02-07-2023, 02:41 AM
Monday was pleasant enough. No Day Job, so just run a couple errands and then enjoy a sunny, cool day until The Evening Job kicks in. Not frantic at The Stab Shack tonight, a lot of kids still away or just returning from their weekend crusades.
One of our better kids was having a slightly rough first 10 minute of the lesson, using too much power which slowed him down and affected his accuracy. I called a time-out to check in with him about his food levels (more boys than girls not eating enough these days) but he said he ate before practice. Another couple minutes and he loosened up and started putting less into the parry and more into the quick reach on the riposte.
By the second time I exclaimed “there it is! There’s that riposte!” he admitted that just before the lesson started he had gotten destroyed by another one of our kids that he usually beats (but not easily) and that he was still mad about it for the first half of the lesson. That explains the heavy hand. I told him after the lesson finished that his analysis of why he was hitting hard was very perceptive (this is a 15 year old boy, remember) and that he should remember it.
I’m pretty sure I would not have been so perceptive at 15. Of course, he is also a much better fencer than I ever was.
One of our better kids was having a slightly rough first 10 minute of the lesson, using too much power which slowed him down and affected his accuracy. I called a time-out to check in with him about his food levels (more boys than girls not eating enough these days) but he said he ate before practice. Another couple minutes and he loosened up and started putting less into the parry and more into the quick reach on the riposte.
By the second time I exclaimed “there it is! There’s that riposte!” he admitted that just before the lesson started he had gotten destroyed by another one of our kids that he usually beats (but not easily) and that he was still mad about it for the first half of the lesson. That explains the heavy hand. I told him after the lesson finished that his analysis of why he was hitting hard was very perceptive (this is a 15 year old boy, remember) and that he should remember it.
I’m pretty sure I would not have been so perceptive at 15. Of course, he is also a much better fencer than I ever was.
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.