I was in the first set of pools, which the Professor and Deadpool were teasing me about with the 9am start time, but they came early and got to witness my attempts at fighting. The first fellow I fought, I can't remember his name, but it a blast! It's funny how little I remember about the match, but I spent the hour beforehand afraid I was going to throw up on him when I got in the ring, so the forgetfulness is preferable. He caught me with a thrust to the hand right off that HE apologized for (said he slipped and braced it on his leg or something), and his 'sorry' threw me off enough that I forgot the rest of my nerves. I think I got in one head shot to his blow on my arm, and I managed to net two whole points! Ok, so it's not much, and ya, I whispered an apology- but I don't think he heard. I actually scored quite a few hits, but some were missed by judges and most were just negated because he got some too. Only one time did I get the double deathstrike thing for forgetting to defend myself first, so I'm kind of pleased with that. Overall, first match was over quick, and I lost, but I at least scored! First match ever and I scored! Woohoo!!!
During my matches we did discover a shortcoming in my gambeson. In an attempt to save money while I decided whether I liked swords well enough for a AP-sized investment, I made my own. I'm not a fabulous seamstress, but I can sew fairly well, and I'm pretty good at quilting too. I intended just to use it during practices, so we could use the steel without worrying so very much about accidentally whacking someone and my falling all over myself apologizing. I examined the Professor's AP jacket and figured out the logistics- how much padding I'd need, where extra give would be helpful, how it was quilted, how it was fastened... all that jazz. I also wanted to make mine longer so that I wouldn't have to worry about the separate skirt protector thing. I have tons of fabric, and at least half a ton of leftover quilt batting (padding), so figured if I could make one just out of what I had, I'd be all set!
Only I tend to like bright colors, so didn't have any black fabric thick enough. And I wasn't the most precise when I cut out the pattern, because I thought having a bit of extra room would be a good thing. But worst of all, my poor sewing machine does not like sewing through as much batting as I tried to feed it. It protested something fierce, snapped a few needles, and finally I resorted to finishing a few seams by hand. When I got it all together, I tried it on, without the lining, and at practice just before Longpoint, had the Professor help me test it out. After taking a thrust to the chest and two shots to the arm that are still a week later impressively colorful, we decided that I needed more protection. I think I scared my mama with the bruises, so she had the Professor take me shopping. We got enough supplemental stuff to make my gambeson workable, and by Longpoint time it was all good. I was fairly certain I'd die of heat stroke before ever entering the ring, but I'd be safe doing it.
Back to the ring and my first match. So I'm in there in my snazzy blue gambeson (I kinda stuck out in the sea of black like a wedding dress in the middle of a funeral), attempting to not embarrass myself too badly during the fight and vaguely keeping track of the score. I kept hearing body shots called when I'd get nailed in the knee or thigh, and couldn't figure out what was going on. Apparently my brilliant plan to make my gambeson longer backfired. Actually, I didn't figure it out at all, but the Professor caught on quick. Any shot that landed on my gambeson was getting called as a body shot, which was a bit of a problem as my jacket ended a good 18" below my waist. He went and fetched some of the tape they used to stick the rings in place and gave me a stripe across my middle. Thankfully, that helped a bit- I actually heard one judge go "oops" when he saw the new line. Line or no, Marcus kicked my tail quite handily, which I don't feel too bad about- I think he finished up in the top eight overall.
Aaaaand that was the only time I got to keep my points. Second match was with a guy named Marcus, who was very bouncy and hits pretty hard. He caught me one across the ribs, which made me very grateful to the Professor for advising more protection. I didn't feel it at all, and I don't seem to have bruised from it either. Scratch that- it just took two days for the bruise to show up. I've a lovely 4" stripe of yellow-tinged magenta right across my ribcage in back. I still haven't quite gotten the rhythm of fighting down just yet- pretty sure it all stems from that 'not really wanting to hit people' thing, but I'm getting there. Apparently I'd managed to create a few openings while I fought, but never followed through with any of them. Probably I was too surprised that something worked to take advantage. I do remember that every time I thought about anything, I found myself in pflug, so apparently I need to watch that. And I know I wasn't moving around nearly so much as Marcus, but at least I wasn't scared at that point and could at least tell every time I left an opening, just a split second before he caught it too and walloped me for it.
During my matches we did discover a shortcoming in my gambeson. In an attempt to save money while I decided whether I liked swords well enough for a AP-sized investment, I made my own. I'm not a fabulous seamstress, but I can sew fairly well, and I'm pretty good at quilting too. I intended just to use it during practices, so we could use the steel without worrying so very much about accidentally whacking someone and my falling all over myself apologizing. I examined the Professor's AP jacket and figured out the logistics- how much padding I'd need, where extra give would be helpful, how it was quilted, how it was fastened... all that jazz. I also wanted to make mine longer so that I wouldn't have to worry about the separate skirt protector thing. I have tons of fabric, and at least half a ton of leftover quilt batting (padding), so figured if I could make one just out of what I had, I'd be all set!
Only I tend to like bright colors, so didn't have any black fabric thick enough. And I wasn't the most precise when I cut out the pattern, because I thought having a bit of extra room would be a good thing. But worst of all, my poor sewing machine does not like sewing through as much batting as I tried to feed it. It protested something fierce, snapped a few needles, and finally I resorted to finishing a few seams by hand. When I got it all together, I tried it on, without the lining, and at practice just before Longpoint, had the Professor help me test it out. After taking a thrust to the chest and two shots to the arm that are still a week later impressively colorful, we decided that I needed more protection. I think I scared my mama with the bruises, so she had the Professor take me shopping. We got enough supplemental stuff to make my gambeson workable, and by Longpoint time it was all good. I was fairly certain I'd die of heat stroke before ever entering the ring, but I'd be safe doing it.
Back to the ring and my first match. So I'm in there in my snazzy blue gambeson (I kinda stuck out in the sea of black like a wedding dress in the middle of a funeral), attempting to not embarrass myself too badly during the fight and vaguely keeping track of the score. I kept hearing body shots called when I'd get nailed in the knee or thigh, and couldn't figure out what was going on. Apparently my brilliant plan to make my gambeson longer backfired. Actually, I didn't figure it out at all, but the Professor caught on quick. Any shot that landed on my gambeson was getting called as a body shot, which was a bit of a problem as my jacket ended a good 18" below my waist. He went and fetched some of the tape they used to stick the rings in place and gave me a stripe across my middle. Thankfully, that helped a bit- I actually heard one judge go "oops" when he saw the new line. Line or no, Marcus kicked my tail quite handily, which I don't feel too bad about- I think he finished up in the top eight overall.
Then that was it. I was told my pool was done, even though I'd only done two fights. Someone had bowed out, so I got to skip the other fights. Kind of a bummer, but at least I got all the nerves out of the way before lunch time! It was also nice being done early, because then I could watch Deadpool and the Professor in their pools, along with some other really fabulous fighters. I spent most of the afternoon watching other fights and meeting people, making a few plans to free fence some folks later. So much fun! I did end up ordering a new AP jacket after all, so next time I guess I'll blend in better. Unless I decide to paint it. Might look good with polka dots or something....
It turned out though, that wasn't it. I was supposed to do one more fight for my pool, and several people caught me as I was buying out the SPES stand. The "girl in blue" was needed to fight against Odin. A Norse god. Ya, that's not intimidating at all. Nor was the fact that he seemed like seven feet tall. Truly. lol. Actually, he'd stood with us the previous day while we all watched the counted blows competition, and talked to the Professor's mom and daughter and I, so I knew he was nice, but I didn't realize who he was until after the fight. They managed to fit us in after one of the other pools of fighters. We geared up and went in to the ring.
Ok, I understand now why everyone wears black. Nobody's going to fear someone in bright blue. Ya, I know the bunny mask doesn't help either. But facing off across the ring from a black knight who towers over you (seriously, at least a foot taller than me, and I'm not all that short), even when you have a sword of your own, is really intimidating. Add in the Norse god aspect, and you add awe to the intimidation. Not sure if I was more scared or excited, but at least I wasn't feeling like I was going to throw up this time. I don't remember too much of that fight either really, except in how it ended. He caught me with a glorious thrust to the throat, that for some reason the judges didn't catch. I'd gotten lucky and hadn't had to fend off any bull rushes all day- up until Odin. With time running out, and him clearly kicking my tail, he went for a grapple.
Now I have no grappling experience pretty much at all. Deadpool likes to charge, but usually that just ends with me getting stabbed, or if I do get grabbed, I just hold on and try not to fall over. Short of going all lemur on poor Odin, I had no idea what to do when he grabbed me, so I just tried to duck and make myself as small as possible (which if you've seen me, you know would be quite a feat), all while trying not to let him take my sword. Honestly, I don't even know if he was trying to take my sword, but I remember not wanting it to happen. So I folded. Figured I was going down anyway, might as well do it my way. lol. I ended up stretched out almost in a split, with one leg in the ring, and the other out. Might have been instinctual, but I have to admit it wasn't really intentional. And it worked! I didn't get tossed out of the ring by the Allfather :-)
So that got added to my list of small victories. My main goal for Longpoint was not to die or get completely shut out, and I managed both of those. Got my points in my first match, then I hit sparks off the sword fighting Marcus, which I thought was kind of neat, and didn't get pushed out of the ring by a Norse god. I didn't get to face off against Lee, which was one thing I was looking forward to but missed out on.
Even better though, I got to join his class on exploiting weaknesses on Sunday. Cripes, it was fabulous, and I only got to attend half. Originally I was going to try otherJake's intro to longsword class since I still rot, but I nearly cried to find that I couldn't hold a sword. That accidental thrust to the hand that I caught in the very first match I had? After three hours at the hospital today, I found I'd not broken my finger thankfully after all, but managed to bruise the bone instead. Either way, it was bad enough that the swelling pushed everything to the side so it looked out of alignment, and made it so I couldn't bend it. And I'd fought with it all day like that, so then couldn't even hold my sword up. (Or type either- I won't mention how many times I've had to go back and delete extra letters this stupid splint keeps adding to my words.) Anyway, since I couldn't hold a sword, I thought I'd sit in on otherJake's class, but my hearing isn't great at the best of times, and all the background clanging of swords from other classes going on made it hard to hear. Instead I wandered over to Lee's class, since his side was much quieter. Still bummed that I couldn't come play, I sat to the side to listen- which lasted about two minutes before they got me up and using a messer one handed.
I always knew when stuff I tried didn't work, but wasn't really sure why. I think one of the best part's of Lee and Mr. Zeusquatch's (cripes, I'm sorry I don't know his real name, everyone kept calling him Zeus) class was that they made us think about why it was that things didn't work. They had us working on our footwork, for example, trying to spot weaknesses in our own and others' that we could turn to our advantage. Poor RJ got to be my partner, so had to put up with all my ineptness- and yes, the apologies came back- during the drilling. He introduced me to the messer- even had one for lefties- and did a good job hiding his despair at my attempts to wield it. We did something called elevators, that involved dropping down as you swing for the head, to strike at an exposed leg instead. I think I managed to pull that one off a few times, though a few times I got caught leaning forward instead of stepping. At one point we were supposed to circle each other, looking for vulnerable points like you would in grappling or wrestling- which of course I've never done before either- and trying to tip each other over. RJ had some good tips for that too, helping me keep my footsteps from crossing, working on my stance, getting me to align my feet and such. While we were doing that, both Lee and Mr. Zeus were giving advice on how to move, how to step. They kept telling me to relax, which had the exact same effect as it does when the doctor tells me to- i.e. just makes the nerves worse. It's sad, I know. But they were all very patient, and didn't seem to mind repeating themselves, or demonstrating- which helped a lot, actually. Apparently I'm better copycatting than interpreting. Whatever it was we were doing, we must've been doing it either really right or really wrong, because my thighs are killing me. Unfortunately, I had to bail early when my roommates wanted to leave, but what I did get to participate in was terrific.
I have to say, despite the fact that we all spent the weekend trying to pseudo-kill each other, HEMA folk seem to be a really great bunch of people. I met steel workers and stunt guys, police and students, nurses and teachers and guys who are able to run fencing schools full time, and every one of them (sorry guys) seemed to be terribly sweet. Kinda weird, but I need to meet more of the girls next time. I managed to run into Mariana and Jessica, but only very briefly, and got a few laughs out of Meg, who I never officially met but sat behind during the finals. Many thanks (and apologies) to tall Ben, who answered my dozens of questions both at the finals and while he was sitting with the resident Boo-boo-meister. Hehe- actually, he and the Professor took turns answering my questions, so maybe it wasn't too obnoxious for either of them. Probably I drove the Professor crazy on this trip too. If anyone talks to him and he's not making any sense, sorry about that- my nuttiness may have rubbed off on him. And big thanks to the boo-boo-meister also, who gave me a slew of tips on fighting effectively, which pretty much came down to "be aggressive," which even he admitted might be difficult for me. But he had some good points, which I'm going to try and work on. I apparently need to watch more boxing and UFC, and stop being such a timid thing. Just before we left, I got to see a match between the Professor and ze Batman. Roberto is such fun to watch with those crazy low stances he uses, and so graceful when he fights too. It really is kind of like watching Batman in action. I'm going to try practicing the low ones, but I'll keep my phone handy when I do. I'm flexi enough I'm sure I can get down into one... just not sure I can get up once I do, so I might need to call a crane.
So many firsts too! My first tournament fight, my first fight all geared up, first sports-related injury, first time I've ever felt short in a room, first mead circle, first time using a messer, first time hugging complete strangers, first time I ever walked into a room, blushed, and walked right out (thanks midnight brawlers)... Probably I could've done without that last one. lol. Baby steps.
Anyway, for what it's worth, I thought the whole event was awesome, and very well run. The organization of the thing had to have been a nightmare, and for everyone to get individual schedules was amazing. So many great fighters and teachers, all brought together in one place at one time was amazing. Having spent all of day three watching matches, I can understand how difficult judging is, and can only be grateful that nobody needed a restroom break while I was on deck as a messer judge. Huge kudos and thanks go to otherJake, the Bens, Ms. Emma, MKDF, CKDF, and everyone else who was involved for hosting such a great event! My goal for next time, aside from not breaking any bones, is to maybe get in a dance with some of the guys I learned from this time. I really had a blast, and can't wait until the next one! IGX maybe?
It turned out though, that wasn't it. I was supposed to do one more fight for my pool, and several people caught me as I was buying out the SPES stand. The "girl in blue" was needed to fight against Odin. A Norse god. Ya, that's not intimidating at all. Nor was the fact that he seemed like seven feet tall. Truly. lol. Actually, he'd stood with us the previous day while we all watched the counted blows competition, and talked to the Professor's mom and daughter and I, so I knew he was nice, but I didn't realize who he was until after the fight. They managed to fit us in after one of the other pools of fighters. We geared up and went in to the ring.
Ok, I understand now why everyone wears black. Nobody's going to fear someone in bright blue. Ya, I know the bunny mask doesn't help either. But facing off across the ring from a black knight who towers over you (seriously, at least a foot taller than me, and I'm not all that short), even when you have a sword of your own, is really intimidating. Add in the Norse god aspect, and you add awe to the intimidation. Not sure if I was more scared or excited, but at least I wasn't feeling like I was going to throw up this time. I don't remember too much of that fight either really, except in how it ended. He caught me with a glorious thrust to the throat, that for some reason the judges didn't catch. I'd gotten lucky and hadn't had to fend off any bull rushes all day- up until Odin. With time running out, and him clearly kicking my tail, he went for a grapple.
Now I have no grappling experience pretty much at all. Deadpool likes to charge, but usually that just ends with me getting stabbed, or if I do get grabbed, I just hold on and try not to fall over. Short of going all lemur on poor Odin, I had no idea what to do when he grabbed me, so I just tried to duck and make myself as small as possible (which if you've seen me, you know would be quite a feat), all while trying not to let him take my sword. Honestly, I don't even know if he was trying to take my sword, but I remember not wanting it to happen. So I folded. Figured I was going down anyway, might as well do it my way. lol. I ended up stretched out almost in a split, with one leg in the ring, and the other out. Might have been instinctual, but I have to admit it wasn't really intentional. And it worked! I didn't get tossed out of the ring by the Allfather :-)
So that got added to my list of small victories. My main goal for Longpoint was not to die or get completely shut out, and I managed both of those. Got my points in my first match, then I hit sparks off the sword fighting Marcus, which I thought was kind of neat, and didn't get pushed out of the ring by a Norse god. I didn't get to face off against Lee, which was one thing I was looking forward to but missed out on.
Even better though, I got to join his class on exploiting weaknesses on Sunday. Cripes, it was fabulous, and I only got to attend half. Originally I was going to try otherJake's intro to longsword class since I still rot, but I nearly cried to find that I couldn't hold a sword. That accidental thrust to the hand that I caught in the very first match I had? After three hours at the hospital today, I found I'd not broken my finger thankfully after all, but managed to bruise the bone instead. Either way, it was bad enough that the swelling pushed everything to the side so it looked out of alignment, and made it so I couldn't bend it. And I'd fought with it all day like that, so then couldn't even hold my sword up. (Or type either- I won't mention how many times I've had to go back and delete extra letters this stupid splint keeps adding to my words.) Anyway, since I couldn't hold a sword, I thought I'd sit in on otherJake's class, but my hearing isn't great at the best of times, and all the background clanging of swords from other classes going on made it hard to hear. Instead I wandered over to Lee's class, since his side was much quieter. Still bummed that I couldn't come play, I sat to the side to listen- which lasted about two minutes before they got me up and using a messer one handed.
I always knew when stuff I tried didn't work, but wasn't really sure why. I think one of the best part's of Lee and Mr. Zeusquatch's (cripes, I'm sorry I don't know his real name, everyone kept calling him Zeus) class was that they made us think about why it was that things didn't work. They had us working on our footwork, for example, trying to spot weaknesses in our own and others' that we could turn to our advantage. Poor RJ got to be my partner, so had to put up with all my ineptness- and yes, the apologies came back- during the drilling. He introduced me to the messer- even had one for lefties- and did a good job hiding his despair at my attempts to wield it. We did something called elevators, that involved dropping down as you swing for the head, to strike at an exposed leg instead. I think I managed to pull that one off a few times, though a few times I got caught leaning forward instead of stepping. At one point we were supposed to circle each other, looking for vulnerable points like you would in grappling or wrestling- which of course I've never done before either- and trying to tip each other over. RJ had some good tips for that too, helping me keep my footsteps from crossing, working on my stance, getting me to align my feet and such. While we were doing that, both Lee and Mr. Zeus were giving advice on how to move, how to step. They kept telling me to relax, which had the exact same effect as it does when the doctor tells me to- i.e. just makes the nerves worse. It's sad, I know. But they were all very patient, and didn't seem to mind repeating themselves, or demonstrating- which helped a lot, actually. Apparently I'm better copycatting than interpreting. Whatever it was we were doing, we must've been doing it either really right or really wrong, because my thighs are killing me. Unfortunately, I had to bail early when my roommates wanted to leave, but what I did get to participate in was terrific.
I have to say, despite the fact that we all spent the weekend trying to pseudo-kill each other, HEMA folk seem to be a really great bunch of people. I met steel workers and stunt guys, police and students, nurses and teachers and guys who are able to run fencing schools full time, and every one of them (sorry guys) seemed to be terribly sweet. Kinda weird, but I need to meet more of the girls next time. I managed to run into Mariana and Jessica, but only very briefly, and got a few laughs out of Meg, who I never officially met but sat behind during the finals. Many thanks (and apologies) to tall Ben, who answered my dozens of questions both at the finals and while he was sitting with the resident Boo-boo-meister. Hehe- actually, he and the Professor took turns answering my questions, so maybe it wasn't too obnoxious for either of them. Probably I drove the Professor crazy on this trip too. If anyone talks to him and he's not making any sense, sorry about that- my nuttiness may have rubbed off on him. And big thanks to the boo-boo-meister also, who gave me a slew of tips on fighting effectively, which pretty much came down to "be aggressive," which even he admitted might be difficult for me. But he had some good points, which I'm going to try and work on. I apparently need to watch more boxing and UFC, and stop being such a timid thing. Just before we left, I got to see a match between the Professor and ze Batman. Roberto is such fun to watch with those crazy low stances he uses, and so graceful when he fights too. It really is kind of like watching Batman in action. I'm going to try practicing the low ones, but I'll keep my phone handy when I do. I'm flexi enough I'm sure I can get down into one... just not sure I can get up once I do, so I might need to call a crane.
So many firsts too! My first tournament fight, my first fight all geared up, first sports-related injury, first time I've ever felt short in a room, first mead circle, first time using a messer, first time hugging complete strangers, first time I ever walked into a room, blushed, and walked right out (thanks midnight brawlers)... Probably I could've done without that last one. lol. Baby steps.
Anyway, for what it's worth, I thought the whole event was awesome, and very well run. The organization of the thing had to have been a nightmare, and for everyone to get individual schedules was amazing. So many great fighters and teachers, all brought together in one place at one time was amazing. Having spent all of day three watching matches, I can understand how difficult judging is, and can only be grateful that nobody needed a restroom break while I was on deck as a messer judge. Huge kudos and thanks go to otherJake, the Bens, Ms. Emma, MKDF, CKDF, and everyone else who was involved for hosting such a great event! My goal for next time, aside from not breaking any bones, is to maybe get in a dance with some of the guys I learned from this time. I really had a blast, and can't wait until the next one! IGX maybe?
No, IGX definitely
ReplyDeleteDefinitely it is :)
DeleteZuesSquatch = Sean Franklin
ReplyDeleteTrust me, you were not bad to work with. I've definitely had much harder students lol.
Aw, you're sweet. And patient too- thanks for being a great teacher :)
DeletePS: Nope, I don't fight in black. I fight in a red gambeson with blue socks and blue shoes. Already far too much black out there.
ReplyDeleteYay! I knew there had to be more colorful folk around!
Delete