Bloody And Bruised – The Climb #281

Sunday 29^th October 2017

I’m sore today.
I took a cut across my thigh which hurts that bad I’m slightly hobbling. I think I also got hit on the thumb as one side is red, bloody and swollen. I also keep finding various bruises.
Ideally, this would have been a day for rest, to take it easy and try and heal up. But I have Swordfish on Friday and I need the practise. So I got up and drove to Godalming.
I’ve been thinking about my discontent yesterday and have come to the conclusion that it’s not about my actual fencing. That was tough and yes, there were problems with the judging that I feel I’ve articulated in a constructive and helpful way. But I feel I fenced respectfully and that the results (if not the actual points) were fair.
No, I’ve come to the conclusion that my issues surround people’s actions. There were some comments made and actions taken that I found… problematic. I always have the greatest respect for the people I fence, both before, during and afterwards. It’s just a shame when I don’t get the same respect back.
Knowing the cause of my mood last night has made it better. I always hate it when I act a certain way and caanot understand why, but now I know why, I’ve just decided to highlight it to certain people and then move on.
Sparring was particularly tough. Despite starting an hour later and getting an hour’s extra sleep due to the clock change… I still felt sluggish. Both Sasha and Pim were tired and they didn’t even fence yesterday.
Still I made some minor changes to my dagger positioning that seemed to have immediate benefits so I’m glad about that. Will experiment with it over the next couple of weeks.
I drove straight home. I didn’t feel I made good use of the two hours sparring, though I can excuse a lot of that down to fatigue. Though if I just come away with an improved dagger position, then the 4 hours travel and 2 hours of little sparring will have been worth it.
My focus, partly due to my experiences yesterday, and partly due to time has now very much focused on Swordfish. Surprisingly I don’t feel the pressure here. I’d like to win a fight, and to get into the final 16 would be amazing. People think I could do it… but I think that’s one of those nice things people say when what they really mean is that I could, if I had a good day and everyone else had bad luck. I still think my skill’s a little short.
But that does mean that I’m far less likely to get stressed about it. I’ll probably be nervous come Thursday or Friday but for now the real challenge I have is recovering from Wessex and getting myself fighting fit for Friday.
I’m probably going to miss training on Wednesday because I’d be driving there, driving home and then turning round to come all the way back to drive to Gatwick for my Thursday morning flight. Shame, as I could do with the training.
I could always do with more training.
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.