That's fair. I complete for fun, to test my fencing progress, to test my understanding of the sources, and because I love the jitters.
I'd never proverbially bet on myself to win a fencing competition.
I'm going to hold myself to not actually keeping the medal though.
I used to have a co-worker. She and her husband built dirt track racecars and raced them. She would use all her time off to drive out to races. They did pretty well.
I once asked her how big her trophy room was. She said whenever she and her husband ever won a trophy, they would give it to some kid in the audience. (Photos would back this up).
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2018 HEMA Fail, part 2/2. Target acquired. (3 second content warning at beginning of video)
Last year at Wisconsin Historical Fencing Association’s “Hau Down”. Half seminar, half get-together. My last turn at the pig for the rest of the day. I’ve done challenging cuts, and decide “I’m gonna cut the foot”. You know, test how smallish cuts to the hand and bony areas might come out if those things were for realsies. I position the target ... and miss, cutting the rope and dropping the pig. I still feel dumb and embarrassed for doing this. 😰
2018 HEMA Fail, part 1/2. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Last year at MidWinter Armizare in Chicago, I competed in their single-handed steel event with a messer. Here against a sidesword fencer, I attempt to bind against his sword and grapple. I -- somehow --- matrix dodge when I don’t feel the bind, but get hit anyway.
A combination of Facebook posts about mixed weapons competitions and judging prompted me to write up my experiences with judging Icebreaker events. This is all from personal experience judging individual events with ~35-50 competitors from multiple countries (Canada, USA, France) with significant prizes for medalists. [large post ahead, images included]
I’m either the dude in yellow judging with the stick, or the dude in yellow with the messer.
I’d generally advise against judging based on sound for any sword unless that’s just a secondary, terciary argument to support something you saw because for longsword let’s say hitting a piece of plastic equipment with the edge and with poor edge alignment or even with the flat can sound exactly the same, similar for when hitting the jacket.
It can give false positives for sure.
Another thing is-when judging you really shouldn’t be standing too close anyway, often you want to be far enough to be able to see both fencers and their weapons in their entirety, which usually means you’re far enough not to be hit with anything easily if you’re moving at all.
If the rings are super small that is an issue though and then you gotta watch out.
Also having safety goggles can help-sure they won’t protect against super strong smacks but can be a pleasant difference and they don’t obstruct your vision.
Aside from the-I hope not-too know-it-all comments I just made, how do you practice judging?
Self-calling is great and I believe it should be done as already noted however if one is to be a judge a certain level of skill is required.
Oh, I definitely agree on the distance and view part. Mistakes happen, people do unwise things, so the fear is still there. I would feel wrong if I didn’t mention it. I’m not alone in my feeling, as well.
I never thought of having safety goggles on, that’s a good idea. Some judges wore gloves to safeguard their hands.
I have no idea how other groups train judges, so apologies if I’m stating the obvious or being too descriptive.
To practice judging, the lead organizers scheduled monthly judge training sessions. These began about 8 months before the competition. Then, usually biweekly smaller practices leading up to the competition. They’d canvas the local community for repeat and new judges, most importantly.
Judge training involves a combination of:
* Mock competitions. The Center for Blade Arts occasionally okays using half the fencing floor during class time. Usually it’s anything synthetic to get the most participants. This is generally an end-of-month day, where lots of people grab a drink together afterwards, so attendance is usually high. Mostly, this is used to get people in the door to judging. A month or two prior, they run full mock competitions with scorecards and pools and everything, usually focusing on steel longsword.
* Small judging practice. Usually after getting committed judges from mock competitions, and where individual coaching of judges would take place. There would be a balance between getting enough longsword, enough singlestick, and enough odd weapons combinations as possible. Importantly, one of the lead organizers would secretly instruct a fencer to argue about a point or not comply with the self-call rules. Or, have a fencer go out of bounds purposefully. Or, have a fencer throw their weapon at their partner (against the rules). Or, my favorite, have a fencer hit themselves with their own weapon, which according to the ruleset counts just as much as a hit from your opponent. They’d try to get as many edge cases of fencer behavior familiarized as possible. In the practice, they treat the match as if it was real. Gear check, scorecards, etc.
After the match or a particularly significant exchange, the lead organizers have a group discussion. We would discuss what went right and what went wrong.
Importantly, the ruleset has included a period defined as “2 beats at 90 bpm” as the window for double hits. The judge is to stomp/tap their stick at the first contact, and once more to signal the end of that window. Lots of judge training consisted of, “a little faster” or “a little slower” or “here’s 90 bmp, listen, practice it”. It is the judge’s responsibility to determine if any strikes were within or without that window, so it was strongly emphasized.
I personally felt well prepared by the judge training, and felt confident that all the judges there were well prepared as well.
I’ll likely be missing Icebreaker this year, so I won’t get to help judge. 😥
Goggles aren’t really necessary, but they can help.
Gloves can definitely be useful.
Generally speaking though the stick itself being enough and the judge being comfortable and confident in its use to signal starting/ending the match and if need be separating the fighters.
Gloves, goggles etc. do help but they are help.
The overall approach sounds cool. Especially setting up specific situations to test the judges. As well as the mock-comps and the discussions afterwords, we do similar things.
Do you keep details on how well the judges judge?
As in having a percentage tally of good/bad calls?In the club I’m in we have the judges practice judging for at least a few months before a comp, we do it at least once a week and we have them go through at least a few bouts in a row, each bout being at least a few exchanges.
After a judge makes a call the fighters are to say yes/no/not sure.
Depending on the tally we note down good/mixed/bad call.
A few weeks of that then judges train with a side judge to help them if need be.
The calls are determined as so: good-everyone agrees,or one person isn’t sure, mixed-more than one person isn’t certain or all agree, but one disagrees, bad-more than one person disagrees or no one is certain.
If the main judge has no idea it’s an automatic bad call.
Also the idea is-when you practice judging the fighters don’t self-call, the judges have to stop the bout(while in tournaments you can self-call).
And for every hit that the judge misses-they get another bad call written down for they didn’t see it.
Then you later have a fairly detailed view of how good someone judges.
On the other hand if the fighter self-call when the judge is training the judge may get a ‘good call’ but only because they saw the fighter call being hit.
So if someone’s a good judge they may even have a near-perfect score.
However if someone’s a bad judge they can have way more bad calls than good ones. In such a case they don’t get to judge later on.
I figure it’s not something only we do but I wonder how others do the same general thing.
The scoring of judges sounds excellent, but hasn’t been done. It makes a ton of sense, though. I was honestly more of the ancillary people involved in it. And I’m certain the more invested people discussed the state and preparedness of the judges, etc.
Do they use that scoring to determine who is eligible to judge the final matches? Does it also permit people to judge different evens? For example, in event A, only people judge with a score high enough are permitted to judge?
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A combination of Facebook posts about mixed weapons competitions and judging prompted me to write up my experiences with judging Icebreaker events. This is all from personal experience judging individual events with ~35-50 competitors from multiple countries (Canada, USA, France) with significant prizes for medalists. [large post ahead, images included]
I’m either the dude in yellow judging with the stick, or the dude in yellow with the messer.
I’d generally advise against judging based on sound for any sword unless that’s just a secondary, terciary argument to support something you saw because for longsword let’s say hitting a piece of plastic equipment with the edge and with poor edge alignment or even with the flat can sound exactly the same, similar for when hitting the jacket.
It can give false positives for sure.
Another thing is-when judging you really shouldn’t be standing too close anyway, often you want to be far enough to be able to see both fencers and their weapons in their entirety, which usually means you’re far enough not to be hit with anything easily if you’re moving at all.
If the rings are super small that is an issue though and then you gotta watch out.
Also having safety goggles can help-sure they won’t protect against super strong smacks but can be a pleasant difference and they don’t obstruct your vision.
Aside from the-I hope not-too know-it-all comments I just made, how do you practice judging?
Self-calling is great and I believe it should be done as already noted however if one is to be a judge a certain level of skill is required.
Oh, I definitely agree on the distance and view part. Mistakes happen, people do unwise things, so the fear is still there. I would feel wrong if I didn’t mention it. I’m not alone in my feeling, as well.
I never thought of having safety goggles on, that’s a good idea. Some judges wore gloves to safeguard their hands.
I have no idea how other groups train judges, so apologies if I’m stating the obvious or being too descriptive.
To practice judging, the lead organizers scheduled monthly judge training sessions. These began about 8 months before the competition. Then, usually biweekly smaller practices leading up to the competition. They’d canvas the local community for repeat and new judges, most importantly.
Judge training involves a combination of:
* Mock competitions. The Center for Blade Arts occasionally okays using half the fencing floor during class time. Usually it’s anything synthetic to get the most participants. This is generally an end-of-month day, where lots of people grab a drink together afterwards, so attendance is usually high. Mostly, this is used to get people in the door to judging. A month or two prior, they run full mock competitions with scorecards and pools and everything, usually focusing on steel longsword.
* Small judging practice. Usually after getting committed judges from mock competitions, and where individual coaching of judges would take place. There would be a balance between getting enough longsword, enough singlestick, and enough odd weapons combinations as possible. Importantly, one of the lead organizers would secretly instruct a fencer to argue about a point or not comply with the self-call rules. Or, have a fencer go out of bounds purposefully. Or, have a fencer throw their weapon at their partner (against the rules). Or, my favorite, have a fencer hit themselves with their own weapon, which according to the ruleset counts just as much as a hit from your opponent. They’d try to get as many edge cases of fencer behavior familiarized as possible. In the practice, they treat the match as if it was real. Gear check, scorecards, etc.
After the match or a particularly significant exchange, the lead organizers have a group discussion. We would discuss what went right and what went wrong.
Importantly, the ruleset has included a period defined as “2 beats at 90 bpm” as the window for double hits. The judge is to stomp/tap their stick at the first contact, and once more to signal the end of that window. Lots of judge training consisted of, “a little faster” or “a little slower” or “here’s 90 bmp, listen, practice it”. It is the judge’s responsibility to determine if any strikes were within or without that window, so it was strongly emphasized.
I personally felt well prepared by the judge training, and felt confident that all the judges there were well prepared as well.
I’ll likely be missing Icebreaker this year, so I won’t get to help judge. 😥
A combination of Facebook posts about mixed weapons competitions and judging prompted me to write up my experiences with judging Icebreaker events. This is all from personal experience judging individual events with ~35-50 competitors from multiple countries (Canada, USA, France) with significant prizes for medalists. [large post ahead, images included]
I’m either the dude in yellow judging with the stick, or the dude in yellow with the messer.
Longsword is everyone’s sweetheart. It brings in the most competitors, it has the best prizes, hogs the spotlight, and is likely the raison d'etre of anyone beginning HEMA.
And to judge a longsword competition, it’s actually not that bad. There’s a huge psychological barrier because it’s scary longsword. Everyone put on their serious faces before the day began. But really, the level of familiarity with longsword by the competitors and judges makes this actually rather smooth to judge, honestly.
Icebreaker 2018 was my second year judging, and first year judging longsword. The biggest challenges seem to be getting experienced people to judge.
The biggest issue with judging longsword is actually safety. Safety for the judges. I stayed well behind my judge’s stick. I put my footwork practice to good use. My biggest fear was getting struck in the head or hands with a stray zwerchaus or mezzani. That’s lights out and hello hospital.
Mixed Steel weapons. It’s quite different. Generally everything is permitted except shields over the size of a buckler, longswords, polearms, and montantes (goes without saying). People usually take this just about as seriously as longsword, but try to fence cleanly. I competed in this category last year, and I’ve never judged it at Icebreaker. I imagine that it’s still a challenge with the somewhat odd combinations of weapons (e.g., rapier/dagger vs messer, sabre vs sword/buckler)
Singlestick. This is the most vastly underestimated event to judge. In the MidWest USA, it seems most people do longsword and singlestick (or sabre) as their primary studies. There are skilled and top ranked competitors in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as listed on HEMA Ratings. Singlestick is their element, arguably more than longsword. Worse yet, the sound of a hickory or rattan stick hitting a leather or plastic bell can sound just like it hitting a piece of protective equipment. You can’t rely on sound like in longsword or mixed steel as much. I’ve judged it twice now, and I feel like judging singlestick is one of the biggest technical challenges of a judge’s skill.
However, thankfully, singlestick isn’t difficult to judge because the fencers are messy, it’s just fast and complex. It takes a lot of mental energy to stay focused for so long.
Mixed Synthetics. Almost anything. If your weapon or shield was made from a reputable manufacturer (e.g., Red Dragon, Purpleheart, Blackfencer, etc.) and is not a polearm or montante, it’s likely allowed. Myself and others earnestly consider this the “fuck around” event. This is a great place for someone who wants to compete, but is new to it. It’s great for someone who wants to try something unorthodox (e.g. hand axe and shield, sickle sword, dagger only).
But it’s the worst to judge. If singlestick tests your skill as a judge, the mixed synthetic tests the limits of your patience. First, you’ve got those people using rotellas and “heater” shields. They block your view, they usually drag matches on and on. Some people try to use them how the sources say and do so quite intelligently (yay!). Some people just pick them up and more or less improvise (boo!). Second, super odd combinations. Have you ever judged a match with a sickle sword vs a scimitar and rotella? I didn’t, thank god. A hooked sword reaching over a shield that you may or may not have vision of? Even with a self-call promoting ruleset, it’s a challenge. Third, the combination of shields and the less-seriousness of it seems to encourage some fencers to throw caution to the wind. I wouldn’t say it ruins fencers, but for some fencers it brings out the worst in them. For a couple matches, I had to remind fencer/s to proverbially chill the fuck out.
But the good of mixed synthetic. The real good fencers use this opportunity to bring nothing but a dagger into the ring. I believe it was started by Lars Johannes a while ago, and it caught on. Now there’s a metaphorical gang of fencers purposefully entering mixed synthetic matches with daggers (rondel or parrying dagger). At Icebreaker 2018, one of them won 3rd place in mixed synthetic with just a parrying dagger. Cameron Metcalf, I believe.
Overall, judging isn’t scary. Do more of it.
But a parting story. Above, you see a group of four Canadians from ... Manitoba I believe ... who came down to Icebreaker. They all fenced in multiple events, but generally didn’t go all out. Except for mixed steel. They used their skill with the rapier to earn all the medals for mixed steel. Everyone, including myself, admired them and was vicariously proud of their fencing skill. Longsword isn’t everything, and certainly shouldn’t be.
A thread on tournament rules that various folks outlined helped them bring out their best fencing
There are various suggestions, to check it all out go to the original thread here.
Some to be considered:
- Self-calling being the norm
“ In the Midwest US, both Icebreaker and Krump-Pow generally follow this as a philosophy, but implement it differently. I’ve judged for Icebreaker for several of their events (singlestick, LS, mixed synthetic). How it works is there is a judge in the ring, and a scorekeeper outside of the ring. The exchange begins, and at any time, the judge or either fencer may call halt. At this point, the fencers acknowledge if they believe they were hit, or acknowledge if they don’t know or their degree of uncertainty. At no point is a fencer permitted to call points in their own favor. If neither fencer knows what happened, the judge can say there was no score for that exchange, or if the judge is certain that something happened call the score for that exchange regardless. “
“ Icebreaker clearly states that self-calling is not only an expectation, but an *requirement* of the fencers to self-call. If a fencer says nothing and refuses to self-call, the judge still has final authority on what score is recorded by the scorekeeper. As far as I know, that hasn’t happened thus far. Also, I forgot, the scorekeeper also functions as a auxiliary judge if the judge wants a fourth opinion. “
- ‘The Critical Exchange’
“ In the very first exchange of a match (and only then), if a fighter scores a head or torso blow on their opponent, without doubling or receiving an afterblow, they score double the points from the target area.
So, a head strike under those pretenses would be worth 8 points instead of 4, and a torso hew or thrust would be worth 6 or 8, respectively.
This rewards a fighter for executing a fatal technique the very first time they come to blows. They don’t have time to feel out their opponent, exploit the rules, or metagame (except perhaps in the zufechten but that’s considered part of good technique). They also are not rewarded “critical exchange points” for lesser striking areas like limbs, insufficient force, or striking with the flat.
This improves fights by encouraging fencers to use martially valid techniques and utilize the skills surrounding the execution thereof, all before getting to know their opponent through further exchanges. “
- No takedowns (this one really stirred people up so do check it out)
The tl;dr version is that there are safety concerns so any tournament with takedowns should make that very clear and have a safety protocol surrounding it, and people shouldn’t apply if they do not have the appopriate skillset(breakfalls,control when throwing others etc.).
Secondly that maybe for beginners the no takedowns should be a standard but not for all tournaments overall since wrestling and fencing have historically been tied closely together in many systems.
- “Counting afterblows as valid hits.
Ergo: getting points deducted when being hit by the afterblow.”
It can help stop people rushing in without protecting themselves, it does however have it’s artefacts.
- “I rather like the fact that some tournaments now declare non-afterblow targets - for example afterblow after a solid hit to the head doesn’t really make sense. “
- “Distinguishing between 'safe’ and 'unsafe’ doubles.
'Safe’ ones being where the fighters tried to perform something that’s both an attack and a defense and were on the right general track,but failed in the end.
'Unsafe’ would be the rest.
This brings its own artifacts to the fight obviously but can push people towards attempting certain things that require a lot of skill.
At first you definitely don’t see much improvement,but later on I think it helps a lot,at least if you’re learning a system that finds simultanous attack and defense to be something to strive for(in comparison to parry-riposte,if the system you study is based around that I would actively advise against this type of rule).”
- ” One hit bouts with doubles being a double loss “
Quality thread on Facebook HEMA Alliance page (or was it HEMA International Discussion?). Anyway, that was me regarding self-callling and Icebreaker. Thanks for including it in the post!
With all this stuff going on with Tumblr killing blogs, including perfectly sfw ones, I wonder if people who want to see the stuff that I post will be able to see it. I have an Instagram (mat_that_guy_mikes_brother), if you're interested in that.
Who knows if they decide a dude swinging shit around isn't acceptable.
Sad thing is that Instagram limits the video length, and you can only post from mobile :/
First, sorry for train and traffic noises in the background. But, bonus good sword wind sound at the end.
Fundamentally, the rule says to deliver Tajos and Reveses towards the leg, entering the leg from that side, and end with the montante above your head with the point towards the ground to guard against returning strikes and from the shieldman from slipping in below.
Here, I am embellishing a little bit. In some instances, I’m stepping in and returning the leg. In two instances, I’m cutting around, as if there was someone behind as well. I’m also attempting to aim where the shin would be. I think it’s a little ambiguous what the author means by “leg”.
This rule is actually kind of fun to do, and really exercises your lower back and abdominal muscles.
I don’t think that I’m lowering the point enough and the ends of the Tajos and Reveses, though. Maybe the point should end at the level of my navel or so.
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“Firstly, the montante will be placed in the disciple’s right hand, standing in the middle of a hall, who makes a forward movement ahead with the montante, then passes the montante and his hand above his head, turning his face over his right shoulder in a manner that he comes to see the point of the montante with the right eye. Cutting with it, he runs a tajo, giving a step with the right foot in front, having placed the left hand on the pommel of the montante. Without moving the left foot, he makes tajos, which have to leave from his right shoulder. He also changes the montante to the left shoulder and makes reveses, taking the right foot back with steps toward the rear, and this has to be without moving the left foot. He will do this for eight days.”
Retrieved from SpanishSword.org (pdf, page 142/148, or 65v)
So, starting off with the montante, much of the advice within the Facebook “Montante Swordsmanship” group did not advise starting with Figuereydo (I’ll spell his name right someday), instead looking at the more straightforward sources.
Lo and behold, Viedma’s first rule is specifically designed for the beginner montantero, which he says to do “for eight days”. So, I practiced this rule for one hour each on eight separate days, and nothing else, when starting with the montante.
And, I like it. It teaches you a way to get the montante moving, and how to maintain a cut, how to change the direction of a cut, and at the most basic level how to hold a piece of ground while using a montante.
I love this rule, it’s simple and instructive, but you can add variances into it as well. You can change the directions that you send the Tajos and Reveses and the number you do before changing to really use it dynamically.
Also, I feel like I’m one of the few doing the opening this way. There may be others, but I don’t know them. Below is my reasoning for giving a one-handed thrust and swinging it above my head to deliver the first Tajo:
He says to use a singular hand when making the forward movement.
He says that only after passing your hand and the montante shall you place your other hand on the montante.
Even in the untranslated version, he clearly says “mano” (singular, hand) in those two places where elsewhere he uses “manos”.
In his third rule, (or second?), he says that the montante should come to rest on the shoulder at the end of rules, so I extend that to the beginning as well.
The “kickstart” from Figuereydo is not mentioned at all in Viedma’s three rules, but in the video I try it, and mechanically it seems to work just fine.
“2 He will also direct him to return to take the montante and make the same movement of increase, and passes it above his head, turning his face, that always has to look at the point of the montante, and to give a simple tajo until the montante ends on the left shoulder, giving a step forward, and from there, to give a reves, giving another step with the left foot. He will give four or five steps like this throwing tajos and reveses. He returns in the same manner to undo them, until returning to where he left, and from there changes the montante, throwing thrusts to one side and the other. After he does it, direct him to do this same double, which will be tajo and tajo, reves and reves, each set of two tajos or reveses fitting in one step, until he returns to where he left and makes the thrusts.”
Retrieved from here at SpanishSword.org
This is a huge rule, with a large difficulty gap between Viedma’s first rule and his second rule.
With my interpretation, I break it down into 6 parts:
The opening, with the one-handed thrust as mentioned in his first rule.
Tajos and Reveses, four or five times foward, then the same number backward.
You now return to where you began, and deliver one thrust per step four of five times, then the same number backward. (in this video, I accidentally do six, close enough)
(a) You are again where you began, and deliver a Tajo, and you turn your body in order to give a Tajo behind you in one movement. This is much like Viedma’s first rule, except the two Tajos are performed in one step. (b) Then, in one step, you perform two Reveses in one step, as you did the Tajos. (c) Do this four or five times, then do so backward.
5. You are again where you began. You deliver a thrust with a step, then turn the montante and your body behind yourself to thrust behind. Do this four or five times, then do so backward.
Fin.
After practicing this rule a ton over the months, I definitely feel that this rule is meant to:
Ingrain certain movements into muscle memory
Train how to cover oneself with Tajos, Reveses, and thrusts while moving in whichever direction you want
Teach how to cut and thrust in multiple directions without taking additional steps
Train stamina, jeez, this rule is tiring.
While thrusting in two directions, you can see that whenever I step, I make sure to thrust to the direction I step towards. If we’re imagining that there are people on either side, it seems much safer than stepping backwards without having the sword moving backwards as well.
While cutting in front and behind, it feels like there’s (at least) two options. I did both in the video. The first, which I do initially, is deliver a Reves or Tajo while twisting to move forwards again, then deliver the second Reves or Tajo behind me. The second, which I do while returning to where I started, is to deliver the Reves or Tajo while facing the same direction that I ended the previous Tajo or Reves. This is how I initially did it while practicing this rule, but I’m not a fan of it, as I would be leaving one side undefended, while delivering a Tajo and Reves to the same side without pause.
Restarted my education to finish my bachelor's degree
Started with a local Hema club (True Edge Academy)
Quit the local club because of limited time with the girlfriend and school obligations and not having a car changes things
Had several crises
BUT
The apartment complex has this neglected corner on their property. Note the abandoned mattress. I got the okay to use this area for practicing. Perfect for montante 🗡️🌪️
Practicing the montante. My favorite part of de Viedma's rule #2 for the montante is the thrusting part. Two thrusts to each side with every step. He may have been referring to "left and right" and not "front and back" side, but this seems more fluid and workable. #montante #zweihander #bidenhander #spadone #greatsword #hema #historicalfencing #historicaleuropeanmartialarts #fencing #centerforbladearts #deviedma (at Saint Paul, Minnesota)
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Back in January, I had these CRAZY goals for myself. Now, I self-grade myself based on my performance.
◀️ Short Term Goals ~1 month ▶️
✔️ Holy moly, fix these gloves. (Yep. Totally remade them, competed in them.)
✔️ Clear phone to record Midwinter Armizare II matches. (I made something that small a goal?)
✖️ Copy down four more pages of MS3227a / Dobringer. (Lol, I haven't done ANY of that.)
✖️ Land a one-handed off-side zwerchhau during the longsword portion of MWA2 using my super short feder (The opportunity didn't present itself, didn't attempt)
🔶 Disarm someone at MWA2 (Half credit. Wrested a rapier away from a guy at MWA2)
✔️ DO NOT BE DISARMED AT ALL during MWA2. This is a Fiore/Italian focused group hosting, I’m sure they’re itching to grapple (Did it!)
◀️ Longer term goals: (~3-6 month) ▶️
✔️ If I get accepted to the University of Utah, reach out to the HEMA people around there. (Done)
✖️ Copy down all of Dobringer (longsword and messer). (0/10)
✖️ Copy down all of Glasgow (messer). (Ditto)
🔶 Develop presentation for special event, present if accepted. Partial. (I got accepted to present a HEMA panel at an Anime Convention on the 25th!)
✔️ Work through Cutting with the Medieval Sword. (Halfway, but full credit since I had good performance at a cutting seminar)
🔶 Sell my excess HEMA shit Partial. (Got a little more to sell.)
◀️ Stretch goals: (may not happen, are extra credit) ▶️
✖️ Before leaving Minnesota, or September 1st, earn a medal during MWA2 or Icebreaker 3 or The Arnold if I can make it. (Didn't go to Arnold. No medals at Icebreaker or MWA. Obvious stretch goal)
✔️ Organize a cutting event locally. We should do more of that here. (Lol, someone else did that, and WAY BETTER than if I had done it. But I helped, so credit.)
✖️ Record myself working through Glasgow messer as a left-hander vs right-hander. (Nope. Pretty much done with regular sparring and such for the summer.)
✖️ Go to Geselle Fechten (may not happen because of move) (Ain't gonna happen)
🔶 Post more of my stuff on YouTube PENDING!
🔶 Do the April video challenge. Probably on the cool Dobringer stuff or messer stuff (or both??) PENDING! Also, it’s the May video challenge this year. Good news for me.
Not counting stretch goal failures against me, I have earned:
8.5 / 12, which is roughly 70.8%, which is like a C-Minus.
C's get degrees. If I put more effort and focus and discipline into this, I could have realistically achieved 11.5 / 12.
Most people quit most things. So it doesn’t really say anything about them. Maybe they got injured, maybe they got married, maybe they had kids, maybe they got a new job, whatever. There are a million things that can interfere with your ability to continue doing a hobby. Maybe you even just get bored with it and decide to move on.
The biggest mental attribute you need is the ability to avoid comparing your progress with other peoples progress. If you focus only on yourself then it’s much easier to just keep coming into the gym and working.
If you focus on the 14 year old who started training when he was 8 and is really hitting his stride now and everything seems easy for then you’re going to feel like shit for not improving faster.
Whenever I get frustrated by my lacklustre performance fencing that 20 year old that started about a year ago and is already kicking my arse, I will try to remember this piece of advice.
