had dropped away and she was completely rational and asking probing questions about when she would be going home, was everything all right at home, etc.

I was shaking when I left partially because my headache was back and partially because I was once again questioning the wisdom of keeping her in an assisted living facility. She'd asked about condos and that seemed like a valid option again. I keep reminding myself that she will slip into confusion and forgetfulness on the next visit but it's still startling when she steps out of the fog on visits and is her old self again. I wish there was a way to attach an anchor to keep her that way.

---

October 20th

I wasn't expecting a fencing lesson tonight but I'll be gone Saturday and had an opportunity so I grabbed it.

The more I learn, the more that I learn that I need to learn. I feel that I'm at the point where I can almost wrap my brain around a concept but not quite yet. The first subject was essentially how to hold my hand. Stick that arm out there parallel with the floor as I usually do and jerk it back when someone aims at it and I get hit most of the time. The trick here is to use the wrist. [Echo from the back of the room USE THE FORCE, LUKE!] With the hand slighly angled, you turn the wrist and pull the entire arm backwards. No touch. Faster. More efficient. And I'm probably going to stand in front of the bathroom mirror and practice this for a while.

The other item worked upon and the one that gave me the most grief was the part where I'm enough there to see the problem and not enough there to see the solution. In a nutshell, you parry and don't riposte. The other person attacks, you parry, and then you see what you need to do. If there's too much distance, you can go on the attack or do any one of a number of things.

Not so hard?

When I parry and fall back, I automatically LUNGE on that riposte most of the time. If the fencer is good, he's dropped back and my lunge falls short. Worse, I started with my back leg a bit of a stretch behind me (remember, I was retreating) and thus I'm off-balance and overcommitted. I'm a sitting duck.

The quantum leap I'm attempting to make is to stop myself and do whatever needs to be done next. If I need to move forward, I bring the BACK FOOT forward first rather than stretch out my front foot. For one thing, you can't push off with your back foot if it's way back there. For another, you're not going to travel very far if you're throwing your forward foot forward while the back foot is way, way back there.

Sounds real simple, doesn't it?

I am not going to try to focus on this Saturday. A tournament is not a time to try new things. Instead, I'm going to concentrate on those few things that I can do well because the other fencers are going to be far, far better than me and this is an excellent opportunity to learn how to keep my cool on the strip even when I'm in over my head. Part of fencing IS mental, you know.

The upcoming schedule will be... interesting.

The unpronounceable open at Northwestern Saturday.
The Turkey Shoot at Notre Dame next Sunday.
The tournament at Fort Wayne the following Sunday.
11-13 is Windycon.

---

October 22nd, 2005 11:22 pm - Remenyik Open
I was 24 out of 32 at the end of the pools and lost my DE. Explicitly, Haas was my first opponent in the pool and she wiped the strip with me. As luck would have it, she was my DE as well and she wiped me out on that as well.

No amount of hard work, determination, and attention can compensate for skill and experience. This is why my favorite calendar is the one that includes INCOMPETENCE. That one is a picture of several nails bent over, the obvious failure of the carpenter to drive a single nail straight into the wood. The caption reads: When you think you can substitute hard work for skill and experience, there's no end to what you cannot do.

In a nutshell, Haas was simply a far, far better fencer than me. She had the skills that I'd like to have someday and the only way to get there is to fence.

Next Sunday is the Turkey Shoot at Notre Dame. The following Sunday I'm going to get up at a ridiculous hour of the night and drive to Ft. Wayne for their 8am sabre event.

October 30

Second Place in the WS Turkey Shoot
Unfortunately, this is not as prestigious as it sounds because there were only two of us. They gave us a bye for the pool [grin] and proceeded directly to the DE. I led until we reached 11 point and then I lost it 1-2-3-4. It was that fast.

My problem? Parry-riposte.

With the new timings, you can't just stand still, parry, and then riposte. Not if the opponent has figured out that if she keeps her blade where it is, it will hit you before you can riposte within the time required. Only one light lit up and it wasn't mine. Four times. You'd think I'd learn.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

What I need to do in the future is to either
(1) Parry, retreat sufficiently for her blade to not touch me) and riposte. This means getting the distance correct and/or retreating and advancing quickly such that her blade misses me and my riposte is moving forward with me such that it makes contact.

The other alternative is to learn how to riposte faster. Use the finger, Luke! Use the fingers!

Coach said we'd work on that later. He was directing and thus told me exactly why I lost it. I know enough to know he was right and not enough to fix it myself.

In the men's sabre, I was 15th out of 16. Not good. I did not do well in the pool and lost my DE 7-15. I note that the fencer who defeated me in the DE finished 2nd so I don't feel terrible about my performance but I am somewhat kicking myself.

I did not eat properly the night before.
I stayed up late to find out how a movie ended. It wasn't worth it.
I woke up with a headache, didn't take anything for it, and didn't get on the road until 30 minutes after my planned start time. The whole rest of the day felt "off".

I couldn't focus on the strip. I very seldom experience this problem but I just didn't FEEL it today.

Lesson learned.

I'm thinking of staying the night in Ft. Wayne before fencing at 8am Sunday morning partially because it would be easier for me and partially because Greg is going to be gone all day Saturday and then Saturday night until almost 2 in the morning. I might as well spend the night in Ft. Wayne.

I've booked a cheap hotel in Ft. Wayne before while traveling on business. I can do it again.

---

Nov 3rd

Last night was a light night at the gym and thus I had a fencing lesson.

The focus was on completing the things I could not learn last time and this means begin with en garde, step back as the instruct approaches and extend my sabre. Keep my distance and as he attacks, get the sabre out of the way. Not complicated? Only partially described thus far.

To get the sabre out of the way, the blade goes up and the arm goes back in a straight line. I tend to panic and just pull it back with body wide open for a point.

I also need to back up and this is where I spent half an hour beside the mirror: Step back, step back, jump back.

Simple? On the second jump, the distance between front and back leg should be twice as far and I should land flat footed, not on my toes ready to topple over like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

That one simple exercise kept me busy most of the night and that's only the first part. Once you're back you need to riposte (assuming sufficient distance). If not sufficient distance, then the back foot goes forward first and then move forward again. Why? Because otherwise I'm down there, helpless to move. It's obvious and yet my body isn't paying attention.

The other part of the lesson was on parry five riposte, which cost me the DE at the last competition. I would parry, she would leave her blade in place, I would riposte and only her light would display.

I am fast enough BUT, while I parry 5 normally in front of the mirror, I tend to parry and riposte with my elbow rather than my wrist when actually fencing. I practiced this in front of the mirror and noted that it seems to be associated with moving my feet, which probably explains why I stand still and grow roots when I parry five.

Lots to practice

November 6th

Dunbar Fencing
I'm back from Fort Wayne where I finished 13th out of 15th. This is very bad, imho.

About 1/3rd through the pool, I was thoroughly disgusted with myself and my inability to do score more than a couple of points. Then a miracle happened.

No, I did not suddenly do much better. I suddenly succedded in a manuever that had eluded me from day 1. While I had sometimes succeeded in the gym, I had never before successfully executed this particular little move in a bout and esp. so when the other fencer was more experienced than me.

One of the points I lost last week was impaling myself upon a point-in-line that came suddenly, at just the right moment, when forward momentum made it impossible for me to stop. This happens to me ALL THE TIME when I fence Kevin in the gym and it happens every time someone figures out that I'm a sucker for that move. The same thing almost happened this time. I remember thinking DAMN, did it again! Even as I was mentally kicking myself, my sabre made contact with the top of his blade and continued to slide down with my movement forward. Point for me!

Even better, I realized that I'm no longer afraid of the PIL. I still find it annoying and difficult, but I'm no longer paralyzed. I managed to go after a PIL at least three more times during the event and while they were quick enough to draw it back, it didn't cost me. In other words, that one success was not a fluke. I have much work to do before I can execute this successfully a majority of the time but I'm getting there.

I am still, unfortunately, planting my feet firmly in the ground and sprouting roots each time I parry 5. I've got to get past this. When I do this, I swing wide while the other person keeps the blade in place and thus it's a point for them. I must riposte faster and/or RETREAT!

My DE was better than my pools. I was -- unfortunately -- fencing someone much better than me and someone whom I'd fenced in the pool. More, he was left-handed and I still find fencing lefties to be a challenge. I was doing a mostly good job of being aggressive and keeping back because he liked defensive points. I managed to keep my blade down, but still a threat and kept it moving so he could not easily take it. Still, he was good at beat-attacks. i didn't score much in the second half. He'd figured me out by then.

---

November 15th, 2005 SFWA Musketeer
I am a SFWA Musketeer. Really. We are members of SFWA who enjoy fencing and do not hold any official status within SFWA. We do, however, proudly wear the SFWA insignia upon our uniforms and we give presentations on rare occasions at conventions.

I fenced with the other members for the first time Sunday and it's all about performance and making everyone else look good versus competing and winning. Free fencing means I can do many things that I cannot do during fencing competitions and dress up in a costume, too. However, it also means I need a different pair of boots because mine buckled when I went forward and right and my right foot twisted badly. It's still swollen.

I note proudly that I got right back up, finished fencing and continued without anyone in the audience being aware that my foot was swelling inside my boot.

The foot no longer hurts and the bruise is fading. I'm going to need to keep it light on footwork for about a week and then I should be back to normal.

One exception to that: Greg recorded everything and I saw myself fencing for the first time in months.

Coach is right. My advances are too big. I'm half-lunging with every forward step.

I shall work on smaller steps while my foot is healing.

Greg thought I looked flashier than he remembered ever seeing me before. Naturally. It was a DEMONSTRATION.

I had fun. In some ways it was more fun than a competition, but I think that's largely because I'm not a good fencer yet and because I was fencing with people I know. I don't know many other fencers. Yet.

November 16th, 2005
The coach asked what I wanted to work on and I said that I'd been having a problem with hits from my left. Explicitly, I was falling for every feint. He said I wasn't parrying properly and he was correct. What followed was five minutes of me making a wide U with my right arm, intercepted of comments to the effect of, "What are you doing?"

I finally got it right but this has been added to the list of things to practice frequently. I think I've got it and I'm leaving myself wide open.

Next on the list was working on my problem of parry 5 riposte. In the gym, I riposte fine. On the strip, I go parry -- one two -- slide the blade free -- one two -- riposte.
Way too slow. Worse, there's those horrific pauses in the tempo. The coach also explained that I didn't lose that direct elimination to Joan because I didn't parry fast enough as much as because I tried to parry riposte when I should have done... well... I forget what it's called but it's basically flick up and then riposte.

So many things to learn....

It's amazing how I can go into the gym with a pounding headache and then walk out realizing that the headache just came back. I don't feel it when I'm in the gym.

My injured foot is working fine. I do, however, have a beautifully bruised foot. The bruise runs along the side almost from toe to heel AND across the top. It looks awful but the foot itself is working pretty good.

November 26th, 2005
I did unbelievably poorly in the local tournament, placing 13th out of 14 competitors. This includes a couple of waist-high participants.

We fenced 5 to a pool and I won one, had 4-5 and 3-5 and one 1-5. I placed 13th out of 14.

I feel miserable.

My DE was against Sam, who has this great ability to leap backwards and to flick the top of my arm like his sabre is a whip while he goes backwards out of my reach. The score was about 8-2 at the half and then I started coming back, scoring 1.5 for every one of his. Not enough. Not nearly enough.

I've got two weeks to prepare for Pittsburgh and I can no longer continue slacking off and blaming my mother. Yes, I need to be there for her cataract surgery and follow-ups and yes, it's depressing as hell to visit her and I don't feel like doing anything afterwards. That doesn't mean I should just slink home and park my butt in a chair.

To help me get my act together, I'm going to start keeping a daily log of exercise, food consumed, and fencing work.

November 30th, 2005

I've done EVERYTHING wrong.

First I made hotel reservations for Friday through Saturday and then I signed up for Veteran Women's Sabre.

Then I made an airline reservation Saturday - Sunday on the presumption that I was fencing WS50

Do you see a problem here?

Then I changed my hotel reservation to be Saturday-Sunday.

THEN I rechecked my letter of confirmation and realized my screw-up.

I'm now trying to change my airline reservation, which was done through an agency. By the time I know something here (having volunteered to fly ANYTIME Friday), it will be about 2pm CT and I can call the USFA office and beg and plea with them to change my schedule.

Oops... while typing, the call came in. It would cost me $350 extra to change my flight. In the meantime, I could book a different airline for $160 and use the credit on the United ticket to fly to Reno. Guess what I'm doing now.

Deep breath.

I'm going to DRIVE to Pittsburgh, gosh darn it! In an 8-year-old car.

Now I've got to find out what it will take to add WV50.
3:00 pm, November 30th, 2005

I now have my room back to being Friday through Sunday and I've left voice mail, sent an e-mail, and sent a fax to the proper person about the competition.

I feel like such a doofus.

I'm certain Christine must think I'm a total loss and esp. so since I've now faxed corrections to the fax TWICE and still managed to leave the wrong information on the cover sheet TWICE.

Whimper. The harder I try to get it right, the more I do wrong.

Where's the caffeine?

10pm update: I'm IN!

I am now fencing both women's veteran competitions AND I'm driving to Pittsburgh. Upon hearing the latter statement, my husband immediately checked my forehead to see if I had a temperature. I do not enjoy road trips and he thinks that fencing is affecting my judgement.

Now all I have to do is get much, much better within a week. Actually, what I will be doing in concentrating on those things I can do best.

Tonight's lesson included the following bits:

I am still making broad sweeps with my hand instead of using my wrist. Control is between the thumb and forefinger. Sigh!

I am dropping my blade when I parry five.

I am moving into parry four wrong. Look at the tip of the blade and follow it.

Stop jerking back like someone just tossed a gernade at me. [My interpetation, not the coach's. He demonstrated what I'm doing, which is a jerk back rather than a graceful, ready to recover and move forward step back.]

How to flick: I noticed others doing this and was trying to figure out how and it's much much more difficult than it appears (at least for me). Step forward and drop the blade, look for an opening. Divide the body into an X and if the opening is here, go this way and if there, go that way. I kept going the wrong way, falling short because I didn't throw my arm out there, and using my whole arm instead of the wrist. The coach said I should not try to do that move in competition yet. Concentrate on what I have practiced and understand. Don't think; just do.
December 3, 2005

I am having exactly the same symptoms that I have when I (1) eat a sugary product, (2) eat spagetti, or (3) go cold turkey off caffeine

Fortunately, I haven't yet vomitted.

Given (2) and that I ate noodles last night, I'm eliminating noodles from my diet.

I woke up shakey and with a monster headache. I foolishly got dressed and left for Culver anyway. I should not have been driving and I pulled over twice enroute to give myself a break. Both times, I fell asleep... at least I hope I had fallen asleep and hadn't passed out while resting in the car.

Once at Culver, I put in my contacts and noted that things seemed blurry. I closed my left eye and things were fine. I opened the left eye and closed the right eye and things were blurry. I picked up something with writing on it and found I could read it. Drat! I had the wrong contacts. No depth perception. Mono vision.

I finished 6 out of 7 and I attribute this entirely to lack of skill versus the contacts and the sickness. I was fine once I got on the strip. I didn't notice any problems at all until the competition was over and THEN I waited around before leaving, hoping I'd feel better.

No such luck.

I stopped once and otherwise kept going until I reached home and collapsed into bed.

No more noodles. Ever. I think I'll just write off all pasta.

I note that I made these noodles myself and the only ingredients were eggs and white flour. I may try making them some other day (but not before a competition) with whole wheat flour.

I checked the box from which I'd gotten my left contact and it was the correct prescription for fencing. Weird. I'm going to have to open the new box and check to insure they work properly and store them carefully for Pittsburgh.

I do not want to be on the strip at Pittsburgh without depth perception.
December 11th, 2005 9:40pm Home Again.

I'm home and tired after a 6+ hour drive through snow.

Some rambling thoughts before I go to bed:

Pittsburgh was wonderful!

Everyone from the fencing association was professional, courteous, and extremely helpful.

I didn't meet a single women's sabre veteran fencer whom I wouldn't have wanted to know better. Everyone I met was just fabulous.

The hotel was clean and darn near luxurious and the staff was professional and hard-working.

The venue was excellent. The directing was as good as it gets.

I have many complaints about my skill level, etc. but I'll save that for another post.
12:13 pm - Pittsburgh Day -1.

I've already forgotten so much that I figured I better start keying in the words now or I'll have nothing to say about the weekend.

Because a snowstorm was forecast, I left work at my normal lunchtime (having turned in all the required paperwork) and started towards Pittsburgh with plans to stop and shop along the way for Christmas presents. The original plan was to stop just east of Columbus but when I stopped for gas, my car stalled. Start - stall. Start - stall. Start and go vroom, vroom, vroom a few times and then carefully put the car into forward, swallow the lump in my throat, and take a leap (or a drive) of faith.

I decided to not make any further stops and drove from Columbus to Pittsburgh without stopping and well ahead of the snow. After finding the convention center, I realized that I'd printed out directions to the convention center rather than the hotel and thus took a 50-50 chance and turned right to find the hotel.

It was left.

One circle around the block later and I was at the hotel, tired and starving.

Unfortunately, the Uno Pizza and all other food places in the area appeared closed and I do NOT like fish. Thus, I went to the bar and ordered a hamburger to take back to my room.

I later checked out the exercise room, the hot tub, and found out how to turn on closed captioning on the television.

End of day one.
12:19 pm - Pittsburgh Day 0 Friday at Pittsburgh.

I woke up way too early, showered, and went to the convention center with camera and tripod to check out the strips. Actually, I went back and forth several times because I kept stopping and buying things.

First, a blue sabre.

Now a gold sabre.

A jacket.

A rainbow sabre.

A DVD of the women's cup 2005.

I spent some time taping the women's division I and decided I needed food.

The Uno Pizza was not open at 1100 and I wondered how they managed to stay in business.

Two hours of taping and shopping later, Uno Pizza had some boxed personal pizzas available and I ate quickly.

For the next few hours, I wandered out into the cold and walked as far as I dared walk and be certain that I could find my way back. Alas, I found no Christmas presents to purchase. I did, however, find a Max and Erma's and made note of this for a time when I was feeling a little hungrier and wandered down the street to a Subway where I bought a footlong so I'd have something to eat the following morning. Half for dinner. Half for breakfast.

I spent the night in the hot tub and retired early.
12:41 pm - Pittsburgh Day 1.

I woke up early and went off to the convention center way, way too early but determined to watch and try to learn something useful.

The first thing I learned was to stay away from the vendors. I bought more stuff, checked the start time, and did a little more walking and shopping. Warm-up was next and I started to see faces I could recognize, even if I could not put a name with all of them.

We had 26 women over 40 signed up to fence VETWS and some of us gathered at the posting and wandered off into the hallways to warmup after verifying there were no strips available on which to warmup.

Pools are randomized and while I don't remember everyone in the pool, I think that the following were there:

Jane Eyre

Robin Mertel

Rosemary Turnuc

Stephanie Steirn

I do not remember the order nor do I remember the scores for each and I could be misremembering Delia because I also fenced her (or fenced her only) in the VET50WS. I do remember that Jane Eyre took me out quickly 5-1 and Rosemary also took me out quickly 5-1. My first bout was with Jill and I was ahead 4-1 when she scored 5 points in quick succession. That completely blew me out for a while and I kept thinking about all the things I had done wrong rather than focusing on what was ahead. Stephanie was a challenge in that she moved SLOWLY and while that may sound like an easy match, it was not. She won. Her slow movements on the strip were deceptive in that she WANTED you to come at her so she could get a defensive point. Every point she scored against me was a defensive point. My only win was against Robin and that was hard fought.

My biggest mistake was that I was jostling without a horse. Yes, I mean what I say.

En Garde! Fencers Ready! Fence!

I then galloped off at warp speed 11, sabre lowered and pointed threateningly at the target.

I finished the pool in 21st place out of 26 and my Direct Elimination (DE) was against Laura Colon-Marrero.

Sometime during the pool -- I forget when -- Coach showed up to see how I was doing as he had just checked in as a director (not on our strip, of course). The answer: badly. He went off to see about his business but returned shortly after the DE began.

Laura took the lead almost immediately and it was a high-intensity bout of two fencers minus horses going at one another unrelentlessly. Many simultaneous attacks occurred but she kept scoring points by taking my blade, knocking it away, and thus taking right of way.

She was ahead at the half and I was panicked and freaking out partially due to mental state, partially due to being outgunned (or out-sabred) but not by so much as to consider the bout impossible, and partially out of insufficient nutrition in my body.

Somewhere during all of this, Coach showed up (before the half) and he gave me some advice during half-time. Mostly, he asked why I was doing simultaneous attacks over and over again and not adjusting. And he told me to calm down. Right. Ask the wind to stop blowing during a hurricane.

Sometime shortly before the 5 point break, I'd realized that if Laura couldn't take my blade, I scored. Why? Because she pulled her hand back in preparation and THAT gave me the right of way. Two lights. My right of way. My point.

So I stupidly concentrated on twirling the blade going in so she couldn't take it or keeping it straight and moving it just before she would go to reach for it. Sometimes this worked. Sometimes it didn't. More than a few times we had to pause while I straightened my blade and at one point, it was so S-shaped that I asked to change and then couldn't see my second sabre on the strip. More panic. Fortunately, Coach asked if he could have it, he straighted it while the director watched and suggested he try using the carpet (while trying to step on it to straighten it) and I finally had a usable blade again. When I say we were galloping at full speed, I am not exaggerating.

We continued as we had from the start and by this time, my brain had gone somewhere else while the only thing I had in my mind was a burning desire to score a point. And again. And again. And to pray I didn't lose by much because Coach was watching and I'd have to tell everyone I'd lost my DE and finished 21st out of 26 and I really felt awful and here it is En Garde again and I've got to get my head together and ohmygawd what am I doing?

I had no idea what the score was until I scored a point on another simultaneous attack where she failed to take my blade and she stepped back and pulled off her mask.

My bout? Huh? What?

And this is when the coach came over, told me to shake hands, thank the director, sign the paper, and take the paper to the bout committee. In fact, he walked with me. I guess I had too much of a deer-in-the-headlights-how-did-I-survive-the-impact look on my face.

The next DE:

Kimberly looked like an actress or a model in a fencing commercial but she moved like a real fencer. Much better than me. It was quickly obvious to me that I hadn't a prayer and I simply concentrated on not losing too badly.

I don't think Kimberly even broke a sweat while she was on the strip with me. She finished sixth overall.

I spoke briefly with the coach sometime later that afternoon and he looked at me oddly and said, "You drove? Linda, did you travel alone? Do you have room in your car for more things?" His daughter was returning home from a six-month internship and their car was overflowing. Thus, we met later than evening, transferring some bags from his car to mine, and I had dinner with Coach, his wife, and their daughter, E at Max & Erma's. It was a much-appreciated break from the strip and no, we barely talked about fencing.
10:09 am - Pittsburgh Day 2

I started taping Division I Men's Sabre until E. caught up with me and then I left to insure I was registered on time and warmed up.

Words cannot express how awful I was on the strip. It's pure luck that I didn't finish lower.

Every blade action started at my elbow or my shoulder and I completely forgot to use my fingers to manuever the blade.

Fortunately, the memory of this disaster is fading. Unfortunately, part of it was captured on tape.

I met some wonderful people and everything was perfect except my fencing. I froze. I messed up. I did everything wrong.

Time to begin preparing for March in Reno.

As it's that time of year for making resolutions, I might as well follow tradition and compile a list of things to accomplish by 2007.

1. Footwork. I will learn to move smoothly. To quote a wise woman at yesterday's practice: Imagine I have a mug of beer on each shoulder and I need to move down the strip without spilling them.

2. Bladework. USE THE WRIST!

3. Weight -- Get back to 115 and STAY there.

4. Schedule -- create a daily workout and a weekly workout schedule and stick to it as much as possible. I did this before Mother's illness created chaos. I can do it again.

5. Directing -- Review and understand the rules and take the written test at the nationals if at all possible. Practice directing at the club and learn to understand when it's a counter attack and when it's an attack into preparation.

6. Mother. This is my biggest worry for the year. I forsee a decade-long Mother crisis and I'm powerless to do anything for her. What I can do is be there occasionally as that gives her some comfort and focus on eliminating the negative energy after I leave. Being around her is very depressing and since I cannot help her, I have to focus on not drowning in her pool of negativity.

7. Compose another Dare. It's time. The weight is up. The body is flabby. Time to force myself to focus for the duration of the dare. Three months.
December 18th 07:45 am - ATHENAEUM FENCING CLASSIC .

A happy fencing day! No, I've not made incredible improvement, but I did finish better than ever before.

I arrived early and started helping to set up the strip. Somewhere during the course of this, someone said the strips were too narrow and when I checked, I knew they were right and yet I was still morning-not-sharp and reset them to the "right" width using the rope that was supposed to be the measure.

Note that this is the rope that is used at the gym to gauge the proper distance in LENGTH not width and that length is for the distance between the two fencers before the start of a bout.

I made a mess of this.

I thought things had gone from the frying pan and into the fire when I got my pool assignment and saw that I was in the same pool as the coach. [Normally, he does not compete at local tournaments but he wanted this to be a C-2 tournament and thus he and another C2 fencer were competing.] I knew I was doomed when my first bout was against the coach and I stepped onto the strip prepared to lose.

I won.

Later, I realized that OF COURSE I won. The coach had gone from insuring everything was ready for the tournament and keeping all the volunteeres together to fencing with darn little time to change and no time to do any warm-up at all. His mind wasn't there yet and I had a couple of very lucky points where my guard caught his sabre and I went in for the point.

Need I say he never lost another bout in the pool and demolished everyone?

I finished second in the pool, losing only to J -- who always beats me -- and finished 8th. This was somewhat exciting as I knew that if I could somehow stay there, I would get an E rating and the odds of staying there were very, very slim.

My first DE was against D, who was a young student probably no more than 8 and I relaxed somewhat. By the half, I was sweating it out because the score was 8-7 and if I did ANYTHING but a simultaneous attack, he got the point on me. I couldn't lose to this little kid!!!! The final score was 15-14 so I barely squeaked past. My next DE was against J -- who always beats me -- and I was down 2-8 at the half. About two points later, the lightbulb went on over my head and I realized that (1) Jenna was having an off day and (2) I could land a parry-riposte on her if I just fenced properly. Alas, I realized this too late and the final score was 12-15. The director did compliment me on a great come-back but I still lost.

A women's tournament was unplanned but Coach went around the strips during the break that occurs while organizers are crunching numbers and asked if women were interested. Three women fencers had driven up from Louisville and thus we had at least six. An E-1 tournament.

We actually had 8 women competing and Jenna was still competing in the semifinals DE so my odds went up on having a second chance at an E1. I won 3-4 bouts in the pool and thus finished well and my first DE was against a fencer who had just begun fencing about 4 months ago.

That was not as easy a DE as it should have been as she was very good at parrying and thus we did simultaneous attacks over and over and over again until the director looked at us and said, "Please do something else." So I went for a SA, retreated, reached out to attack, and gave her to point. I returned to simultaneous attacks and I have honed my one-good-trick-in-the-toolbox to the point of darn near perfection in that I can usually get out there fast enough and with a good position such that a director can see that I've got the point against someone who doesn't do this stupid thing so frequently. I won that one about 15-5.

The next bout was against one of the Louisville fencers and again, I was able to win primarily through simultaneous attacks. If this was all I had to do in fencing, I would be a very good fencer indeed. Usually, I can't get away with this in a DE and we did begin to drift into attacks where I had to go in, take the blade for a parry riposte, and lose a few points in order to move forward to a win. At this point, I was in the finals again Abby, whom I'd beaten in the pool earlier. I knew better, however, than to expect an easy win because Abby is young, strong, full of energy, and much better with the blade than me. When we fence off in the gym during practices, she is just enough better than me to win the majority of the touches after I land the beginning few. IOW, she adjusts to my little tricks.

Abby took the lead almost immediately and managed to stay there throughout the bout. I closed in a few times but her blade control was better and she managed to flick my sleeve far too many times. I note that this was actually my best bout of the event because now I had no choice except to really fence. I was retreating, looking for openings, and doing all the things that I should be doing. Abby had been doing this in drills with far better fencers than me and her expertise showed.

I lost and it was never really close again after the break at 8.

It was a good fencing day. A very, very good fencing day.
December 28th.

Tonight's fencing lesson covered many things and was followed by a brief discussion about technical and tactical aspects of the sport.

Among other things tonight:

1) I'm still pointing the blade wrong in en garde position. It's only a slight difference, but it's significant.

(2) I'm failing to fully extend my arm.

(3) I'm not using my wrist properly.

(4) My parry 2 is totally wrong and I'm failing to riposte from it.

(5) My timing is off. Instead of one-two-three I'm going one.... two..three.

(6) I am not doing badly on stop-cuts.

(7) I'm making slow progress on flunges. The big problem is that I am essentially trying to hard so at the end of the lesson, whey the coach showed me a flunge (again!) and said that he couldn't understand why I was having so much trouble if I could jump up and down like that, then I just jumped, hit one foot, and went forward into a flunge. It was a bit of a fluke and I haven't yet repeated it but if I can do it once, I'll eventually do it again. If I only get it right one time out of a hundred, it will eventually be one time out of 90 and one time out of 80 until I eventually get it right all the time.

There's so MUCH to learn. I have a feeling my fencing is going to take a turn for the worse before it improves again. When I try to do things that I haven't yet mastered, I make mistakes and lose points.
December 30th Trying to be Positive about changes needed.
December 30th

Since the concensus is that my last post was overwhelmingly negative, this is my attempt to restate it in a more positive light and hopefully find some structure that allows me to assign a value to an intangible so I can measure progress.

To practice for maintenance:

(1) Lunges

(2) Advance - practice varying the steps

(3) Forward jump

(4) Retreat normally

(5) Retreat, crossing legs and getting back quickly

(6) Jump back and forth at all possible opportunities. Foot flat on floor. Don't land on toes.

Skills that need minor tweaking:

(1) Touching the sleeve (top or bottom) -- Need to practice this with a target and learn to step back quickly to avoid the opponent's blade.

(2) Simultaneous Attacks -- anticipate and respond -- take the opponent's blade, avoid a taking of the blade, and learn to jump back, parry, and riposte or just overall get out of the rut of SAs.

(a) Mix it up -- change the pace, take the blade, put in a little showmanship for the director

(b) Throw in a backwards jump occasionally and parry-riposte or just attack if the opponent finished.

(3) Engarde - get the positioning exactly right - just because

Skills to add before March:

(1) Extend the arm. All the way out there. Shoulder relaxed.

(2) [In my best Obe One voice] Use the WRIST, Luke!

(a) Practice using the wrist to manuever.

(b) Practice using the FINGERS to make those cute little circles. Tighter.

Wide circles are easy to defeat.

(3) Improve the parry 2 and learn to riposte from it.

(4) Improve parry 3 - get it further away from the body. Just a little.

(5) Improve parry 4 - Position the cutting edge to take the force of the blow

(6) Improve parry 5

(a) Practice the position standing still

(b) Practice the position with a backwards step upon taking the parry to avoid being hit when the opponent leaves that blade out there.

(c) Practice the position with a backwards jump upon taking the parry. Same as above.

(7) Practice flunges.

There are many, many more skills I want to add but this is what I can realistically anticipate improving before the next NAC in March.