Fencing Journal 2/1/2010   1 comment

There was no practice Tuesday.  It was kinda, like, snow-covered.  Still.  And soaking wet.  And cold.  Good times.

State of the Union

February 2nd being my 29th birthday, I decided to start a tradition and go get a physical.  It’d only been… half a lifetime or so since my last one.  Along with all the usual ego crushing, I got my BP tested and the usual lab work.  BP was 140/80, which is not great; but compared to the testing in the work-gym after work, it turns out that a day full of work stress can raise your BP 30 points.  Who knew.  So the doc thinks I should lose ten pounds (don’t they always?) and check back in three months to see what my progress is looking like.

As for the lab work, the dread of pre-diabetes turned out to be unfounded, and my cholesterol is good.  So, really, only one life-shortening issue to focus on.

The whole “Not Wanting to Die Early” thing has led to pretty consistently hitting the rowing machine and bike.  We’ll see if it pays off Saturday.

Which leaves Thursday

Thursday, where Nobody Looks Good on Film

Letia Thystlethuyet (not to be confused with Q. Caelia Laeta), photographer extraordinaire, brought her sweet camera practice Thursday so we could take video of the fighting.  Video that can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/wistric

The backyard was still muddy, so we fought on the gravel driveway.  That has some weird effects on footwork.

After last week’s post, where I’d been kind of patting myself on the back, I needed a bit of a kick in the ass.  And boy-howdy is there nothing like video of yourself to get that kick.  Take aways:

  • I hold my off hand more around my waist than my chest
  • My rear foot is slightly out behind me instead of under me
  • I hang out in range with my guard down
  • My front foot comes up more than I want it to when I move, telegraphing my approach
  • My lunge is “hoppy”-er than I want it to be
  • I retreat from my front foot when I shouldn’t
  • I rise up in range
  • Hand, then foot

A lot of this is going to be helped with improved fitness.  The rest, well, practice, practice, practice.

Posted February 8, 2010 by wistric in Journal

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