Greybeard's Brain Blog

Beat behind

, 05-22-2010 at 05:47 PM (633 Views)

I think I might be on to something. I don't mean to take anything from my fellow "wheelies, " but I think I finally figured something out.

Most of the wheelies with whom I fence have been the victims of a traumatic accident that left them incapable of fencing on their feet. Or perhaps there is something physical. I have not met that many wheelies who have suffered stroke. Or in my case strokes.

As I was lunging in the garage today I noticed I am a beat behind. When fencing I can see what my opponent is going to do or I have a planned attack and I am a beat or two behind.

When someone talks to me I have to process what was said and it might be a second longer for the response. My mind is active, don't put me on jeopardy, but I am sort of "living in the past"

Command "fence" and I don't explode like I used to (ooh that is a messy picture) It takes a second to react. That could be why I get so many yellow cards, I am trying to time it. My last stroke was in the pontine area. The area that controls movement, that is why I lose my legs occasionally.

Well, that is my excuse and I'm going to use it.

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Comments

Fencergrl - 05-25-2010 02:05 PM
You make a good point. Fencing is a mental & physical game. For that reason it sounds like a great rehab activity for you.

Wheelchair sports were initially created as a sneaky way to get injured people to get in shape and develop their "chair skills". Wheelchair basketball is a great example. As an able-body I found it to be one of the most demanding sports.

Wheelchair fencing is not a good sport for either chair skills or cardio compared to almost any other wheelchair sport. It is however an excellent sport for developing the mind... tactics, reactions, muscle-mind connections.... all that stuff.

So yeah, all your opponents are not faced with your disadvantage. While the immediate goal is to win, the long term goal is to try to regain some of what the strokes took away from you. Every small bit you recover is a victory. Every improvement is something more than you would have not had if you didn't work at rebuilding those brain pathways through fencing. Don't lose sight of what your real goal is. The guy across from you on the strip is there to keep you fighting against what the stroke took from you. Some guy with the name "Aneurysm" on the back of his whites is the guy you're fighting with buddy... the other guy is a decoy.