First club competition, bruises and all...

[graculus]

Yesterday, it was our club competition, which was a new and interesting experience for me. I realised that one of the reasons I'm enjoying fencing is that it's just about me, rather than me-as-part-of-a-team which had been my main experience of sport before - I'd also played tennis before, but only on a casual basis, no real competition. But while yesterday was technically a team competition (of which more shortly), it was also about me fighting the other beginners - three of them, anyway, since there were only four teams - as well as being part of a team.

We're a three-weapon club, so we have folks who fence foil (like me, though I'm probably going to try at least epee at some point), epee and sabre, with some fencing all three though most folks have a preference. The competition was for randomly-chosen teams of three with one person fencing each weapon. There's a coin toss to decide who gets to choose order of fencers in each bout and all the teams fence each other, with the first match being first to 5 hits, the second match first to 10 and the final being first to 15. So, for example, the final match we fought, our first fencer lost 5-2, I fought next and put us back in the lead at 7-10, and then our final fencer fought and we lost 15-13 overall.

And then there's some arcane calculations that decide which team has won overall, which I won't try and explain since I don't really get it. Anyway, we won two of our matches but lost the third and came second even though we beat the team that won. I just wish there'd been a couple more teams, since I could happily have fought a few more people!

I'd decided that the best defence was a good offence and had been fighting quite aggressively all the way through, so now have the bruises to prove it. I have a particularly fine mark on my upper sword arm which I think will be with me for a while and another couple on my legs. I know I probably wouldn't have got away with it with more experienced fighters (so that's going to be different for the real competition in a few weeks) but it was definitely effective, if only in putting the wind up the others.

The regional competition is a month away, so more time at the gym and more practices between now and then, not to mention that I'm also still trying to get a couple of other folks to enter that one too, so I'm not wandering in there on my own. Not that this is going to stop me, but it'd be nice to have company...

Comments

[amycooper]

Sounds need. Good luck at the regionals. Let us know how you do.

[graculus]

Yep, it was good fun and I'm looking forward to the regional, even though it's likely to be a lot harder to get a good result. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be talking about it, even if it all goes horribly wrong!

[morganmuffle]

It sounds like it was a good competition, I hope the bruises don't ache too much and you find someone to go to the regional competition with.

[graculus]

I certainly enjoyed it, but the regional is likely to require a little more stamina, as I might be fencing 3-4 times longer that day, due to the way it's organised. Closing date isn't till 5th Feb, so plenty of time to pester and nag before then! :P

[xochiquetzl]

Woohoo! Go you with your badass self!

Aside: My sister refers to fencing as "simulated homicide," which amuses me greatly.

[graculus]

I think the fact everyone I show my massive bruise (which is about 3 inches across and now a lovely mix of colours) to thinks I'm crazy also helps with the appeal. ;)

I call it 'stabbing people for profit', so your sister definitely has the right of it.

[xochiquetzl]

Woohoo, stabbing! :D And the bruise sounds very impressive!