2005-03-18 - 1:42 p.m.

I am not having a very good day, but thankfully it is Friday and that always cheers me up.

And tomorrow is the Gyrth Oldcastle Bloodbath, which is always loads of fun. Let's hope that the weather allows us to have a good time.

Heck, we will have a good time whether we have good weather or not.

On Monday, the demolition of our kitchen begins. I am dreading it and looking forward to it at the same time. As I had mentioned before, once upon a time, we have tried to stick to a "vintage" look, and picked white cabinets with red tops.

And lo and behold, I was looking at kitchens from the 1950's the other day on the Internet, and here it is a clipping of a magazine from that time showing a kitchen with . . . white cabinets and red tops.

Damn!

It'll be cool!

But first we have to survive the dust, and the noise, and the lack of a sink, and all that fun stuff.

We will be posting pics as we go.

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The other day we were having a discussion on whether to "tone down" our game with newer fencers during a tournament or to treat them the same way as we treat the experienced ones.

Here is my take on the subject.

During training, toning down the game is not a bad idea. Particularly if you are instructing someone and want to keep an eye on what is going on. Plus, you don't want just to beat up on a newbie and get him or her all frustrated, discouranging him or her to continue.

Toning down under those circumstances is not only good, it is advisable. Of course, you want to challenge them and push them so they will have to keep up and improve their game. Otherwise, they will stall and not make progress.

Tournaments are another matter.

In a tournament, I like to think about my opponent as a person with a pointy object that will beat me if he can. Period.

In a tournament, toning down my game for any reason would indicate disrespect and contempt for my opponent.

And notice that I am using the term opponent, not enemy. Enemies are somewhere else, like in a real war situation, not on the list field where we are competing in a game of skill.

On the list field, I am only treating my opponent, newcomer or not, the same way I wish to be treated. With respect.

Even when I was a newbie, Marcellus knew that I would not accept anything less than his best game. Even if it meant for him to one-shot me on the list field. (Which he has done, by the way, more than once, even if it means that he will have to sleep with the cat.)

I will not accept anything less from my opponent, and that will ensure that my opponent will get nothing less from me.

And if you beat me, you will know that you did it fair and square.

And even if I was sick that day, or hyperventilating, or having an asthma attack, or whatever, your touch is still good and has all the merit in the world because you know that I gave you my best game; that if you had not given me your best, I would have been wearing your guts for garters no matter who you are, what you do, or how I happen to feel that day.

I have been beat by the most experienced fighters and also by people who had authorized that day. By the same token, I have beat some of the scariest people out there and also people who only knew that the pointy end went into the other guy.

Somebody told me once that the best fighter in the world does not worry about the second best fighter in the world. He should be concerned about the worst fighter in the world because the worst fighter in the world is the most unpredictable creature out there.

So next time you feel that someone was being too hard on you on a tournament, think that he or she was showing his or her respect for you.

And give them your best game.

You too can wear guts for garters.

They are all the rage these days.

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