Messing up a DE

[Peach]

AAAARgh. Yesterday in a tournament, I fenced a sabre DE I should have won and tossed it right into the trash. (And I just KNOW you folks have some good stories to share about this kind of thing, or some good advice, you always do.)

1. The directing was terrible (no recognition of tempo, calling "Fence" when fencers had their masks off, missing a loud beat on the blade, etc.), but I didn't adjust. That's my error.

2. I felt sleepy and lethargic before it. Bad sign. I was eating throughout the tournament, and I thought I was in good enough condition, but I still should have shaken myself and jumped up and down when I noticed that. That's my error.

3. Worst of all, though I recognized that I was being directed badly and that I was lethargic, I fenced mechanically. I went back about three levels to a simple-minded game of alternating attack, jump-back-attack, beat-attack, without doing any invitations, second intention actions, or false counter-attacks to draw the preparation. I felt as if I went brain-dead. That was ALL my error.

All of this with the coach I've just started lessons with refereeing on the other side of the room and watching me with a sad, regretful eye. I went to the tournament strictly to work on things he's been teaching me, and didn't use any of them.

This has happened to me before.

WHY AM I SO BRAIN DEAD IN A TOURNAMENT SOMETIMES?

Worst, the guy who was running the tournament apologized to me for giving me the director. "I expected you to win that DE, so I didn't think it would matter," he said. Gawds, that's so embarrassing.

Do I expect too much of myself? It is SO embarrassing to have gotten to the stage where people know I'm competent and expect me to do well. It was so much easier when I was the underdog.


AAAAAAAAGH

Just had to vent.



[This message has been edited by Peach (edited 06-04-2001).]

[Dame d'escrime]

Quit beating yourself up. Everybody has "off" days.

You know what you did wrong. As a teacher you know how to analyze a lesson and know if it was a good one. Was this a good lesson?
Did learning take place?

If so, move on and come back stronger than ever!

Bon chance!



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You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.

[scarlet_woman156k]

Peach,
I completely understand what you mean by brain dead.

What I am trying to actively do is be conscious of what I need to do BEFORE I get on the strip...not halfway through the darn bout. This could mean just stretching because I'm starting to tighten up, footwork to keep warm, watching the fencers and assessing how I will need to approach them on the strip, smacking myself in the face if I'm starting to feel lethargic, etc. Some people do nothing, just chat with other fencers or zone out. I find those things do not help me at a tournament at all.

I realized I was having a problem when people would always say, "It takes you a while to get 'warmed up' in a bout...and then you start nailing them." Or else, I'll sink into a "mode" (aka, auto pilot or mechanical fencing) during a tournament and can't switch out of it.

Neither are a good position to be in.

Also, I don't think people can win ALL the time. Sometimes you're just "off" (ie, tired, sick, in pain, the mind is wandering, etc) and if the person you are fencing is just a little bit more "on" then "off" it'll just go down the tubes for you. I've found that concentration and focus must be maintained always if there is to be any chance at a consistently higher rate of success. I'm sure you could agree with me on that.


Also, you know what I do about a tournament that I did really REALLY bad at? I let it go, forget it ever even happened (but still realize what I need to work on), and just move on. Sometimes, you just have a crummy day.

[The Bayer Hunter]

Come on Peach, buck up.

I know you need to vent, but it happens to all of us. If you learned something about yourself, that far outweighs the joy of kicking butt in the DE. After all, anybody can kick butt, but not everybody can take a loss, learn from it and then kick butt later. Keep up your training and the last laugh will be yours.

[attila]

Hi Peach

Let those who claim never to have done this, stick their weapons into the same bag as their sweaty tournament gear. It happens, we get over it. I pity your poor clubmates because they are in for a buttkicking ( to relieve your frustration of course!) ; )

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"Kill the men, save the women, and by the gods, do not spill the wine"

[Shadow Fencer]

Peach,
I feel your pain! The past few DE's I've been in, I didn't meet up to my expectation! Yeah, I lost big time! Someday you're the bug, someday you're the windshield, but I'm in the process of improving my skills (aren't we all!) Hopefully I'll use some of the skills my coach is teaching/drilling me to use in my next DE!




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I live to fence and fence to live!!

[Peach]

Thanks everybody. After reading everything people said and getting my head in the right place, just as Attila suggested I went into the club and kicked everybody's butt most happily (doing everything I couldn't force myself to do in the tournament, of course).

Also, it turned out my coaches weren't unhappy--one coach takes the long view and reminded me this tournament was really a training day for me; the coach who was there at the tournament (and who I thought was pretty disgusted with me) had some scathing things to say about the referee and then thoughtfully discussed things I can do with the type of opponent I had.

But I wouldn't have been able to listen without what you all said - it really helped. Thanks again.