Looking over the past 9 months worth of my blog, it reads like a plethora excuses as to why I did not attend fight practice that week or why I couldn’t make it to an event. While there were a few times that I just didn’t feel like attending, most of them were, sadly, legitimate reasons.
The past 9 months, to me seem to be a blur of wedding preparations, the stress of two jobs, a myriad of illnesses and injuries, 50lbs of weight-gain, various attempts to fulfill social obligations to my friends and family, and the death of a dearly beloved grandmother. I have never been so sick so often in my life. I have never had so many injuries in my life. I have never gained so much weight in such a short time in my life. While I feel like the past 9 months were a fail as far as SCA fighting goes, I almost feel like I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I think I can count on my fingers and toes how many times I have fought since Pennsic. And even though I feel like all these reasons were good ones, and justified, I feel like a bad squire. Thankfully, my knight (master-at-arms) hasn’t added to the massive guilt I have already placed upon myself.
I had finally finished my second job, which I had quit, so I felt like I would feel up to attending the local fight practices again. Previously, I was away from home 6:30am-9:00pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, so when Wednesdays came around, all I wanted to do was sleep. Now that I was down to one job, I felt confident that I would be less exhausted and more able to fight on Wednesday nights. Then, a week ago Wednesday, I came home from work and took a nap. I woke up from that nap at 6:30 the next morning. I then got some sort of nasty bug that kept my throat sore, my body achy, my head feverish, and my desire to sleep unquenchable. That was last Wednesday and this Wednesday.
Now I’m hoping since I went through so much crap in the past 9 months, my next 9 years will be dull and comfortable with me in excellent health. Anyway, starting on Wednesday I started walking (the only exercise I felt up to doing). I’m still dealing with the aftereffects of being sick (generally tired and weak), but am feeling almost back to normal today. I hope to walk and maybe even do some drills today.
I just hope that (finally) I’m done with all the crap and start focusing on fighting and my health again! I’m planning to go to War of the Roses, but am quite worried about how poorly I will fight (and how poorly my armor will fit when I do).
I haven’t fought in awhile. At first it was neck and back problems. I looked into several options. The chiropractor helped with the back problems. The neck was more dificult. Everyone I saw about it all agreed on one thing — the muscles in my neck and the surrounding regions are too tight and they’re causing the pain. The doctor gave me muscle relaxers, the massage therapist blamed stress, the chiropractor said the adjustments and fixing my posture would help, and the teacher of the yoga class I tried said I needed to learn how to breathe. None of them fixed it for longer than a few days at a time.
Then there was the weight. I started a new diet near the end of April. A friend of mine suggested that I try the Genotype Diet. I downloaded and read enough of the book to realize that it made enough sense for me to try. I lost 10lbs in the first 5 days. I was shocked and amazed.
Then my grandmother got worse. She stopped eating and had signed a DNR. It was about a week of worrying and waiting and then she was gone. Needless to say, during those weeks I stopped.the diet and ate whatever I felt like it. I took some bereavement days off of work. I fell into a pretty bad depression. She was, by far, my favorite grandparent. I’m sure all of my facebook friends remember all the.times I posted about visiting her or some funny thing she said. I need to change the subject before I start to cry again. During that time I diidn’t realize that this website had gone down because my debit card number had expired and I wasn’t paying enough attention to my email to notice. I apologize to everyone who couldn’t access this website who wanted to,
I actually went to fight practice this Wednesday with a half-hearted idea of attempting to fight. When it was just me and one other fighter, I realized I just didn’t feel like getting in armor. When others showed up, I considered it again, but felt nauseas. Then I received a phone call that stirred up drama and decided I would be better off going somewhere else. I’ll try it again next week.
I have received a lot of criticism for complaining about being fat at 200 lbs. I guess I need to explain. I think of someone as being fat when their weight has negatively impacted their quality of life. I have met women who weigh much more than me who I do not consider to be fat. Considering what happened this Saturday, I think I have lived up to my definition of being too fat. I helped my dad move on Saturday. Me, my husband, my dad’s retired friend, my step-sister, and her husband all turned out to help. After a full morning of moving furniture and boxes up and down steps, my step-mom and I went to get lunch. I’m not sure what I did, but there was suddenly a sharp pain in my lower back that made it painful to walk. Thankfully, sitting in my car stretched it out or something so I was fine again. Then, a few hours later, I was kneeling on a hardwood floor rolling up a rug. I managed to crack three places on my knee using my body weight and the floor. It was painful to walk for the rest of the day. Then the back pain came back. Here I was, unable to move without pain, much less help my father. I was still in pain today, in addition to my usual neck pain. I can’t believe it’s just a coincidence that all these aches and pains started for the first time in my life when I’m 32. I’m hoping that losing weight means losing the pain as well. I guess I’ll find out! I felt stable enough to get back on that diet today. I really hope it helps!
Well, I went to the doctor the other day and discovered that I have eaten my way up to 200lbs, the most I have ever weighed. I’m going to jump back on the weight-loss band wagon and see if I can start becoming healthy again. The weight is affecting several areas of my health including back problems, difficult exercising, lethargy, etc. I think it will alsoo help that I recently had a ton of dental work done so I really can’t chew food all that well. That really narrows down the bad-for-me food I can consume to sodas, milkshakes, and ice cream.
I haven’t fought much since Mudthaw. On fight practice nights I always had something preventing me from fiighting. One night it was extreme rage. The other it was jaw pain from dental work (my chin strap would have dug in painfully). I hope to start fighting this Wednesday. I was thinking of going to Balfar’s, but was under the iimpression that I needed a triad. Since I didn’t have one, I made other plans. Then I was told, secondhand, that there was someone who DID want to join up with us (my husband and myself). If I had been told by the actual person involved, I might have changed my mind, but I had fun with my other plans on Saturday, anyway.
I now have new leg armor! Sir Jeffery made me some temporary workable leg armor. I went up there with my husband on Friday night. It was really neat seeing a master armorer at work! I honestly thought he was going to take some old leg armor and pound it out to fit me. Instead he took several pieces and cut and shaped and rivited them together so they made a good fit! He was also fun to hang out with and (obviously) knowledgable about armor! I hope I like the metal legs so I can requisition ones actually made for me! He also had a beautiful set of stainless steel vambraces attached to elbows that he has for sale. I tried them on, but it was clearly made for a man with much bigger forearms than me. They fit my husband quite well. If anyone is interested in them, let me know and I’ll give you more information.
I was at a friend’s house working on hand-sewing the seams on a new Viking dress I have been working on. I was told that the reason my seams didn’t look right on any of my dresses (all linen) was that they hadn’t been ironed! I was, of course, annoyed at first because I had been doing it wrong for so long. But then I remembered that so much of my A&S stuff is done on my own because I fight at meetings and events! I do plan to re-sew my other dresses at some point and hand-sew all the seams, so I guess my dresses will have to look frumpy with their bunched up seams until I get around to them! I was even told that ironing is period!
I think my biggest fighting weakness is not what I thought it was. I recently thought I needed to work most on offense. I’m sure it could still use some work, along with my defense and arm strength. However, I realized that I can hit well and pretty hard when I’m standing in front of a pell or standing and hitting someone. I can’t move and hit well. I think I will experiment a little on my own but also ask Omega when he comes up again as well. Footwork seems to be my new priority. I think it’s more the combination of throwing a shot, rotating my torso, and putting my hips into it while moving that is my problem.
I am definitely planning to go to an event on Memorial Day weekend, but am undecided whether or not to hit Panteria or War of the Roses. I also definitely plan to attend Northern Region War Camp. I may also attend East Kingdom War Camp, as well.
One thing I had discovered being away from SCA events for so long was that I forgot a lot of names of people who used to be acquaintences. I had to ask for several. Hell, the first person who said “hi” to me I didn’t even recognize. A friend of mine, who is also a teacher, said that it’s a teacher thing where names go into short-term storage and are pushed out when deemed not useful. I do learn about 400 names each year. That’s about how many students I am currently teaching. Maybe he was right.
My first fight in the tournament was Talon — a newer member of the Serpentius militia that I had not yet met. Before we fought, he struck up a conversation about something I had mentioned on facebook. Someone had posted an article about a Wisconsin politician who thinks divorce should be illegal, even when abuse was involved. I commented that I was tempted to divorce my husband, marry the politician, and beat him on a daily basis so he knows what those women have to deal with. I guess my comment had impressed him. We agreed to fight for the right to beat up the politician.
Once the fight started, I went immediately into guard. I got bored waiting, so I whiffed a few shots at him, just to get something started. We really spent most of the fight in guard dancing around each other. Once he did start trying to kill me, it didn’t take long. I don’t remember how he killed me, but I think it was a head shot.
After the fight, Omega took us both aside and showed me what I should have done. He pointed out that Talon was leaving his sword arm out for an easy target. Talon then asked me a few questions about how I fight. I guess he knows some female fighters and wanted to compare what works for me. He didn’t see how I could do a “deep offside” in my stance. I asked him to show me how to do one. I discovered that I could do it, after all! It involved a quick shake of the hips (think bellydancer-style) to make it stick. He helped me practice going for his sword arm. After a few minutes, Omega showed him how to not leave his arm out as a target.
My second opponent was Sir Murdock Bane. I found out later that he is a visiting Aethelmarc knight. He had a build similar to Sir Alex, but was perhaps a little bit bigger. He was wearing mostly green and white with some yellow accents. He killed me with the first shot. I don’t even know how! I barely saw his arm move and I was dead. I explained to Omega what had happened and he asked Sir Murdock to show me how he had killed me. Once he had slowed it down, I realized immediately that I could have taken his sword arm in the same way I could have taken Talon’s arm. I groaned audibly as soon as I figured it out.
I spent the next hour or so watching my husband’s fights. He made it to the sixth round, which I later found out was the top sixteen. In between my husband’s bouts, I saw that my friend Ivan would be fighting Sir Merdock. It was a highly entertaining fight to watch. They went at each other for quite some time. They eventually legged each other, and Ivan eventually lost. Sir Merdock was deceptively fast for his size! My husband eventually lost to someone called Stirling, and I went to go fight pick-ups.
I wandered over and joined the line for pick-ups. I fought (and was killed by) a few random people. Then I saw Talon start his own pick-ups (“without the waiting”), so I fought him for a few rounds. Next I fought Griffin. I did pretty well against him, but I could truly say I was fighting for fun because I really didn’t keep track of wins or losses. I also really didn’t spend much time learning from my mistakes or analyzing every move, either. I remember one time he “cupped” me. I didn’t take it because it was light. I don’t know why, but I think it was one of the first times I had truly been hit there, so I found it hilarious.
Next I fought Wofie, an old friend that I hadn’t spoken to recently. He had an interesting new style of fighting. He was fighting what looked like two-sword, only the second sword resembled more of a great sword. He said he wanted to see what I could do, now that I’ve been trained. Strangely, no self-depricating thought came to mind other than I hope I will be a fun fight for him, as well. It was fun, but he kept using his long sword to poke me in the cup. I guess I am leaving that area open, now. I actually got winded fighting him, so I took a break.
I wandered back to the Serpentius tent and found Tally eating chocolate-covered popcorn out of a box labled “Popycock”. I tried a few while drinking water and making several jokes about “chocolate cock”. When I got back to the pick-up area, no one was fighting, but Griffin was there so I got in a conversation with him. I reminded him to give me his grand-knight’s information so I could get leg armor that actually fits me. He showed me his shield, which was unusual for several reasons. He it was long and narrow and heavily curved at both the top and the bottom. It was a bit heavier than mine (what shield isn’t?) but was strangely comfortable. I’m not sure it would work with the fighting style I am learning, but it might. Then, having read my blog, he gave me the good advice of thinking of everyone I fight as a target. I could definitely do that! He also explained that when I get intimidated because of skill level or a belt color, to acknowledge it and put it aside to deal with later rather than just stuffing the emotion away. I liked that too.
While we were talking, I saw John the Breeder fighting someone, so I wandered away to go watch. He’s man-at-arms to Omega. I had met him this summer at Pennsic where he placed second in the newbie’s tournament. He’s a great guy and a natural fighter. I fought with him at the regional practice and noticed how much better he had gotten. I always thought he was on the fast track to knight-hood, but I guess I didn’t realize how fast until Mudthaw. He won the tournament!
Afterwards I caught up with friends, attended court, watched Ivan and Natavia’s boys get awarded Tiger’s Cubs, and we left. We ate out with a bunch of friends and had a great time. I discovered that with my newly acquired 40 lbs, plus the 25lbs of armor worn for four hours, equals a lot of back pain. I had trouble walking my spine hurt so much! It is a bit sore today, but much more bearable! I know I keep bitching about my weight, but it’s just another incentive to lose the weight.
My new goal for next Mudthaw is to get to round four, at least. I know I have a whole year, but I hope I can reach that goal. I hope to go for a hike and hit the pell for a bit later today. I guess it’s never too soon to start!
My husband and I arrived late at fight practice (long story) and the daylight was already fading. Instead of fighting inside the brightly lit, stuffy church, we fought in a dimly lit, fresh-aired parking lot. It had a good turnout with seven fighters there. I was pleased to see Rain there already and chatted with her while we armored up. Ivan came over to remind me of the plates I had removed from my armor to make it smaller back when I was dropping weight like crazy to fit in my wedding dress. I used the plates elsewhere in my armor, so would prefer to keep them where they are. Even so, it doesn’t help that I’m at my highest weight since college where the freshman 5 became the freshman 50 for me.
By the time I was fully armored, they were taking turns holding the field. Ivan was up and we all had to fight him until three kills occurred. I figured fight the best fighter there probably wasn’t the best way to warm up, so I figured I’d get my eminent deaths overwith. The first two were one-shot kills. The last took a few swiings only because he tried a different shot. He took my arm in the three-inch gap where I have no armor. I guess I have been leaving my arm/elbow cocked out too far again.
I fought someone who looked familiar but I didn’t quite recognize. I went in with an open mind about my possibility of winning and actually killed him twice. He would have had good head shots on me if the shape of my upper helmet didn’t invite glancing shots. He also whiffed my legs a few times. A leg shot has to be REALLY light for me to not take it. Afterwards I figured out who I had fought. I had fought him once before with poor results.
After I fought Eric, I had an epiphany. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before, but it finally hit home for me. I really need to get rid of my judgements of other fighters. If I think they can kick my butt, they usually will. I need to stop being intimidated by belts and baldrics and allow that, however slim, there is a chance for me to win. I also thought of my husband’s advice of thinking “I can kick their ass.” whenever I fight someone. That kind of cockiness is quite out of character for me, excepting something I truly know I am good at. I guess I need to prove to myself that I’m good at something before I believe that I’m good at something. In this game there are so many people who fake it before they make it, that I think I should start doing the same, at least inwardly.
My next fight was Rich. He and I fought two fights. We both stood there at a standstill. I’m guessing Omega trained him to fight the same way I do. He always adjusts the methods to what works for the individual person. My husband and Ivan both are learning different ways to fight. So I knew Rich and I were in for a long waiting game. I offered to strike first this time if he struck first in our second fight. He agreed. I don’t remember the fights themselves too well, but I think I did well. I do remember him killing me with a successful fake and getting so excited about it, I didn’t even feel bad about losing.
I fought Ivan again. He was sick and I was his last fight in a long round. His breathing was labored and audible, which I had never heard in him fighting — ever. I actually killed him! The shock made my brain stop working for a minute or two. I realized later that I shrugged some of his shots in that second round. My brain could not wrap itself around the fact that I killed him. By our third round, I remembered my earlier ephiny and thought, “I can kick his ass.” That thought was followed by inaudible laughter at the ridiculousness of that statement, despite the fact that a moment ago I HAD killed him. At that point, Ivan placed himself between me and the only lightsource, which shone brightly in my eyes. I couldn’t even see his sword coming in for the kill.
My last fight was my husband. We had a large audience. I’m not sure if it was the fact that we rarely fight each other, or the fact that a husband fighting a wife is amusing, but it seemed like everyone was watching us. Maybe they had nothing better to do. Who knows. Anyway, it wasn’t terribly interesting until the third round. I was killed rather quickly in the first two. On the third one, we had problems getting a good shot in, so it took awhile. Finally I managed to graze his inner thigh. He took it because it was placed and did not want to get hit harder there. He did not go to his knees, so I asked him if he was taking leg shots as kills. So many jokes about him going to his knees occurred, that he got down to his knees. He declared, “I am going down on my knees for my wife,” or something along those lines. I realized I was not going to get a hit on his head by the way hisi shield was placed, so I attemped to move around him in hopes that he would move his shield and open up his guard somewhere. I managed a small gap on his right side. I attempted a thrust to his stomach, but his shield knocked it before I could get a good stick on it. Apparently I grazed hiis groin and he took it. Several more jokes about me hitting him in the cup followed.
It’s nights like these that make me wonder why I have a hard time dragging myself to the Nordenhal practices some weeks.
I plan to go to Mudthaw on Saturday. I don’t think I have improved much because of my time off, so I’m hoping to do as well as last year. So with any luck, I will get to the third round!
I had my first fight practice with Omega since I got squired to him, but I didn’t learn very much. That was no fault of his.
On Friday my uncle called to let me know that my grandmother was diagnosed with dementia and that she was getting worse. I told my sister who came down to visit her the morning before fight practice, so I went too. I was not prepared for what I saw. During the year I was unemployed I visited her every week because I wanted to. We played pinnochle, I played piano for her, and she taught me a little Norwegian. She always had an upbeat attitude, a wicked sense of humor, and she was as sharp as a tack. She was the same when I saw her this December. When I saw her yesterday, she couldn’t remember which of her daughters was my mother. She had a hard time finding the words she wanted and her speech was slurred. She forgot what she was doing halfway between crossing the room to get to the bathroom. It was very sad.
I left her at noon, got a small lunch, and tried to cry it out before I got to Omega’s practice. It didn’t work. I am usually a bit awkward socially, but I found myself unable to think of good responses to any query posed to me. I got armored up, but my heart was not in it. Every time anyone asked me what was wrong I said I would tell them later. I didn’t want to break down crying about my grandmother. I was the first one to fight Omega. I mostly focused on defense because that was what we had last worked on together. I mostly just tried to avoid his blows, not even attempting to throw many of my own. The only times I attempted to throw anything other than a flat snap, I moved my shield and got killed.
I asked him how to deal with fighting people with two swords, since I had encountered several of those at the Bergental regional practices. He showed me to block one sword with the shield, the other with your sword, then hit them: block, block, hit. He also showed me several shots to hit them with including several good fakes, but I just can’t see a shot and replecate it like my husband can, so they mostly went in one ear and out the other.
He wanted me to try out his kite shield and asked if I would be willing to use one if it worked well for me. I mentioned that I kinda liked staying in persona. He asked me if I wanted to be a fighter or a model. I asked him if I couldn’t be both. He smiled and said something about it being diffiicult to do both since our game is different from the way they used to fight. I tried his shield. As soon as he aimed for my head, I realized how useful the pointed top edge is. I could see and cover my head at the same time! I didn’t like his shield for two reasons: the way it was strapped and the weight. I could only hold his shield up for a few minutes, compared with the hours I can hold mine up for (if pressed). It was strapped so that my forearm was perpincicular to my body which does not seem to be a natural position for me. The almost vertical way my shield is strapped makes it easier for me to use.
He eventually did a leg wrap that hit the bruise Griffin gave me last weekend and I had to stop. I took some time and rested. Everyone else was talking, but I had nothing to say. I tried to focus on what he was teaching Ivan and my husband, but I couldn’t. I focused on two eight year old girls teaching a five year old how to sword fight with nerf swords: “You’re hitting too hard. You don’t want to hurt someone.” I focused on the bare branches of the nearby trees and compared their resemblance to fractals. And finally, I fell asleep.
A few hours went by, I think, when Omega asked me to fight him again. We went through similar motions, I think. I really couldn’t focus on much at that point. I’m not sure how long it was, but I felt my armor constricting my lungs — I felt it becoming difficult to breathe. I checked and discovered that I had gained 40 pounds since my wedding. That explains a lot. Omega showed me where I could insert some leather in my armor so I could fight before I lost the weight.
He then helped Ivan put up a hanging pell and showed him how to use it. I remember hearing him say it helped him go from middle of the road knight to super duke. My attention wandered back to the tree branches.
Finally when the fighting was over and I was asked what was wrong, I shared the news about my grandmother, who was definitely the favorite of my grandparents. Of course I started crying and was glad that I had waited to talk about it.
Omega took me aside and told me that I have managed to stay at about the same level of fighting. He seemed surprised or impressed given the amount of time I didn’t fight. It would have made me feel better if I hadn’t been too busy thinking about my grandmother. I considered the day a success. I went there and fought despite my personal issues. That was a big step for me, despite how small it sounds.
I wasn’t originally going to go to this practice. I had other plans and hadn’t fought or worked out in three weeks due to illness. I was fighting something that was part cold and part flu. I barely was able to drag myself to work, much less fight practice. Due to the fact that I couldn’t smell or taste anything, I overate. This week I was mostly better with just the remains of a cough. Then I saw that John the Breeder, a member of the Serpentius Militia and man-at-arms to my knight (master-at-arms) had posted that he was going and decided to go after all.
I hadn’t fought since the last Bergental regional practice. It turns out that I did put the weight back on, so my armor was a tight fit. I was surprised at the turnout. There were easily double the number of people than there were last time. We, my husband and I, got there late. As such, we were armored up in time for three man teams. The two of us teamed up with John the Breeder. We took out the champions who had held the field since we got on line. We lost the next bout though. I did well on the third, being the last one standing and apparently giving the pole armer difficulties in killing me, even though I was on my knees. It was fun and I did well. I always did think I was good in a shield wall because I turtle up well.
Well, they combined three-man teams into six-man teams and my husband had a temporary armor malfunction, so John joined another team and I was left to watch. A little while later, John came back and offered me his purple cloth (signifying his team) while he took a rest. They went to sixteen-man teams and things really got interesting. I did well at the beginning, being a decent shield and I even killed a few people. As the day went on, I began to slip up. While trying to stick to the shield on my right, I discovered he left the middle of the shield wall to pursue a high-level pole armer. He broke the shield wall in half and got us both killed. Then I was hit by some friendly-fire. I thought since he hit me, he was fair game, so I killed him. Only afterwords, I realized he was on our team.
There were a few amusing moments, too. My personal favorite was a speech by our commander about agression. He told us we all needed to put on our big-boy balls and get out there and be agressive. After the speech, I was so amused at this concept, I asked where I might find some big-boy balls.
I also saw a few northern army people I remember fondly. They both looked preoccupied, so I didn’t chat with them much, but it was good to see them.
I also kept getting hit in the upper leg. It was a place where my singles fighting stance covers, but not my melee stance. It was also not covered by armor due to leg armor that was not made for me and my body armor (with hip flaps) riding too high because of my weight gain. I am starting to think crying due to pain is a thing of the past (finally). My day ended due to what felt lke a pole-arm smashing me in the back of the skull. I had no clue they were there, so it was probably not a legal kill. I took it because it hurt so bad my temples were throbbing an hour later. My husband had his day ended for him at about the same time.
I had decided to purchase new legs — ones actually made for me. My friend Griffin introduced me to his grand-knight, Sir Jeffery (I think). He’s a good armorer and apparently received a laurel for it, so I’m hoping he will follow up and I can get leg armor that protects my legs!
Well, my last Saturday at my second job will be March 10th! That is much sooner than I anticipated! That means I will be able to attend Mudthaw! I am a little concerned that I might not have improved since last Mudthaw. I might even have digressed. Well, at least I will be able to gauge where I am, if nothing else.
Also irony has hit. About a week after I quit my second job, I found out that I will only be finishing out the year in my public school teaching. The particular district I am in is receiving $3 million less from New York State than they did last year. To make up for it, there were 21 cuts including two in my department (out of 7).
Since this is typical of school districts in my experience, I am embarking on a new project to ensure I don’t get cut. I am starting my own boarding school with a planned opening of September of 2014. While I still plan to improve my fighting and still blog about it, my new project may take up more time because it is concerning my income and ability to make it to events. For anyone who cares, you can find the blog for that at projectboardingschool.wordpress.com.
Well, I’ve been threatening to do it for months now, but I finally quit one of my jobs. I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I hated having no time. I hated the things I had to give up to work two jobs. No job security could make up for the lack of time after six months. My hygiene suffered because I often didn’t have time and often showered once a week. My finances suffered because while I had the money, I didn’t have the time to pay my bills. My relationship suffered because I always came home over-tired and over-stressed. I also hated the fact that I spent my one day off catching up on housework and making meals for the week. I often skipped fight practice because I needed to do dishes or laundry.
But no more! I am free! Actually, I told them I’d stay long enough for them to find a replacement. They want me to stay until the beginning of May and I was hoping to be done by the beginning of April. Either way, I still won’t be seeing my SCA friends any time soon, but I still feel freer.
Quitting that job was a bad idea in a worldly sense, but I feel like I will soon regain my sanity. For that I am grateful. Who knows, maybe some other music teacher who is out of work will benefit from my selfiishness!
Anyway, this means that sometime in May (at the latest) I will begin attending events and traveling to fight practices again! Yay!
I have been attempting to make it to whatever fight practice I can find on Sundays– my one day off. This week I got a facebook invite to the regional fight practice in Bergental. Its a little over two hours away, but I have been meaning to check it out for months, but always had something else going on. Thanks to my workouts, I wasn’t sore after Dancing Fox, so I decided to check it out.
When I got there, I had three doors to choose from, so I chose the middle door, thinking that I could hear rattan. Before I got there, I saw someone with a Northern Army t-shirt open the far door. I smiled at the familiar symbol and felt reassured that I was in the right place. When I entered the room, however, only two people looked familiar. They were on the very small list (the list may include five) of people that I held some resentment towards because of past treatment of me.
As a young child I was painfully shy. I have mostly gotten over it, but it still occasionally creeps over me in certain awkard social situations; like a room full of fighters I don’t know with two I would prefer not to interact with. After awhile a few familiar faces of acquaintences appeared, but I still felt awkward until an older knight offered to teach people pole arm stuff. He had no takers other than me. It was a pole arm technique straight out of a 16th century translated manual. It was interesting because it involves the pole arm being held tip down. The butt spike was held above my head with my right arm, the haft was diagonally across my face and the tip was angled down. I also learned the footwork that went with it — to keep your body always sideways. It reminded me of a drill I did in Tae Kwon Do years ago.
When I was done with the pole arm, I got on line. There were close to 20 people there and not enough space for everyone to fight at once, so we lined up and took turns in a style similar to Birka, without the space limitations. I found myself fighting a lot of pole arm and two-sword fighters. Both of which I hadn’t fought in awhile. Needless to say, it took a little while to warm up to it. I have never been good at fighting two-swords, so I was not pleased at how many I found myself facing.
Several of the other fighters warmed up to me (or maybe I warmed up to them). I chatted with a few and some offered me advice. One of the people on my list showed kindness towards me and the situation where he earned his resentment had since been explained to me, so I dropped my resentment towards him. I wish I could recount names of who gave me which piece of advice (or even remember the names of people I met today), but I forgot every name I learned today. I was told by a pole armer that if I lift my shield an inch or two higher while on my knees my defense would be close to impenetrable. I was also told that I shouldn’t try and muscle through shots and that the momentum of the sword will give me the power I need. My choice of resting sword placement was criticized for a different reason than usual. It aparently telegraphs my shots. I wonder if I could conceal my sword behind my shield like Phealan does.
There were many fights and a few were memorable for me. One of them, I went out to fight and Griffin reminds me that the guy I was about to fight is a lefty. I thanked him because, as usual, I did not notice. The lefty popped me in the face grill with the same shot Ivan usually gets me with. I called it good and began to walk away when he called me back saying that I deserved a better fight. It was a better fight. It ended with both of us on our knees and would have been a double-kill if I had managed to get more power on the wrap shot I used on him.
I did not do well fighting many of the people I found myself facing, until I faced fighters with white belts or baldrics. I am unsure if I just paid more attention to the training I was given or if the training was more suited to higher level fighters, but I did my best fighting them. I actually managed to fend off one knight weilding two-swords for what I thought was a decent amout of time. I managed to defend three blows before he killed me! The only kill I got was against a master-at-arms and it was a double-kill. During the Birka-style fighting, I had to stop twice. Once when someone knicked the bruise I got from Sir Alex last week. The second was when I fought that master-at-arms a second time. He managed to get the fleshy area right behind my left knee with a low shot. Then he managed to find a place on my right leg that wasn’t covered by armor with his pole arm. It wasn’t obvious where I was armored with my battle-dress so I’m sure he didn’t realize.
While I stood waiting for the throbbing of my leg to subside, I had flashbacks to my first Winter War when I had no leg armor and I was still new. The first thing I did was take a direct blow to the leg. I was in tears and couldn’t walk well, so I was done for the day. I thought about how far I had come. No tears, waiting for the throbbing to subside so I could get back in and fight. I was just about to get back in and fight when it was announced that we were going to do melees. I was excited because I consider melee as a strength of mine. Even my husband said so! Everybody broke up into three-man (so to speak) teams. The number of people there was not divisible by three, so I was not part of a team. I waited a few more minutes to see if there was any chance of another team forming, but there wasn’t. Someone who was already out of armor asked me if I wasn’t staying, insinuating that I was spying on the melee techniques of the Northern Army. I think he was just kidding, but the concept was foreign to me. Although I don’t fight with the Northern Army anymore, I never had considered myself as a member of the Southern Army. I guess I just thought of Serpentius as its own entity fighting for the East, but never as part of the Southern Army, which I suppose it is!
