Fencing- Part 2

Yesterday was my 2nd lesson in fencing. We started out with some warm ups, and then got into the exercise portion of the lesson. That stuff was pretty tough, and basically a variation of the squat, with some jumping, for about 20 minutes. OUCH! After that we got to suit up, which was amusing in itself. He promised that next time it wouldn't be nearly as hard. I sure hope so, because trying to figure out which things fit, and then exactly how to put them on took a decent amount of time.

This is where the lesson became tons of fun. We got to actually fence with another person in the class. At first we practiced just the lunge. It was hard to stand there when someone came at you with a sword, but once it happened a few times, it was easier. The poor guy who was my practice-mate I could tell was awkward about piercing a girl in the chest. This became a huge advantage once we were fencing. He felt his target area was limited I think, and this gave me a good laugh throughout the practice. I got a few good points in there. With the headgear on, it really felt like a video game. Strange. As the coach told us, and as I'm sure you can imagine, it looked awful, but was fun. We were pretty much all over the place, and it was obvious we had no idea what we were doing. We did learn one parry, which we all tried to use during the actual one on one fencing, but in the heat of the battle, that stuff is hard to remember. We fenced with the epee, which I have to say felt a lot better this week. It didn't have the pistol grip, which was nice. I don't think I'm a big fan of that. It feels awkard to hold.

Anyway- to sum up. I survived, and am taking advil today, as you might expect. More squats are on hand for this week, so I don't feel so sore after practice next week!