Use and abuse.

For the past three weeks I've been a man-in-arms and until last night looked like the arrangement might work out. Being a vastly smaller and lighter fighter, than the grand majority of folks out there, I deal with being tossed around, shoved, pushed and upended a bit more frequently despite the footwork. However it also means that being Thugged can be a bit of a problem. While I loves me the thuggery there is a time and place and last night was not one of those times. My opponents lack of self control could have left me fairly injured last night had his blow landed somewhere other than my back. It was a good reminder of why we wear the armor we do and a good check on myself to see if I wanted to continue fighting in the future. I know my body can not take shots like that on a regular basis and stepping away may be the best idea in lue of that possibility.

On a lighter note I tested out my new arm armor, waxed leather bazubands, with great success! Lighter, smoother, with just enough difference to throw me off a little and expose some nasty habits that had been hiding the metal monstrosities. Had some decent sets with some of the other knights at practice and despite my lack of flow I hope that I gave them a bit of a challenge. I learned I need to practice shots with the new arms to rid myself of perpetual flatting, to stop blinding myself, and quit throwing single shots and resetting. I realized my mind set was not where it needed to be and my performance suffered for it. As did my abs for trying to engage them more. Fortunately, there were good friends and the soothing succor of drinks to finish out the evening.

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quick stop!

Quick thought: two days of intense fighter practice deserves a break.

Things To Look Forward To: new arm armor and the possibility of designing a new chest harness that gives me more protection.

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Journey to the North: My road show begins.

Yesterday evening I carpooled up with a few friends to the dragon's laire rose tournament. The format was three killing blows during the course of the fight, arms and legs counting as kills, keeping your legs. The knights present took the field while the remainder of the fighters challenged for the right to earn a rose for themselves or for the inspiration of the victor. Out of 5 holding the field I took home three roses, not a bad day at all. We had to fight quickly due to the rapidly fading light, reduced visibility makes for poor sparing, and pick-ups were fierce in the over head lights.

On the ride home we discusses a few things I needed to focus on in the future, and be aware of in the long run to avoid social faux pas both on and off of the field.

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Damn it.

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September Crown Tournament 2009

For once crown tourney was close enough to day trip. It was a relief to attend this event without the need to take an epic journey to the far corner of the kingdom. While this was a nice change I still feel a bit guilty considering the Canadians had to travel even further than normal to attend. I fought in the Squires tourney once again, this time with a different knight sponsoring me than normal, and found all that practice has finally begun to pay off. Even though I take my lumps twice to three times a week the desire to give a better fight has inspired me to be greater...mmm that is such a load of BS to make myself feel better but it sounded so good in my head. The fact is I've been working hard, practicing at home, events, and trying to prove that I am worthy of the attention my teachers have been giving me. It's not easy, I come home tired and sometimes discuraged. It's been heartening to hear from my fellows some of the blunders they've made in the past and it makes me work harder realizing that their skills are also hard won.

I was tickled to receive some excellent praise from a few knights on the field and now have a good outlook on what I need to practice and focus on in the near future. One thing is for sure, I need some stronger core muscles to make up for lack of size and upper body strength. Since winter is in the works its back to sit-ups, push-ups, and possibly swimming to take the place of the daily run. On the other hand I could just suck it up and run in the rain, makes you stronger right? I think I hear that snugly bed telling me to be lazy.....

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Monday practice 8/31/09

World of pain. Was having a terrible night fighting due to taking a week off from sparing, armor fixing, as well as any sort of fitness period. Starting to realize this whole getting better thing may include a bit more practice time at home and finding some where to work a bit on the pell to guide muscle memory and hone targeting. Fortunately several of the knights have been kind enough to spend a little time with me to fix some of the more sever armor and technique problems I've been experiencing. Knowing they support me so long as I keep an open mind, try to learn what I can, and get my helmet time I feel I can succeed in this sport. It's much more work than I realized and I'll be needing to treat it more seriously if I want to progress any further as a good fighter.

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