It was a busy sabre night--Donna, Meng, Dick, Tom, Kiersten, Dangerous Dan, Jessi1, Ben, Mike, and Ahren. I fenced DD, Meng, Kiersten, Mike, and Donna that I can remember, all fifteen-touch bouts. They were tough ones--I lost to Mike, and the other guys I all started several points down. Donna took my advice about making her disengages smaller, and she also decided she wasn't going to let me make her finish, so it was a close bout. Although my legs are tired (I lifted yesterday and walked an hour, and today I biked for nearly an hour and walked quite a bit), I felt my footwork was slightly less clumsy. DD behaved himself and didn't hurt me. Mike actually bruised my arm a little, though.
I worked with Ahren on footwork, as a matter of fact. I made a relaxed, controlled, soft advance, and if he retreated I just kept advancing. If he stopped I was to make sharp advance-lunge. That was hard enough because I've been lumbering and rushing lately. Then he started throwing in half-advances, false counter-attacks, and real attacks. If my feet were stable I was able to do what was necessary, and if they weren't stable, I couldn't--whether it was finish the attack, make him fall short, make prise-de-fer, do counter-time, step back and parry, or whatever.
I told him to buy his ticket for France and I'll reimburse him--I bought mine last night. I'll go on September 30 and come back October 6 the day after I compete. He's also going to France before he goes to Hungary this summer, because his wife Clothilde is French, but Limoges won't be a vacation for him.
Through a boondoggle, there's a tournament scheduled at FAP for Saturday and a training day for Sunday; I signed up for both. My brother will be in town (he's in foreign service and is in between postings) but maybe I can get together with him and my sister (who will also be in town from Charlottesville) in the morning and go to the training day, because it's in the afternoon. I have my priorities, after all.
06-11-2008 09:27 PM