Fencing Part 2
May. 5th, 2013 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99Excalibur went far better than the Winton, both personally and in a fencing way. I'm not sure if that was due to being in a team that was properly organised, having more supportive team-mates or not being stressed out.
The important things were:
1 - I managed to identify which sabreur had been hospitalised at the Winton. D (yes, another D) had been concussed. I'd assumed it was a whip-over injury but no, he'd been guard to masked. Given this D is the other side of 6 foot 5, I'd love to know how. To no-one's surprise, it was Combined Services what got him.
2 - My two team mates from the Winton were on the Hereford and Worcester team. While I lost to the one of them that I fenced (see point 3), it was only 5-4. She's not as much better than me as she thinks ;) I also lost to an epeeist pretending to be a foilist who left the worst bruise of the weekend. It meant I looked like a harlequin with my right shoulder and my left thigh both black, brown and blue.
3 - Because we had a reserve I was being cycled on and off. Despite that I was still expected to referee but the other team mate, who wasn't being cycled on and off wasn't.* Any time I felt got at, I had a cookie. Probably not good for my waistline but remarkably good for my mood.
4 - I was by no means the worst ref there. One GB stripe, who therefore had no excuse, was terrible, like totally missing my parries. And it wasn't me who was saying this, it was my Italian team mate who has reffed at Italian national level. And who, of course, got into a thoroughly Italian fencer strop** at some of the ref's decisions. Then again, I've been reffed by Stripes's coach and he was lousy too. But his fencers do fence wonderfully.
I ended up having to ask her to phrase a point because I got a beautiful carte parry in that she hadn't seen, and another time I asked her if she thought I'd got a parry at all in the previous sequence (she said no). I normally try not to argue with the ref (Jim brought me up properly, fencing-wise) but ack! so annoying.
5 - There are people out there, much bigger people, who really shouldn't even be allowed 1 pint. Not that this person was any trouble but yeah, very drunk (amusingly so) off the first sniff of beer.
6 - Despite being cycled on and off, I won ~ 7 matches over the weekend (and there's a couple more I think I could have won had I fenced them, but fencers always think that).
7 - Warwickshire didn't come last. I'm not sure where they did come but I'm sure we'll be told eventually.
* the reserve was only a beginner so I don't expect her to ref and our good fencer asked me if I minded reffing so she could warm up so I didn't mind.
** For reference, any youtube match you can find with any Italian fencer of either gender.
Point 8 gets to go outside the cut - I may finally have a fencing scar Very last bout of the very last day and one of Wiltshire hit me hard enough to cause a cut in the fleshy bit inside my elbow. Since it was a pressure injury not a cutting injury my jacket is in one piece, if a little bloodstained. The important bit is that it was off-target and I won the bout afterwards.
9 - Related to the above, I went to the Walk In Centre to get my wound fixed up (washed out, a proper dressing applied and a tetanus jab) and the doctor saw my arm. I got the "should I be worried that my patient is being abused" look. I always feel really bad for putting GPs through this because it's not their fault that I get hit a lot, and bruise like crazy.
The important things were:
1 - I managed to identify which sabreur had been hospitalised at the Winton. D (yes, another D) had been concussed. I'd assumed it was a whip-over injury but no, he'd been guard to masked. Given this D is the other side of 6 foot 5, I'd love to know how. To no-one's surprise, it was Combined Services what got him.
2 - My two team mates from the Winton were on the Hereford and Worcester team. While I lost to the one of them that I fenced (see point 3), it was only 5-4. She's not as much better than me as she thinks ;) I also lost to an epeeist pretending to be a foilist who left the worst bruise of the weekend. It meant I looked like a harlequin with my right shoulder and my left thigh both black, brown and blue.
3 - Because we had a reserve I was being cycled on and off. Despite that I was still expected to referee but the other team mate, who wasn't being cycled on and off wasn't.* Any time I felt got at, I had a cookie. Probably not good for my waistline but remarkably good for my mood.
4 - I was by no means the worst ref there. One GB stripe, who therefore had no excuse, was terrible, like totally missing my parries. And it wasn't me who was saying this, it was my Italian team mate who has reffed at Italian national level. And who, of course, got into a thoroughly Italian fencer strop** at some of the ref's decisions. Then again, I've been reffed by Stripes's coach and he was lousy too. But his fencers do fence wonderfully.
I ended up having to ask her to phrase a point because I got a beautiful carte parry in that she hadn't seen, and another time I asked her if she thought I'd got a parry at all in the previous sequence (she said no). I normally try not to argue with the ref (Jim brought me up properly, fencing-wise) but ack! so annoying.
5 - There are people out there, much bigger people, who really shouldn't even be allowed 1 pint. Not that this person was any trouble but yeah, very drunk (amusingly so) off the first sniff of beer.
6 - Despite being cycled on and off, I won ~ 7 matches over the weekend (and there's a couple more I think I could have won had I fenced them, but fencers always think that).
7 - Warwickshire didn't come last. I'm not sure where they did come but I'm sure we'll be told eventually.
* the reserve was only a beginner so I don't expect her to ref and our good fencer asked me if I minded reffing so she could warm up so I didn't mind.
** For reference, any youtube match you can find with any Italian fencer of either gender.
Point 8 gets to go outside the cut - I may finally have a fencing scar Very last bout of the very last day and one of Wiltshire hit me hard enough to cause a cut in the fleshy bit inside my elbow. Since it was a pressure injury not a cutting injury my jacket is in one piece, if a little bloodstained. The important bit is that it was off-target and I won the bout afterwards.
9 - Related to the above, I went to the Walk In Centre to get my wound fixed up (washed out, a proper dressing applied and a tetanus jab) and the doctor saw my arm. I got the "should I be worried that my patient is being abused" look. I always feel really bad for putting GPs through this because it's not their fault that I get hit a lot, and bruise like crazy.
