Naming Swords – The Climb #276

Tuesday 24^th October 2017

It’s been a busy day today. I had to get up early for physio which meant I spent the rest of the day just feeling exhausted.
Because of this, I decided that today would just be a day for taking it easy. I’ve trained extremely hard the last few days and so now I need to build my strength ready for the tournament on Saturday.
The physio found problems with my hamstrings and quads. I find it quite amazing that I can have them sorted out one week and then do enough in the following week to need them sorting again. I mean, I’ve trained hard, but I never realised just how quickly they become knotted.
As a result, I think I’m going to start to look at some static stretching after I exercise.
I didn’t get hurt as much as last week which even my Physio (who being a physio is a modern day torturer) thought last week was particularly brutal. My lower back aches a bit from fighting extended the last week and my quads seem to be permanently tight, but my ribs didn’t even hurt today, so that was a good thing.
Whilst I was at the Physio, I also completed another little task. I’ve decided that I’ll be using my new sword this weekend. Part of the reason for this is that the blade on my old one has a little kink in it that I don’t think will be suitable for the intensity of Wessex and Swordfish. My old rapier is pretty beat up. The quillions are bent and the cup hilt looks like a moon crater. As a result, the screws are constantly working loose, and I live in fear that I’m going to lose one.
So I went to a place on the industrial estate behind my physio and bought a load of screws (M5 6mm #SwordScrews – for future reference). Turns out I had enough to put the new sword together but I like having spares.
A lot of HEMA people don’t believe in naming swords, but as a fantasy writer I feel it’s required. Of course, as they say in Game of Thrones: “Only cunts name swords”. I’m OK with that, because, as I reply to people, I’m a cunt with a sword. And a pretty handy one at that. <smiles sweetly>
I’ve only named my rapiers. My old blade is Dominatus, whilst the new rapier is Dominatus II. It’s actually a reference to the storm chasing vehicles, the dominators. I like this link between the sword fighting side of me and the storm chaser.
But Dominatus II is now assembled, tipped and ready for battle. I look forward to using it in competition on Saturday.
Other than that, today has been a slow day. I did some food prep and went to the gym. I took it easy as I don’t want to injure myself this close to Wessex, but I still came home and felt ready to go to bed. Instead I just chilled in front of the computer catching up on X-Factor. (Yeah, I know, but I like that I don’t need to watch it and can just have it on as I work).
I’m finally back up to date on School of the Sword blog posts and I’m hoping to get The Climb to start releasing on schedule rather than being posted last thing the following night.
Whilst I have training tomorrow and it’ll probably be intense, I’m expecting the rest of the week to be a little calmer. That said I have a work meeting on Friday and might have someone dropping some stuff off for Wessex in the evening. I want to try and get an early night. Actually I want to get a few early nights, including tonight!
If you want to follow more of my journey, then be sure to check me on my social channels. Likewise, if you’d like me to expand on any point mentioned above, please say so in the comments.