2004-11-19 - 12:23 p.m.

I made it to practice last night. There was an accident on Rt. 50 so it took me forever to make it home, change, grab a bite and get to pratice. So I got there late, but I made it.

We had a full house, about 15 fighters altogether, which is not bad at all. I got to work with Cwen and The Mighty Thomas, and to fight with Seamus and a new guy from Japan named Brian (he has a greek SCA name that I don't know even where to start mangling it.)

Cwen is making progress by leaps and bounds. I think that once she gets over the heavy fighter's reflex of slapping as opposed to thrusting, she will be a durn good fighter.

The Mighty Thomas is one of our minors. A little 14 year old kid that looks like 12. Boy, is he fast! And he has a lot of natural talent. Plus he absorbs instruction like a sponge. If he does not drop out, by the time he authorizes he is going to terrorize people on the field.

(Instructions for handling young fighers: Feed sugar, shake well, turn lose on field)

I also had a lot of fun fighting Seamus and Brian. I did epee with Seamus, which helped keep my stamina up. He is such a fun fight and a good challenge! Another one with tons of natural talent and who absorbs knowledge like nobody's business.

At the end of practice I went and picked up a fight with Brian. He is an awesome fighter and a very tough one. I decided to go with schlager knowing that it is my weakest game but, if I am going to get stronger, there is no point in avoiding it.

All I can say is that my game started clicking again. By having to go fast and furious, and not having time to think about what to do next, all the movements that have been stored in my muscle memory kicked in at the same time. I am happy to say that I gave as good as I took and I did it playing my own game.

Brian is a tall guy, with arms like a monkey. Once we armored up, all I could think of was the words of Don Sebastian of Ansteorra on fighting taller guys that play the distance game: "Belphoebe, against people my size, you will always have to close. Always. No way to avoid it."

So after months of staying away from closing, I went back to my roots. It was great. At one point he told me laughing "Can we please not fight close?." I responded "But you are taller, have longer arms, and are wielding a 40" versus my 35" How else am I supposed to touch you?"

It was good. I feel that I am beginning to get my groove back after a period of blah. I almost felt like I did at Sapphire Joust.

Almost.

I think that I have spent all year trying to recapture Sapphire. But sooner or later, I will achieve just that and, hopefully, it will be in a more consistent way.

My only regret was that I did not get a chance to fight Roland. Again. I think that I am going to stalk him next time he shows up to practice. Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!

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