Things I learnt about myself from swordsmanship
Sword class last night was interesting; doing stress drills with Greg and pair drills with Anthony has made me realise some things:
1) I have a mean streak.
This is actually not something new, for after living with myself for 35 years, I’ve come to realise this long ago. I try surpress or rechannel this, and I *think* I come across an a generally nice person to most, albeit with a rather caustic tongue at times. No, what I discovered was that I can be quite vicious when I forget to be nice, and I’ve screwed up a few paired drills with Anthony because my response was to “win” rather than to yield.
2) When I get tired or winded, I get faster, and hit harder.
Perhaps deep down inside, I am a combat munchkin. Or perhaps Desperation Move is part of my genetic make-up. But I figure it’s probably because when I’m tired, I don’t tense up and my strikes become more economical and efficient, resulting in speed and power. (Although that flashing red Life Bar above my head is just so cool to visualise….)
3) I am sneaky.
Scored a hit on Greg using a short fendente cut as a feint, followed by a thrust to the face. I realise that I feint. A lot. I know I have a tell, and I have used it purposely on a few occasions to get the opponent to commit prematurely. But I suppose that this is actually a part of my mean streak ~ the ends justify the means ~ win or die.
4) Some of the defend-and-counter responses have worked their way into my muscle memory.
Not that I’ve been practicing in my free time, but maybe because I try to visualise the drills when I daydream - a sort of mental imaging, if you will.
Evaluations next week. Will probably take some time out to do some intensive revision with E-Lynn on sat night. Hope we don’t alarm the neighbours like the last time…. 
