Last Tattershall practice of the month. I’ve been attending for 4 weeks. We’ve covered some Fabris and some tournament prep for SoCal Swordfight.
Class- We’ve been working on stance, balance, gaining the blade, footwork, second, fourth, and lunging. I started playing with a blade that is about 3″ longer than my normal sword. This changed my range and I was consistently 3″ too close. By the end of the practice, I had started to get into proper measure. The other thing that I noticed is as I have been working at home over the month, my lunges have improved. And I can lunge a lot further than I gave myself credit for. So I have a lot of work to do to adapt my range and change tempo.
Tournament- prep has been split between longsword and rapier alternating weeks. Last night was the first time I was able to fight with steel against people other than an instructor, because I had all my equipment (woo). The jacket is hot and constricting (and needs a better zipper). But not as bad as it was when it first arrived. I fought in the deep end of the longsword pool. One match went to the point count before time. One match went to time before the point count. 1:30 is a long time. I ended up losing both matches, but I was not an easy fight. I’m still cheating my cuts, which is making me less effective than I could be. I learned where I need to adjust my equipment.
After class was open to free play, I got some 1:1 time to work on krumphau and sturzhau. This was difficult as I was physically tired and almost mentally full. But patience on my and instructors parts, and we both got through it.
Take-a-ways & small wins
- Im not afraid to fight in the deep end.
- I am not intimidated by fighters that I know are better than I am.
- I can find the Void MUCH easier than I ever could the abyss.
- I like who I am after I am done fighting.
- I have more endurance to fight and am not getting winded.
- I have a longer lunge that I give myself credit for.
- I’m keeping up and adapting week over week.
Things to work on:
- Yes the jacket is stiff and I had problems with extensions. DO NOT CHEAT THE CUTS, Panda.
- Krumphau- windshield wipers
- Sturzhau- Frontale with a sword and a cut.
- Flashcards of cuts, wards, and what gets broken. I need to solidify the vocabulary.
I am going through a significant growth spurt. I get new assignments and homework each practice. It’s been a lot of information. My coach/es keep pushing, and I keep pushing with them. It’s what we all signed up for. So far I’ve been keeping up. I just need to remember patience.
rapierpanda 