I didn’t have much expectation as my first fencing class began. I was actually only there because my “sister” Leigh has been fencing for a year and we wanted to have a bout. There were two others in my intro to Épée class, a father and his son. I stood there as the instructor began to talk about the different kinds of weapons and the three different kinds of fencing, she also showed us the three different weapons, which all looked pretty similar to me.The next step was to learn the footing, the basis of all we would do. I had to put my feet at unnatural angles and hop forward and backward. Then she tried to get us to disconnect our arms and legs (no, not physically, but that might have actually been easier). We had to learn to put our arm out before our leg moved, not as easy as you would think. :-) Then we got into the “lunge”, the bane of my existence! First of all, I have VERY short legs, only slightly longer than my dear vertically challenged Philippino friend, Tin. Also, she wanted me to attack with my arm before my leg moved at all. It was this one move that created so much pain for me. At the end of the class we were able to don the masks and attack the wall, which I found quite enjoyable (who wouldn’t love attacking a wall?? You can get out all your frustrations without it fighting back and you don’t have to feel guilty that you hurt the wall). Unfortunately, we had to attack as the instructor told us, so I had to lunge at the wall repeatedly. I did not realize just how that worked my leg until the next day, when I started to walk funny. The pain began in my hamstring and slowly started moving through the day down to my knee. Apparently it was not satisfied with just that and soon moved down into my Gluteus Maximus (my bum). By day two I was hobbling around like I should be back at the retirement community, and the biggest struggle was standing up when I had been sitting and going up and down stairs.
Thankfully, I had 5 days to recuperate before I went back to class. By that time I was able to walk without looking like an idiot. In my next class the father and son could not make it, so I ended up with a Sabre fencer who was now learning Épée. We had a quick recap on what I remembered; the footing went without thought while the lunging reminded me of the pain that would hit me the next day. Then the instructor, Kelly, got some protective padding on and basically started telling us how to attack her. Now, this was action. Unfortunately, I had all these reflexes to unlearn. Like, when someone attacks me for some reason I seem to naturally want to retreat. I also want to protect myself with my arm when someone is trying to stab me. Then, the funny thing was when I hit Kelly in the mask and I just stopped and felt so bad, like I had hurt her or something. I quite enjoyed the “disengaging” which was rotating my blade around hers in order to get the upper hand and hit her, It all reminded me of some weird violent dance, and was quite a bit of fun.Then, I got to actually get hooked up on the strip to have a bout with Leigh. First they had to hook us up (imagine sword fighting while being attached to a pulley and plugged into your weapon) and then we started to fight which was a whole other ball game because i had previously had Kelly standing there telling me how to attack her and what to do to “win”, and now here I was playing human chess and trying to guess how Leigh would attack me. I know I got in at least one hit where I she was surprised and I know for sure that she didn’t let me get that one in. I was also very glad that part of the protection that you wear as a woman in this big plastic Barbie bra, since Leigh stabbed me in the chest a few times. I am sure that my unborn children will also be glad that I should hopefully still have the ability to breast-feed them :-)
Two days later I had my last fencing lesson for now, and unfortunately I was not able to recuperate from the pain that extended from my knee up through my leg and into my buttocks. I hobbled my way into class and Kelly was pleased to see that she was “doing her job” and I was in pain. I honestly wondered if I would just fall down while trying to fence, since several times that day my leg had just suddenly buckled underneath me because I just couldn’t control the muscle. This time I felt a bit ahead of my class since I had tried so many things earlier in the week, and when we went to get hooked up I was able to help show them how to do it. It also was much more productive for me to fight with someone who was at the same level as me. I did not fall down that class, and was able to do everything although the lunging was incredibly painful. In fact, by the end of the class my leg was no longer hurting and it was as if I worked out the muscles. I was able to fence until I just about collapsed, not because of my sore leg but just because I am not in great shape right now. It was an enjoyable end to my short but sweet fencing career. I have decided, however to not apply for the olympic team. I do not want to intimidate the more experienced fencers and it might affect my present work and travels.
Thankfully, I had 5 days to recuperate before I went back to class. By that time I was able to walk without looking like an idiot. In my next class the father and son could not make it, so I ended up with a Sabre fencer who was now learning Épée. We had a quick recap on what I remembered; the footing went without thought while the lunging reminded me of the pain that would hit me the next day. Then the instructor, Kelly, got some protective padding on and basically started telling us how to attack her. Now, this was action. Unfortunately, I had all these reflexes to unlearn. Like, when someone attacks me for some reason I seem to naturally want to retreat. I also want to protect myself with my arm when someone is trying to stab me. Then, the funny thing was when I hit Kelly in the mask and I just stopped and felt so bad, like I had hurt her or something. I quite enjoyed the “disengaging” which was rotating my blade around hers in order to get the upper hand and hit her, It all reminded me of some weird violent dance, and was quite a bit of fun.Then, I got to actually get hooked up on the strip to have a bout with Leigh. First they had to hook us up (imagine sword fighting while being attached to a pulley and plugged into your weapon) and then we started to fight which was a whole other ball game because i had previously had Kelly standing there telling me how to attack her and what to do to “win”, and now here I was playing human chess and trying to guess how Leigh would attack me. I know I got in at least one hit where I she was surprised and I know for sure that she didn’t let me get that one in. I was also very glad that part of the protection that you wear as a woman in this big plastic Barbie bra, since Leigh stabbed me in the chest a few times. I am sure that my unborn children will also be glad that I should hopefully still have the ability to breast-feed them :-)
Two days later I had my last fencing lesson for now, and unfortunately I was not able to recuperate from the pain that extended from my knee up through my leg and into my buttocks. I hobbled my way into class and Kelly was pleased to see that she was “doing her job” and I was in pain. I honestly wondered if I would just fall down while trying to fence, since several times that day my leg had just suddenly buckled underneath me because I just couldn’t control the muscle. This time I felt a bit ahead of my class since I had tried so many things earlier in the week, and when we went to get hooked up I was able to help show them how to do it. It also was much more productive for me to fight with someone who was at the same level as me. I did not fall down that class, and was able to do everything although the lunging was incredibly painful. In fact, by the end of the class my leg was no longer hurting and it was as if I worked out the muscles. I was able to fence until I just about collapsed, not because of my sore leg but just because I am not in great shape right now. It was an enjoyable end to my short but sweet fencing career. I have decided, however to not apply for the olympic team. I do not want to intimidate the more experienced fencers and it might affect my present work and travels.
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