Thursday night fencing

[j_v_lynch]

Gentle Readers,

I had a pretty good night last night. While it was unfortunate that no one
else was there, it was nice to be able to go over the class I'll be subbing
for on Saturday. We will be looking at managing distance and preventing your
opponent from success if he moves too close.

The sca practice that followed was also small, consisting of myself, lrt and
wilhelm. We got lots of fencing in and I was please at the improovement of
my opposition but I was still getting hit when I felt I shouldn't be. I am
pretty sure that the problem there is a sloppy recovery. I am recovering my
arm first and sometimes I don't move my body at all. I am really not sure
where this habit came from but it has got to go. Not only am I not removing
their target, but I am also giving them a moment to safely stab me.
Wilhelm had a pair of longswords so we did a bit of thrust-oriented play
(not cut and thrust) . I did ok against him but against lrt he would creep
in close, I would try to take the time with a thrust but he would withdraw
his body slightly to void and then thrust back in over my arms. I think that
to solve this I need to thrust from a safer position and keep moving. Not
pausing in distance as with the rapier.