ok, just got back from provincials. pretty good turnout. i'm not so impressed with the numbers here. fencing here just seem so isolated and you see the same people over and over again. i'm not so sure about my competitive future. i can always go to the individual clubs in town and fence these guys on their "free" nights anyway...back to the tournament.
i was in a 7 man pool, finished 5-1, and seeded 4th overall and a first round bye; 3rd straight tournament finishing the seedings rated in the top 5 i think. funny how ratings/rankings really don't mean much for me. i'll be up there after pools anyway,
first DE was against and older guy from red deer, but the score was 15-14. would have been pretty embarrassing if i'd lost to say the least.
next bout was against a guy from edmonton..pretty good fencer, i could tell. i was down 7-4 after the first period and coach came over with some useful insight that i applied somewhat to take the lead 11-7. what worked for him early on was second intention parry 6 riposte and i wasn't getting my distance right. after the break my goal was to turn the tables and use second intention of my own. i did feint attacks, going in arm withdrawn (how's that for going against the common "arm first" fencing gospel, ) to close the distance. i then did beat 4 fleche or opposition 4 fleche to score..ending up winning 15-9. i'm really satisfied with this bout from a tactical standpoint and being able to adjust and actually process info that a coach gives during a break.
semifinal was against, mr. hotstuff#2 in alberta. i knew i wasn't going to win this one. he's just too tall, too fast, too flicky, too experienced and just too good...9-15...ending up T-3rd. second bronze in 3 canadian tournaments...that's it, i'm not sleeping the night before a tournament from now on, seems to work somehow. i hope this is enough to crack the top 10 in the provincial rankings in much less than a half a season. i think i deserve to be there at least.
funny how this stuff works. i really wasn't that motivated the last couple of weeks and was going to take this tournament off...i went in with an "oh whatever" attitude and end up fencing well. we'll see how westerns go next weekend..hopefully i get to fence the SK or BC guys.
04-15-2007 05:37 PM 
) to close the distance. i then did beat 4 fleche or opposition 4 fleche to score..ending up winning 15-9. i'm really satisfied with this bout from a tactical standpoint and being able to adjust and actually process info that a coach gives during a break.
seems to work somehow. i hope this is enough to crack the top 10 in the provincial rankings in much less than a half a season. i think i deserve to be there at least.