Another goal achieved...
Mar. 5th, 2018 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
graculusWhoops, where did January and February go?
So, an update on a few things, first off the current situation around fencing. A quick explanation of how competitions work, for those folks who don't know (as this will be pertinent to the title of this post) - you usually start off with a poule round (or rounds), where you fence 5 or 6 other people for 3 minutes or first to 5 hits to decide your ranking for the direct elimination (DE) fights which are up to 15 hits, over three 3 minute periods with a minute break between them. The better you do in the poule(s), the lower ranked person you fight next. Some competitions are closed, meaning you have to meet certain criteria to fence in them (e.g. regionals or beginners) and some are open, meaning literally anyone can enter them if they have the right licence.
Since I started doing competitions, I've been setting myself realistic goals, in increasing levels of difficulty:
Not finish last in an open competition
Get points off every opponent in my poule in an open competition
Get at least 7 points in a DE fight in an open competition
Win a poule fight in an open competition
Win a DE fight in an open competition
After this weekend, I now have only the last (and most difficult) to achieve. I was in a competition where, because of the weather, only 9 fencers made it so our second round was what we call a poule unique - I fenced all 8, having already fenced 4 of them in the first round. One of the fencers is in the top 30 in the country and she absolutely slaughtered me 5-0 in the first round but I beat her 5-4 in the second! Achievement unlocked! I also beat two other people but they'd both not been fencing long so I was feeling a bit uncertain as to whether I'd actually achieved my goal or not till this particular fight...
To be honest, I haven't been working as hard as I could have - I've been dodging going to the gym and haven't got around to asking for lessons yet either. It's about 5 weeks to my next competition so I will get on with that properly, as I really want to make a go of this, or at least as far as is possible given my age starting.
In other news, I'm now just one observation and one module away from my course being over, so the finishing line is in sight. I can't wait. I don't have my teaching schedule for next academic year yet but I hope to be able to continue to have some flexibility around competing and teaching, like this year, assuming I'm even working Saturdays again. It's been a real mixture this year, with one very good class, one not quite so good (nothing like as confident as the previous class at the same level, which was a learning experience) and one where both attendance and numbers have been an issue. That one's closing at Easter so I'll be picking up other stuff to complete my hours for the year and trying not to take it personally.
I also unexpectedly got 2 days off this past week, as we had a lot of snow (for UK definitions of 'a lot of') and the centres where I teach were closed - to be honest, we could have gone in on Saturday as the extra snow which was forecast didn't arrive after all, but I can understand why they didn't take the risk. That just means I have to tack on that missed class to the end before we finish, as I already got paid for it.
So, an update on a few things, first off the current situation around fencing. A quick explanation of how competitions work, for those folks who don't know (as this will be pertinent to the title of this post) - you usually start off with a poule round (or rounds), where you fence 5 or 6 other people for 3 minutes or first to 5 hits to decide your ranking for the direct elimination (DE) fights which are up to 15 hits, over three 3 minute periods with a minute break between them. The better you do in the poule(s), the lower ranked person you fight next. Some competitions are closed, meaning you have to meet certain criteria to fence in them (e.g. regionals or beginners) and some are open, meaning literally anyone can enter them if they have the right licence.
Since I started doing competitions, I've been setting myself realistic goals, in increasing levels of difficulty:
After this weekend, I now have only the last (and most difficult) to achieve. I was in a competition where, because of the weather, only 9 fencers made it so our second round was what we call a poule unique - I fenced all 8, having already fenced 4 of them in the first round. One of the fencers is in the top 30 in the country and she absolutely slaughtered me 5-0 in the first round but I beat her 5-4 in the second! Achievement unlocked! I also beat two other people but they'd both not been fencing long so I was feeling a bit uncertain as to whether I'd actually achieved my goal or not till this particular fight...
To be honest, I haven't been working as hard as I could have - I've been dodging going to the gym and haven't got around to asking for lessons yet either. It's about 5 weeks to my next competition so I will get on with that properly, as I really want to make a go of this, or at least as far as is possible given my age starting.
In other news, I'm now just one observation and one module away from my course being over, so the finishing line is in sight. I can't wait. I don't have my teaching schedule for next academic year yet but I hope to be able to continue to have some flexibility around competing and teaching, like this year, assuming I'm even working Saturdays again. It's been a real mixture this year, with one very good class, one not quite so good (nothing like as confident as the previous class at the same level, which was a learning experience) and one where both attendance and numbers have been an issue. That one's closing at Easter so I'll be picking up other stuff to complete my hours for the year and trying not to take it personally.
I also unexpectedly got 2 days off this past week, as we had a lot of snow (for UK definitions of 'a lot of') and the centres where I teach were closed - to be honest, we could have gone in on Saturday as the extra snow which was forecast didn't arrive after all, but I can understand why they didn't take the risk. That just means I have to tack on that missed class to the end before we finish, as I already got paid for it.
no subject
Date: 2018-03-06 05:04 pm (UTC)