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I keep forgetting to post in here. My camera’s memory card filled up and I was too dumb to remember that I have a phone with a camera in it. So…the only footage I got was of us without any protective gear on, my beat to his sword followed immediately by my realization that I had moved way faster than speed 3, and a pause while we chuckle. Not much to critique.
In terms of the actual fencing, I had a few good moments when I seemed to be fencing better than I ever have before. I had a terrible early introduction to longsword…for about four years…and developed a bit of a mental block with it. This seems to be passing now. I had some idea of what I should be doing, if unable to execute (which I expected), and even more importantly to me, I actually knew more or less what had happened in each exchange. I wish I could comment with confidence on my posture, but no video. I did feel like I was moving much better, and I don’t recall being out of balance at all, which is also a new experience. My focus…foci…were to at least be in recognizable postures as often as I could, and not to attack with abandon. Not perfect, but I think improved. If I had to summarize briefly, it would be something like “I finally understand how a longsword works and have some solid direction on how to make that happen.” Another plus was that I didn’t feel like I had to fence from posta longa or die immediately. And hey! I just realized I actually stayed in the bind at times. That’s unheard of, unless it was forced on me, previously. All kinds of stuff changing for the better. If I could actually get off the couch and do some drills, who knows what might happen?
Further good news is that Jacob and I now have a standing date to fence once or twice a week, and he’s going to invite another guy from the local club, so I should be able to get some solid practice against the evil Germans.