Wednesday night practice was much better. For one thing, I found my plastron hung up, so now I'm just missing my extra jacket. Also, we had a few more fencers and there was some better fencing going on. It was quite a good crowd for a little while, though many left before I had a chance to fence them. I fenced Tony, Dave, Donna, Meng, Mike, and someone else, I forget whom. Dave and Mike beat me and so did the person I can't remember. This is what I get for writing in my journal a day late
...More
It was not a great evening. First, someone borrowed my jacket, plastron, and knickers and I could only find the knickers. The back room is a jungle of uniforms of various states of disrepair and it took forever to find a jacket that fit me, let alone my own. The jacket was thinner than mine and I felt every cut.
Second, most of the people there tonight were leaning forward--Charlotte, Bob, the newcomer whose name I forget; Mike always leans, and though I didn't fence Donna, I noticed sh
...More
I was going to go to the Charm City, but with a week to go it looked as if it wouldn't have enough women to fence separate events, and there was a strong mixed veteran at MFC in New York, so I took the train up.
It was gray out and a light rain was misting, and when I got to the club it was hot, close, and humid. Practice was winding down with all the young fencers, and it was crowded. I wasn't in the mood to begin with, and being that hot made me tired. However, I pulled myself together.
...More
I got in my car to go to fencing, and my dome light didn't even go on. Battery deader than a bucket of mud. So I went back in and called AAA, and I now have a new battery, a warranty, and a misplaced evening.
I didn't know I wasn't in a good mood until I got to fencing. Oh, well, I suppose that's why I go. It was pleasant enough. Michelle, Mike, Meng, Charlotte, Ed, and Bob; I fenced Mike, Bob, Ed, Charlotte, and Meng. My knee bothered me a little bit. No lesson, because Mark is at the NAC.
Other people were a little wiped out too--Charlotte is taking five graduate courses, Meng is in his MBA program, Mike was tired from his usual responsibilities and taking two weeks off because of the el
...More
I am just too tired and stressed to drive down to the veteran tournament in Virginia, and my husband won't go with me, so I cancelled. Then I saw there's a veteran event at MFC in NYC on the 14th, which would not require driving and has a bunch of friends in it, so I signed up for that and withdrew from the Charm City, which had tops about 6 people registered for the mixed open sabre.
A typical second night back! The first time back after a hiatus, I always fence well, and the second time I'm always terrible.
It was very busy -- Dave, Bob, Bridget, Nick L., a couple of the sabre boys whose names I don't know, Michelle, Donna, Charlotte, Dick, Ahren, and Meng. I fenced Dave, one of the sabre boys twice, Michelle, Donna, Dick, and Ahren, and lost at least three bouts (losing to Dave and Ahren is pretty much normal, but I lost another one) because my distance is gone. ...More
Except for a few I got on Meng, I didn't do straight attacks. No profit. But I did do footwork and some target drill, and that was useful. The only sabre fencers there were Meng, Kiersten, and Bob, and I fenced all of them (Meng and Bob twice). Mark asked me if I wanted a lesson, and when I said I didn't know if someone else had moved into that slot during the five weeks I was out, he said the 8:30 slot was permanently mine. That was nice. Of course, that's Mark's version of time--when he
...More
I looked again at the Sunday tournament, and realized I had misread the close of check-in. There's no way I can make it. I cancelled.
Donna and Dave both commented on my Facebook page, asking me to come back to practice. But Monday night is an evening meeting and Wednesday night I have another meeting. I guess I'll just have to stick to my month off.
11-19-2009 07:49 PM 