It's been ages I know, but I'm trying to get back into writing and figured the details on my first trip up to New York might be entertaining. It's a bit long, but there's a lot of people getting hit with sharp sticks, some oozy stuff, and lots of sword cookies.
I wasn't nearly as nervous this time before the tourney, since I've set my tournament bar to a nice and achievable level: don't die, learn as much as you can, try not to get shut out, and don't spend the entire time in pflug. Mostly it worked, though I still had some nerves. When I get nervous, I bake. Two hundred or so sword cookies later, I was ready. Ish.
Driving to upstate New York is much more fun when you're not the one doing the driving. Luckily, the Professor drove, and I just tried to stay awake the whole time. Tried. The best part though was seeing the look of mild horror on his face grow the further and further we drove past 'civilization'. I'd made him watch this wonderfully bad little horror film called "Treevenge" a few weeks ago... I suspect that memories were coming to haunt him as the trees grew thicker and more prolific. (https://vimeo.com/5048966 if you haven't seen it- it's 16 minutes of awesome) We'd left at o'dark thirty, and finally made it to our motel but were unable to check in so early, so we headed over to the campsite to meet up with our own Harnessfechten, who was camping. I don't do camping. Bugs like me too much. Everyone else within a ten mile radius would probably be safe, but I'd be covered in mosquito bites. If I had camped, I'd have stood there in the ring and let people poke me with swords, just to ease the itching. Ended up kinda doing that anyway, minus the itching, but that's for later.
It was hot and humid- two of the most awful words in the English language. So most people seemed to just be hanging out and talking, getting things set up, admiring people's swords (not a euphemism), and patting the puppies. The Professor's a social butterfly, so he flitted off to greet everyone. I renewed a few acquantances, got lots of hugs (huggiest bunch of people ever, seriously), met some new friends from Athena group in Boston, and ended up settling in the shade with Harnessfechten and our new yankee pals, learning more about CKDF pals, and petting puppies. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, really, but it got even more fun when the cutting class started.
I like cutting. I rather rot at it, but it's fun. I would've sold my cat (not the nice one) for a notebook and pen so I could take notes, but Tristan had us practicing with feders, so that would've been tricky to do while holding a pen. It was fascinating really, just listening to all the factors that come into play when you're cutting- the blade alignment of course, plus footwork if you're moving or stationary, the motion of your hips, tightening your core... all of it. Apparently quite a lot of the oomph comes from the hip movement. I'm figuring if I can harness that motion, and get my alignment right, I have enough hip I should be able to take anyone in cutting! I ended up being one of the last to do my cutting on the tatami. Patience, thy name is Tristan. Between him and the Wizard Tim, I got all kinds of great tips to help improve my cutting. The Professor picked up a new cutting stand, and I got the old one, so I'll be practicing. I want to do as well as our Harness did filling in for the Professor in the cutting tourney next time!
After cutting was hanging around the campfire time, which is always entertaining. Good conversations and watching the silliness is fun. I think maybe we should start a HEMA Introverts group though. All us quiet folks could just sit on the edges and chill in harmony. And bugs. I think I kept everyone at the campfire safe and bug free. Also kept people sugared up when we passed around the first box of sword cookies. They didn't last long.
Saturday was tournament day! I wasn't at all nervous for some reason, though maybe I should've been. I still hate my gambeson- it's way too stiff and tight. (If you're getting one custom, I'd add at least half an inch to every measurement.) The rest of it I'm getting used to though, which is good. I really like my new Red Dragon gloves too, though the SPES fingertips are going to have to go. Or maybe I'll just cut them in half or something- they're too long for me to be able to bend the ends of my fingers. I got new shin guards too- the Samurai catcher's knees are kind of awesome, even though I couldn't get them in my blue. They have a piece that catches just above the knee, cover the whole length below, and wrap around enough to protect the sides and ankles too. They're great- and they just clip on and off easily. But a fencing mask rots when you wear glasses. There is no good way to get it on and off and have your glasses stay put. Then the lenses fog up. As you sweat, they slip. And you start to sweat a lot when you see that your first opponent is Captain America.
I'd been hoping to have a chance to try a fight with otherJake since Shortpoint last year. He's one of those fencers that's just pretty to watch. Perfect footwork, always on target, moving deliberately and with coordination I've never known. I've only really seen him fencing for fun before, light sparring at practice or being playful while testing rules. Not this time though. Intense focus. No more smiles, just serious and down to business. I hadn't ever seen Tournament otherJake. There was kind of a huffing and puffing to get ready (that was more in the cutting really, but it fits better here). I'm fairly convinced he grew another six inches taller. I'm pretty sure he got at least three wider. Maybe I was just overwhelmed. Either way, it was like meeting the Big Bad Wolf in person, and I've never felt quite so much like the whole bunny thing was a bad idea. I rarely take anything seriously. This though, I did. I won't deny it was a little scary.
And I wish to heck I could remember more of it. lol. I remember initially, the Professor telling me to take the fight over to the corner near one of the judges in particular. I wasn't to wait and defend, but go on the offense (ha!) and take the fight to him. He'd probably be in pflug, he said, he usually is- go in with a schielhau. So the ringboss yelled fight, and I moved forward... but he wasn't in pflug, and he wasn't waiting either. I don't even remember where I got hit, but that pass went quickly. We reset. Second pass, all I remember is the stars.
He had stars in his eyes. I'd never noticed. On his mask too. I didn't remember him having multicolored stars on his gambeson, but I hadn't looked properly before. They were on his sword too! There were stars on the ceiling! On the floor! Everywhere I looked, I could see them. Gloriously colored, flashing brightly. I stumbled, and distinctly remember thinking that I didn't want to squish the stars, so I kind of staggered but managed to stay upright, though leaning on my sword. I'm not sure if I gave him the post match hug that seems to go with all matches or not- sorry if I missed it though! I did hear the score announced, and totally mumbled "you're darn right he did" when they mentioned control points. Pretty sure I sat down for a bit after that. They tell me he did one of those "all your swords are belong to us" maneuvers- schwert nehmen I think (won't forget that one again), and caught me a wicked pommel strike. I'm sorry to have missed it. lol. Must've had my eyes closed. But I've got a pretty good goose egg and a dent in my mask as souvenirs!
So I continue my apparent habit of getting royally nailed in like the first match of each tournament I enter- but at least it wasn't my hand this time! After that, it had to get better. It did, actually. My other pool matches are a little fuzzy, but I know I at least scored in each of them, which was one of my goals. And forgive me for not remembering names, but I got two compliments that meant the world- one fellow commented that I displayed good technique, and another gave me my hug and said something like "well, that wasn't easy." I'm keeping them both, though I think they might have been exaggerating. The second fellow though showed me a definite flaw in my fighting- I'm not good at being the aggressor (clearly), so when I tried, he just politely parried my strikes and then paused... which made me pause, thinking they'd called time or I'd done something wrong... then he bonked me over the head. Excellent strategy vs. someone who apologizes for hitting you. Ringboss Bill (not going to call him Big Chief Tipi like the Professor suggested) called me on that too- don't stop fighting until someone stops you. Several times he said it, actually. I have to remember that. Feel free to use that strategy against me until I do. Got another compliment from him too, which means worlds. Maybe I'm not quite as awful as I think I am. Hey, at least I have fun with it.
Judging was fun, but I worry I'm missing stuff. I got drafted to be one of the junior judges for the Beginner's tourney. I like only having to watch one fighter- I feel like I miss a little less that way. I'm not entirely sure I like the order of hits stuff though- several times I felt that was way off, though that might have been mostly while I was fighting. I know that for a few of the calls in my favor, the other guy hit first. I'm sure it goes both ways, but still. I was trying to keep my calls neutral and not letting the others influence, but it sure is tough when you're not sure exactly what you saw. Luckily, we had a great Ringboss, and my hesitant calls actually matched what he saw fairly often. Why is judge certification not a thing? I'd do it. I think it'd be fun, and would definitely help in interpreting fights. Our Harnessfechten did great in the Beginner Tourney, and even better standing in for the Professor at cutting on Sunday. Spectators polished off the rest of the sword cookies as we watched Harness breeze through most of his cuts in the first round and get a good start on the second too. He did awesomely well, and it was his first time!
After the Beginners were the women's matches, which were fun too. Girl fights! My first women's match was a blast. I got the chance to face one of my new Boston pals that I had missed at IGX when I had to bow out after the great hand whacking. Great fun match, that one was. Boston Athena is a fabulous fencer. I also got to spar with a kitty, pink socks, Turquoise, and a few more (sorry, I forgot to ask name permissions before coming home). I actually won one of my matches too, with one of the ladies who ended up placing in the finals. Woohoo! My last match I got trounced by Turquoise, partly because she was awesome, and partly because she'd managed to land a solid shot right on top of my souvenir bump from earlier. She had pretty stars all in her hair too. It's a good look. So my very first match and my very last book-ended a pretty stellar day of fighting (pun totally intended). The rest of the day I got to spend in the ER watching them squish stuff back into the Professor's finger, but that's his story to tell.
Four things were hammered home that I definitely need to work on:
1. I am NOT Groot. Must stop being a tree. Trees are sturdy and reliable, but also tend not to get out of the way. As in car accidents, this is not good. I stand way too unmoving in the ring.
2. Bunnies are not aggressive. They need to be. A little aggression is not a bad thing. Especially when you're TRYING to hit someone with a sword. c vvvv
3. Wind high enough for it to actually do some good. Winden should not be little and cute.
4. Abzug the heck out of the way after doing something right. Don't get hit.
OH! And aside from the goose egg, I only got one bruise! So apparently I'm at least covering my openings a bit better. Or I got lucky. Either way, bonus! Can't wait for Longpoint!
No comments:
Post a Comment