The Road To Normalcy – The Climb #912

Sunday 22nd August 2021

Today was the final day of Fightcamp. It’s been a strange event. The organisation has been great, yet my involvement has been minimal. I never did any fencing nor did I do any classes other than the one I taught. As my first event since the pandemic this has really been about connecting with people again. That’s been interesting and taken much more energy than I thought it would.

But I come away, reinvigorated into creating Swindon SOTS early next year, and whilst I doubt I’ll be training much this year, I will be focused on trying to get my health back.

I’m also involved in other HEMA things. Today we had a meeting of some of the HEMA Inclusion team. I think we have sensible ideas and aims. It’s not for us to police (which I’m sure we’ll be accused of) but to assist people in making their clubs more inclusive, providing education and resources.

I come away feeling involved, even if my personal involvement is a bit weird at the moment while I get myself back into shape. I need to really think about internal motivation in the next couple of weeks and ensure I can stay on track while I don’t have a car and can’t train.

I left just after lunch. My aim this weekend was to connect with people and not run off early. Most people would have left around then if it was a typical fightcamp so I didn’t feel I was breaking that aim. I connected with the people I wanted to and achieved what I wanted from this event.

With that done, it was the drive back to get ready for tomorrow. I have the car for an extra day and I’m going to use it for a mini vacation. The secret plan is to go down to the Jurrassic Coast for the day and visit a bunch of places. Given that before Fightcamp I’d not left Swindon in over a year, I want to make the most of the hire car.

So that meant, getting back, unpacking the car with all the sword gear I took and never used, and then ferrying C’s dog to their mum’s to look after. That way we can have a full day out and not worry about having to get back at a certain time.

With this trip and Fightcamp, it certainly feels like things are getting back to normal. I’m trying to make sure I emerge from the pandemic with some good habits and practises (connecting with people more actively in HEMA, getting fit again) and this past weekend has been the start of the road back to normalcy for me. It’s been a long, weird and painful 18 months (that I’ve coped better with than a lot of people) and I suspect the road to normalcy is going to be a bit the same, but Fightcamp has been the first step.

And every journey needs a first step.