Oh, so THAT'S what it's like!
Jul. 13th, 2012 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdymonkeyBiggish turnout at BART last night for rapier: Eilis was back after being laid up with knee surgery to do a little light fencing and see how she felt. Looked like she was doing ok as long as she takes it in small doses. Me, James, Sylvia a new guy named Tom who had prior epee experience and his own kit with him and another new guy whose name I didn't catch. Of course, Brogan hadn't packed the loaner swords this week, so there was a bit of equipment rotation involved and Staffan and Brogan sat out a lot while we paired off. The boys have much heavier swords that what I played with last time, so that took a bit of adjustment. Staffan's cut-and-thrust sword ("Hold it like a hammer,") wasn't bad, but took some getting used to.
I did some attack-riposte stuff with Sylvia which involved a lot of flailing and laughing. Then Brogan made me fight Tom who killed me quite a lot: tall and lanky, rusty or not, he had significant modern-fencing skills and was going full speed, including the time he came in fast, I didn't move fast enough and got dinged HARD in the right bicep. He was immediately apologetic. I shook it off, assured him it was at least half my own fault and went right back to dying at his hands without a fuss. (Not a lot of surface bruising today, just a pale lavender crescent.)
There, that's out of the way. I've been hit solidly in the mask (last week) and hard in the arm. It startled me more than anything and I'm pleased to say it didn't make me want to re-think this exercise in learning something new. I'd never been a wimp about stuff when I worked around horses, but it's been a lot of years since I've taken a fall or been kicked and I've never done martial arts, so being purposely hit is a new experience.
Played a bit with Brogan, though as the sun went down it was hard to see his blade against his dark clothing. Did better with Staffan (who was at least in a white tunic). I like working with both of them - having more than one teacher means more than one point of view and different emphases.
I have a LOT to learn. That said, I should probably think about ordering linen for "armor." And start shopping for a mask. And a gorget.....
I did some attack-riposte stuff with Sylvia which involved a lot of flailing and laughing. Then Brogan made me fight Tom who killed me quite a lot: tall and lanky, rusty or not, he had significant modern-fencing skills and was going full speed, including the time he came in fast, I didn't move fast enough and got dinged HARD in the right bicep. He was immediately apologetic. I shook it off, assured him it was at least half my own fault and went right back to dying at his hands without a fuss. (Not a lot of surface bruising today, just a pale lavender crescent.)
There, that's out of the way. I've been hit solidly in the mask (last week) and hard in the arm. It startled me more than anything and I'm pleased to say it didn't make me want to re-think this exercise in learning something new. I'd never been a wimp about stuff when I worked around horses, but it's been a lot of years since I've taken a fall or been kicked and I've never done martial arts, so being purposely hit is a new experience.
Played a bit with Brogan, though as the sun went down it was hard to see his blade against his dark clothing. Did better with Staffan (who was at least in a white tunic). I like working with both of them - having more than one teacher means more than one point of view and different emphases.
I have a LOT to learn. That said, I should probably think about ordering linen for "armor." And start shopping for a mask. And a gorget.....
