Saturday 22nd July 2017 So bits of me ache and my knuckle is purple but day 1 of the Astolat tournament has taken place and I’m now back home trying to get sleep for an extremely early start tomorrow. I felt good this morning. I felt focused as I had my breakfast and loaded up [...]
Friday 21st July 2017 It’s the night before the big tournament. I am focused, I am not focused enough. I am prepared, I am unprepared. This is it, I think. This is what I’ve worked towards. It all boils down to this, where those hours of sacrifice, those hours of training… this is where I [...]
Thursday 20th July 2017 Today has been a day of trying to chill and get myself into the mood for my upcoming tournament. Given the way the world rankings have come along in the last year, Astolat now qualifies more than Fightcamp for the title of the UK’s national tournament. Not that there’s an official [...]
Wednesday 19th July 2017 I attended the first day of a big departmental meeting with the day job today. I don’t tend to enjoy these because I rarely see the value in what we discuss. Because the area I work in is very specialised, 90% of these things usually end up being of no relevance [...]
Tuesday 18th July 2017 I’d like to pretend that I’m not still smarting from yesterday, but in truth I am. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to keep away from people – both in person and online – from Thursday so I can focus on my mental preparations for competition. I know I [...]
Monday 17th July 2017 If you asked me my views about the judging of swordfighting tournaments, I’d say this. I’d tell you that judging is hard, that you are trying to watch fast moving pieces of metal going in all directions. I’d tell you how your mind isn’t sure what you just saw. Was it [...]
Sunday 16th July 2017 Today was my second consecutive day of swordfighting and my last weekend before the Astolat tournament. In a week's time I will know whether all those months of training will have paid off. They usually say that you fight terribly the week before a tournament. It’s almost become a swordfighting superstition. [...]
Saturday 15th July 2017 Today has been a swordfighting day with a seminar on the use of the Montante taking up the best part of the day. I woke up feeling very relaxed. After writing The Climb last night I went up to bed and read. I’ve started on The Republic of Thieves. I’m a [...]
Friday 14th July 2017 I’ve felt very unfocused today. I suspect that it’s pre-tournament nerves starting. This weekend I’m swordfighting all weekend and then next weekend is the Astolat tournament. I can feel myself getting jittery over the fact that I’m fighting all weekend. It’s almost as if I’m annoyed that I don’t have time [...]
Wednesday 12th July 2017 For some reason I’ve been consumed by note taking today. And not taking notes but the process of taking notes. I’m not sure if this is driven by a need to be more organised after the disruption of the last week or not but I realised that there must be a [...]
