#uwf fencing

[fencingmarie]

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

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

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

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

[fencingmarie]

This morning I met up with my friends and did shoulder day. I forgot to take a photo of my set list, so I'll upload it later.

I didn't get the chance to fence or drill with another person, so I used the pell at Francois' house instead. For those of you unfamiliar with pell work, a pell is a target you use for solo practice. In this case, it's a 4x4 mounted vertically on a base and wrapped in rope with extra tape at the top. The rope and tape cushion the 4x4 so that hitting it doesn't hurt your sword or chew up your target. Since the ceilings are high at Francois' house, I was able to practice some cuts indoors with my arming sword.

Tomorrow I may get another 100 cuts in before we start our day. If we don't have time, I'll come up with something to do once we return to Pensacola.

[fencingmarie]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[fencingmarie]

Last Wednesday I worked out at Krav along with the class and then put in some extra practice with Michael and the Three Bears afterwards to work on P4 skills to get us ready for CIC 1.

On Thursday I took a Lyra class. It was all bodyweight - no cardio - but a fun challenge for me. I was able to do the moves and felt super proud of myself!

Starting Friday after work, my students and I helped with the SCA demo at Pensacon... in addition to regularly scheduled practice. Tiny Nick! and I met at the Bay Center to do a very brief demo and then cut out to go to UWF practice. My kiddo came into town just in time to go with us, so that was pretty cool. We also had some newcomers that night.

On Saturday and Sunday, we fenced intermittently more or less all day. Demo fighting is fun because you can do weird and flashy stuff you’d never do in a tournament. I wore my “Merida dress” with chain maille under, and that seemed to be a big hit. It’s important to me that little girls see that you can be a pretty princess and still sword fight.

Monday was another Krav night. I let Michael take the lead on that once since I wasn’t really prepared after my busy weekend. We stayed after and worked on a few more P4 skills. We’re almost finished working our way through that level!

Yesterday morning I got some bad news and stayed home from work. I slept a lot in the morning hours, but in the late afternoon, I felt well enough to go to the gym with Nik. We fenced with Tiny Nick!, lifted some weights, did some cardio, and then met up with more students and fenced a little more. When I was working out, I wasn’t so sad. I really appreciate my friends and students - more than they know.

Tonight is a Krav night. I actually organized the lesson and feel pretty good about it. February seems to be moving as quickly as January did slowly (if that makes sense), so I want to get as much floor time in as possible before April!

I’m two weeks post-op from LASIK. I can get sweat and tap water in my eyes, I don’t wear the shield when I sleep, and I’m allowed to enjoy swimming pools and hot tubs. I still take eye drops more than usual, but other than that, it’s a dream come true.

[fencingmarie]

On Saturday I went to extra practice at UWF with Nik and Tiny Nick! I did a long sword drill that didn’t require me to wear a mask and walked the track. Of the 8 laps I did, I jogged 3 (not all at once - I spread them out). No sweat.

Yesterday we had SCA practice. Because we had a lot of new people, I got to do some mask-off instruction. I sparred with a few of the more experienced students - again in short bursts.

Tonight I’ll be back at Krav. I expect teaching will be the same as usual, but my practice time after class may be limited.

[fencingmarie]

I rested a lot on Wednesday night and had full sight on Thursday. I still passed up on fencing to nap. It seems like when I rest my eyes, I end up asleep. Today I went to fencing! I was a little nervous, so I spent some time working with new folks. Then I put on my mask and was able to see! I fenced Tiny Nick! and my reaction time was so much better. I could do only a few passes because I'm not allowed to get sweat in my eyes, so i called it in early and then walked a couple laps on the indoor track. Today was a good day.

[fencingmarie]

Wow, I’ve been slacking. Sorry about that, friends.

Last Wednesday I taught Krav with Michael. That went well. I worked with the P1s while he took the P2s, and then we worked on some really sweet looking kicks (P4) after everyone left.

On Thursday Nik and I met up with our UWF fencing students for some extra fencing time. I didn’t feel too hot, but I went anyway. I figured some fencing was better than no fencing. I found a “hole” in my defense. I was also having issues with one of my toes. I dropped a book on my foot a little while ago, and apparently my toe decided to swell up on Thursday. I taped them together on Friday, and everything has been peachy since then.

Friday was a regular UWF fencing practice. Nik helped me deal with the “hole.” Knowing about it seems to help. Tiny Nick! and I have been exchanging lessons on knife fighting - mine from Krav Maga and his from Fiore. It’s a beautiful conversation.

On Saturday I helped teach a Krav seminar in the early afternoon. I had trouble generating volume when teaching; I don’t know if it’s because I was outside or if I was feeling froggy in my throat. It’s easier when we’re in the gym. I came home and swapped out my Krav gear for my fencing gear and headed to the gym with Nik for extra practice with the UWF fencers. We fenced a bit, and then I got in a quick run. I managed to squeak in a mile under 10 minutes, and I only wanted to die twice. Progress!

On Sunday Nik and I went to the park for SCA fencing. Tiny Nick! joined us and helped us show the basics to some new people. We had a pretty good turnout.

Yesterday was Krav night. Michael and I taught kicks (high knees and front kicks for P1; roundhouses and stop kicks for P2s). Everyone did the stomp kick because why not? After practice we worked on some P4 blocks.

Tonight is going to be a rock wall night. I’ve slept on it, and I’ve thought critically about my fears, and I think I’m going to make it to the top this time.

[fencingmarie]

I did not fence last Thursday, but I felt my time was well spent with my friend.

I ran UWF fencing practice on Friday since Nik was out of town. I spent some time working with some newer students, and Tiny Nick! stepped in to introduce the new students to some drills. He’s shaping up into a good instructor.

On Saturday I had informal practice at my house with my students from UWF. We fenced until the sun went down and then had some “mus’ go soup” (made when you have a bunch of ingredients that “mus ‘go” in the soup)..

Nik came back Saturday night, and we had an SCA demo on Sunday. We had an informal tournament, and I feel like I did some good fighting even though I didn’t win the tournament. I saw good sportsmanship and good fencing from my students, and our bouts ran well even though people were sharing gear and trading weapons between rounds.

Last night Michael and I were back at it at Krav. I think we’re building our new core group. We have some people from before the break and a couple of new faces. I’m hopeful that we can keep the momentum going.

My biggest challenge right now is that one of my students has some trouble with coordination because of other medical issues. I’m working on figuring out the best way to adapt what we’re teaching to suit his needs.

After class, Michael and I ran through some ground work and a kick defense for P3 and worked on figuring out a schedule for ourselves. I think we’ll probably look at techniques after class and then work on conditioning at other times (either together or reporting back to each other). Last night I came home and used the medicine ball for some core work while I was watching TV. I did sit ups (wihout the ball), twists (with the ball), and ball drops (obviously with the ball). I need to inflate my yoga ball a bit more so that I can get off the floor and do some more dynamic stuff during TV time.

Tonight Nik and I are hitting the gym and then meeting up with some of our students to do some fencing (speaking of momentum). I’ll probably do some light weight lifting, but i need to do more cardio to get ready for CIC.