2005-09-11 - 7:59 a.m.

Masters of Defence

Fencing, like sex, is nothing more than an expression of who you are.

Perhaps that is why Marcellus and I enjoy fencing each other so much.

(Yes, now you can go ahead and Lysol your inner eye!)

At any rate, we have the ongoing joke that if he beats me in the list field, he's sleeping with the cat.

Taking into account that I will accept nothing less than his best game, Scandal the Cat is a very happy kitty who gets to sleep with his owner more often than not.

I swear, this man teleports.

But I digress . . .

Masters of Defence was a really fun event. I got to go out and play and had a wonderful time.

The tourney had a particularly nifty format that gave you the opportunity to rack up points if you won matches in 5 categories: Single rapier, rapier and dagger, case of rapier, rapier and cloak and rapier and hard parrying device. It was a blast.

I was also very happy with my performance. Taking into account that I started overheating and that my asthma decided to bug me once more, I think I did pretty darned well.

Would have I liked to win more bouts? Absolutely. On the other hand, the ones I won, and even the ones I lost, were pretty darned good fights and I am very happy overall.

Not only that, at this point my main goal is to play my own game, with my own choice of weapon, regardless of what my opponent is bringing.

There was a time in which I felt very frustrated because most people were migrating towards the 40" or longer blades, whereas I prefer to play with a 35" tops. The reason for this is that I am not comfortable with the weight and balance of a longer blade. I feel that I am fighting my blade at the same time as my opponent.

Taking into consideration that most of my opponents will have longer arms than me, adding a couple of inches to my blade will not necessarily even the odds. That person will always have that inch or two of arm-length on me, and now I have slowed my game down by making my blade longer and heavier.

Or at least, that's how I feel.

Anyhow, I have been stubbornly sticking to whatever weapons I feel happy with -- and been hit a lot in the process. But stick with it I have and it is paying off. Yesterday's tournament was a shining example of it.

That, to me, this is a major accomplishment.

In general, I think that my most satisfying bout was the one that I had against Sir Corby, who by the way was fighting like a god that day. Although I did not win that bout, I nearly had him twice with my smallsword.

He did beat me in the end, but it was a heckuva fight.

I am a happy belfebe.

Like I said, I am working towards my goal one bout at a time.

Next year: Crossover with heavy.

Yeah.

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It was also great to see Constanza get her Sea Dragon. This lady has done a lot for rapier in Atlantia for many years. I was happy to see her recognized.

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