Wednesday, December 29, 2010

JUST GOT EXCEPTED!!

to UConn Storrs! it's my first choice school it's got a fencing club that practices in a building called the armory, quite possibly the best engineering program around, it's close to home and come on it's just awesome so cheers I'm going to UConn Storrs!

I won't be able to help out coaching much at the high school. At best, I could help out over Christmas break, but that would be it. That's OK with me. I'll probably be to busy for that anyway. So yeah, I'm going to UConn!

weights

coach had the varsity squad try fencing with leg and arm weights today it impaired my fencing a little but mostly it messed up my lunges I ended up leaning a lot more than I lunged. it was different but sorta fun.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

the 12 days of fencemas

the 12 days of fencemas
On the first day of fencemas my coaches gave to me a solid gold electric foil.

On the second day of fencemas my coaches gave to me two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the third day of fencemas my coaches gabe to me three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the fourth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the fifth day of christmas my coaches gave to me FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the sixth day of christmas my coaches gave to me six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the seventh day of fencemas my coaches gave to me seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the eighth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a fryin', FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the Ninth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me nine armours arming, eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a fryin', FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the tenth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me ten shiny bells, nine aurmors arming, eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the eleventh day of christmas my coaches gave to me eleven bouts a winning, ten shiny bells, nine aurmorers arming, eight smelly socks, seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

On the twelfth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me twelve fencers fencing, eleven bouts a winning, ten shiny bells, nine aurmors arming, eight smelly socks, seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.

created by sara d and ashley (with help from mr.r)

so yeah this was created by the above listed teamates and coaches enjoy the laughs as much as I did =)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

hello from school again

well once again I'm posting from my fourth block class were I am listening to Christmas music annoying people who won't shut up and the rap music emanating from the i-pod of the guy sitting across from me that combined with the computer screen has once again given me a headache so here I sit wishing for silence and killing time by blogging.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

2nd family

well these are my teammates, except for Kylee who was getting her license the day we took this, also in the photo is our armorer/coach Ashly who wanted to be in the picture too. these people along with our coaches are my 2nd family, crazy as some of them might be that's what they are and that's what they will continue to be. I'm gonna miss them a lot when I go to college

Head Hurts

yeah I have an all day headache right now in fact I've had it since yesterday. The problem with headaches is it makes thinking about things much more difficult so after an effort in futility I have given up on my homework and settled on just writing a blog post which is several days over do.

Sunday we had a seminar with Bronwin's coach here at the high school he ran us through a bunch of drills we had never done before but otherwise we learned nothing from this guy. So yeah waste of 6 hours and 25 bucks. If the opportunity to learn from this guy ever comes up again I will definitely pass.

Monday I skipped practice to work on homework. which was a flop because of my headache, and the fact that the imminence of Christmas has made my senioritis even worse. I'm pretty sure I'm skipping practice today as well, if for no other reason then to get home and take some Tylenol.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Bitter Sweet Victory

well we won. honestly we kicked ass calling it just a win would be the understatement of the century. Bacon only won around four or five bouts and Waterford didn't win any. It just makes me want to say "okay we are here now you can just go home." it's pathetic I only lost one bout today (against Couper, which is not a surprise), oh and hey speaking of Couper minor shocker with him today Kevin beet him 5 to 2, did not see that coming at all I thought it was going to be a lot closer. and I got two bagels. that's the bittersweet part I kinda want the challenge the close bouts because otherwise it will feel almost anticlimactic but hey nothing I can do about the other schools standard skill level.

the girls won both there matches by forfeit but they still fenced and from what I hear they did well.

that reminds me we are doing a bagel contest this year (a bagel is a bout with a score of 5 to 0 or 15 to 0 although most of our bouts are just five touches) so far Tim and I both have two. not only that but three of our newbies Elizabeth, Dave, and new Pat all got bagels. very impressive given how little training they have had.

sources of frustration today included the usual, less then stellar ref's (this was seriously killing Austin) and equipment failures mercifully this time around the majority of the equipment problems belonged to Waterford, 3 of there JV had half dead lame's between that and the first year fencer reffing the JV and novice bouts, the JV squad had a very, very, frustrating day. so to them I extend my sympathy but nothing else seeing as they just need to learn to deal with it.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Four Horseman

that is what coach has been calling the guys varsity lately. for anyone who doesn't know the four horseman are four angels whose appearance on earth will herald the start of they apocalypse. just like the four angels we will descend upon our opponents and leave them devastated and destroyed. We are going to rule the ECC's you got that?!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

and the surprise was

Kevin's coach from RIFAC (Rhode island fencing academy) came down and gave all of us a lesson. now this guy is good, I mean he trains Olympic level fencers! so needless to say he gave all of us a lot to work on so it looks like were gonna be better then ever! hell coach says he saw improvement just between the beginning and end of practice!

also semi related side notes, fencing shoes came in yesterday and even though they are only the decant fencing shoes the difference between these and the shoes I've been using is so amazingly obvious I can't believe I wasn't using these sooner! what the hell was I thinking?! anyway they have much better grip except that we fence in the cafe which is disgusting I had to keep wiping my shoes on my socks to get the dirt and whatever else off of them by the end of practice my socks were half white and half black. disgusting

still waiting on the foil grips and blade bag but since I need to have at least one foil by Saturday (my one surviving old foil is being repaired by Bronwin's fencing coach because our armorer had no clue what to make of the damn thing) I asked coach to lend me one of his grips (same style) so I could cut the tang of my new blade to the right length which I did. however I don't feel confident about setting up the electric part so I left that for Armorer Ashly to do tomorrow, which should take all of 10 seconds.

Final note Dru, Zack, and Ben all need to try talking less, as in much, much less, and they need to learn that not everything they say needs to be a joke. jokes are like seasoning guys if you go overboard with them then it just ruins everything.

Monday, December 13, 2010

suprise has been delayed

until Wednesday, so we did weight training instead which was different. Also we seem to be getting more attention. now we have another female fencer and two girls who are considering joining and a third who is an exchange studant is also thinking about it.

who would have thought a few flyers would get this much attention?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

surprise tommorow

no idea what is in store for us but coach has something up his sleeve for Monday. all he told us is that he wants us in full gear by the time the bell rings, that means electric gear, cups the whole shebang no idea why and I don't have the slightest clue what to expect but there you go that's coach for you.

oh yeah I'm signed up for a tournament on the 2nd of January USFA again no clue how good or bad I'll do but It's gonna be a awesome either way =D

Oh yeah I just have to say this. I don't want to sound cocky but it really feels like we are gonna do this, the ECC's I mean it just feels like everything is falling into place like everything is working in our favor.

last year we had some incidents with the varsity squad not being set and that messing a few things up, then Timmy went into a tail spin and crashed and burned on us fallowed by Kevin going to the junior Olympics (the last is not something I hold a grudge against, it is just a fact)

stuff just kept getting in the way but this year feels right! I think we can really do this! Hell with this years Team we could even take states! Here we go this is the beginning, this is the adrenaline, this is the feeling that makes me stand with my back straight facing all the crap the world can through at me,this is the sensation that makes living the greatest privilege, this is what it's all about, this is what I love, sometimes I swear I could live off nothing but this sensation, man it is ecstasy there is nothing better! nothing! I swear it feels like I could take on the world single handed

so stand back and watch, the real me is about to be set loose on the world, and I swear it feels like there is nothing I can't do!

Varsity Invitational

our guys JV placed 9th out of 16 schools at the varsity invitational today. 9th and they were fencing other schools varsity!

oh yeah I should explain today the actual varsity squad sat back and observed too scope out the competition while the JV were getting some experience against other schools varsity squads, this also has the added bonus of not giving the other schools the chance to observe us. they JV did pretty Damn well. I mean 9 out of 16 considering they are JV and were up against varsity really good. in edition we collected a sizable amount of intell on our adversaries and are confident in our ability to utterly destroy almost everyone. seems like the toughest school will be Bacon who we will square of against in our very first meet next Saturday.

oh yeah Kevin had the awesome idea of everyone dressing up and looking real sharp today here is a pick of the coach, varsity squad and Cooper who jumped into the picture, from left to right, yours truly, Austin, Coach Floyd, Kevin, Coopers head, and Tim who didn't bring sunglasses, which makes him a failure.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Doctor Who

finally finished watching Doctor Who season 5, AMAZING!

few problems with the plot. such as, three Daleks come out of nowhere and revive five shiny new Daleks and yet we never found out what happened to the last of the cult of scarrow. or where these three came from and from the way the doctor talked the last of the cult of scarow won't be making another appearance.

the cyber men come back, again out of nowhere, when they should by all rights be gone for good.

the plastic Romans without a living plastic whatever they were called.

oh and one last thought even with a gravity bubble I'm not sure those WWII planes would have been able to fly into outer space. they would need air flow over the wings in order to move forward which given the nature of that bubble might not be possible. David any thoughts?

now we have no idea if those Daleks/cybermen even survived the end of the universe
I think it's time the BBC moved on they have beaten the Daleks and Cyberman to death introduce new villains start fresh if they keep this up they will only disgrace the many awesome episodes that revolved around the Daleks up until now.

I'm willing to cut the BBC some slack since this is the first season that didn't flow well, but they need to get it together,

also I want the Doctor's Daughter to get another guest appearance

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Dealing with A-holes

Richard (last name omitted for the simple fact that it is my policy not to use last names on my blog) although anyone from my school will know who I'm talking about if I say pickle boy.

anyway

Richard decided to make an ASS of himself today (not a task he finds particularly difficult). now on a normal day I don't see or talk to this piece of shit. but today I happened to pass him in the hallway on my way to the cafe. I had my Letterman Jacket draped over my shoulder with the words (school name) Fencing embroidered on the back were facing out. as he passed me in the hallway he asked "hey why is fencing on that jacket?" not understanding why he was asking such a stupid question I replied "because fencing is my sport." his answer was "that's what I mean fencing isn't a sport." he kept right on walking down the hallway so that I had to yell at his back "yes it is you piece of shit!"

WHAT THE HELL! I was just minding my own business and he goes out of his way to piss me off! I don't even really know this guy!

why am I bitching about this here? because If i talked about it on facebook my coach would tell me to ignore stupid people, my aunt's and uncles would tell me to let it go and some people might just say I was making a mountain out of a mole hill while others would just agree the guy is an A-hole. since I just need to vent and not get preached at for venting I decided this belonged here. besides it's related to fencing and it's one of those things I call insanity.

oh completely unrelated but positive note Sarah D. (from now on If I say Sarah it means Sarah D. since Sarah W. quite this year) found another girl for the team so it looks like we are in the clear for now.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

No Girls Varsity

our girls varsity squad just lost one of it's fencers and seeing as we have no alternates wee no longer have a girls varsity squad.

Captain Erin will no longer be fencing for reasons undeclared, A.K.A. non of our business. However we suspect it has something to do with her legs (that was the major problem last year)

so help me spread the word there is an instant varsity letter waiting for any girl willing to fence. WE ARE DESPERATE!!!!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I'm on the squad

the varsity squad will be Kevin Austin Tim and yours truly in no particular order. but seeing as we are supposed to meld as a team all I'll say in regards to that is that I did not come in fourth this year =)

The substitute fencers are in this order Zack and Patrick. additionally Colin will be serving as a third substitute, the subs will be practicing with the varsity squad partly so that we can whip Colin and Zack into tip top shape for next year.

I'll refrain from further comment until a later date as I don't want to give away anything Important ;)

now I need to go and order some equipment mainly fencing shoes and a couple of new grips.

Monday, December 6, 2010

guess I'm in

I only lost to Austin by one point don't even remember the other scores. I know I beet Colon and Ben but I also know I was fencing below my ability and that part of it annoys the hell out of me. these varsity bouts have just been to much stress for all of us (the stress takes all the fun out of it) I'm honestly glad to be done with these varsity bouts.

but like the title says I did well over all so I think I'm in but enough about that I'm tired and need some rest.

think

Sunday, December 5, 2010

I think I'm in

I've done well in all my bouts so far and I have definitely proved that I'm on level with Tim, the only other favorite for the actual varsity squad left for me to fence is Austin the other two I have yet to fence are Ben and Colon both are aiming for the substitute spots. Colon is supposed to be my first bout on Monday. I'm really looking forward to that bout but first things first and the first thing is healing my back.

see I have this nasty habit of leaning forward when I lunge and I strained my back on Friday because of it. so this weekend I'm taking it easy. rest and recuperation you know?

now something interesting that was brought to my attention recently is that my style has done a 180. when I first started fencing I took things slowly played defencive and waited for the opponent to make there move. then took the parry repost. but lately my style has changed, shifted away from defence and moved more towards offence. this has met with mixed results my forte is still defence so switching to offence has proven a little difficult, but I'm improving and this change is not without reason Tim's style has gotten far more defencive lately stepping away from offence entirely. so in order for the bout I fence against him to progress at all I've had to just go for it.

not only that but at the USFA tournaments I've gone to, even though I haven't gone to many yet, I've noticed more and more that the top fencers fight offensively. Sure they need to know defence and man are they good at that as well but they have this drive to go after the touch that's what makes them the best they want it so much they can't sit still and wait for it to come to them, they make there own openings create there own chances, if I want to improve I need to be like that.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Varsity Bout Update!

lost to Kevin 15 to 9
beet Dru 15 to 2
beet Patrick 15 to 5

Varsity bouts!

OK so the battle for the four primary and two substitute varsity spots started yesterday and I didn't post because I was mentally exhausted and could barely form a complete sentence.

so I got to practice and coach tells me he fixed my blade. I get on the strip for my first 15 touch bout against Zack and it doesn't work, Yellow Card. score five points my back up blade breaks in half. two yellow cards which means red card which means Zack gets a point, lots of running around change body cord from bayonet too two prong type the body cord so I can use the blade I borrowed from coach, body cord doesn't work, another yellow card Zack gets another point. finally get all the necessary pieces of equipment am not at all in the zone and I start fencing again. I won 15 to 10 and Zack scored 8 touches. not to bad considering it took me a minute to get back in the zone after all my stuff breaking.

my next bout was against Tim who is by far my favorite person to fence don't know why but fencing Tim brings out my best never understood why.... Anyway I get out there and I'm doing less than stellar. at one point Tim was winning 13 to 8

then I noticed something. every other or every third time I did a retreat he looked down at the floor his eyes stoped looking at me entirely!! so then it was game on again! I would advance until I was just about in range then retreat a half step and watch his eyes and when they flicked down to the floor BOOM! ADVANCE LUNGE! Haha I kept doing that until the score was 14 to 13 Tim was still winning at that point.

anyway I am so fixed on what I'm doing that I don't even look at the clock, it's a fatal flaw of mine. anyway Tim caught sight of the clock out of the corner of his eye and realized there was almost no time left so he played on that and just kept baking up making sure to make it seem natural. I didn't pick up on it at all so I keep looking for an opportunity to attack but nothing was showing up and then bzzzz time was up bout over. so I lost by a point because I wasn't watching the clock. but I'm not upset it was a great bout and I fenced at my absolute best so I'm not upset. actually I was really happy even when I realized what had happened.

It looks the varsity bouts will take 3 or more days to finish but that's OK after my bout with Tim I am feeling more confident.

finale note for yesterday has nothing to do with me actually it's about Colin last year he fenced JV and this year he had his sights set on one of the two varsity substitute spots he also has his hopes pined on becoming captain this next year well he fenced rather porelly yesterday and was really feeling depressed several of us tryd to cheer him up but no luck well apparently when he got home yesterday he practiced every move he new until 10 or 10:30 that's the kind of dedication you normally only see in a manga. I have to say I'm damn impressed with Colin's response to all of this and I can't wait to fence him.