Fencing in Oslo

So, for the first time in ages I am missing Summer Nationals. It kinda sucks, except for the fact that I am working in Oslo as a marketing intern for the summer. Eventually I will post pictures of where I am fencing here, but there won't be any competition based posts until well into the 2012-2013 season. 

Colorado Updates

It feels awful. I have been present at three mens/mixed epee events (Colorado Cups and Georgia Games) without fencing them. The first was a mistake. I was supposed to be in Vail skiing for Race & Case, but there was a last minute change of plans - so I coached a fencer to the medal round. The second two I was refereeing - which paid well and helped me earn a higher referee rating.

Last season I competed almost every weekend trying to re-earn my B or get an A. I always fell short by a couple touches in the necessary round. This year, the few competitions I fenced were difficult - and I am trying to get better. I am lighter and in better shape than last season, but my timing is a bit off, and the events in Colorado are less top heavy.

After reviewing my top ten goals for my life (last updated in 2005) on there is the goal of becoming a champion fencer, what ever that might mean. I don't think I have it that goal yet, and while being in graduate school it is difficult for me to pursue. I suppose I can try practicing more at the apartment, but I also need to carve out more time to study. There is a conflict between one thing that is very important to me and costs money, and another thing that is very important to me and in which I have already sunk a huge investment. These things shouldn't be in conflict, but I really like sleep too.

Aside: How to Live Life Part I

In business school you get a chance to see how the men are separated from the mice. How smart people react to bad grades depends on: a)if they had ever gotten bad grades before, b) if they have ever had anything bad happen to them worse than bad grades. I am a pretty smart guy and a and b have both happened to me. So I have a lot more perspective than some of my peers, and I am gonna share that here.

1. Commitments matter

In school, fencing, life - commitments are like currency. You use them as you see fit, and if those commitments are broken you feel like you were robbed. You should never make commitments in haste and without deliberation, and if you do make a commitment you consider it like you would a contract. If you make commitments and don't keep them, you are like the guy who tries to buy a subway sandwich with monopoly money.

2. Solve someone else's problem once in a while

Here at DU you are asked to do community service as part of class. You are meant to use your business skills to help the organization be better - which is a nice way of saying solve someone else's problem. I apply the same principles to helping a sexy bartender figure out how to use her bachelor's degree. I am not wedded to the outcome, but I put all my mental faculties to the solution just the same.

Fencing Foil at South Denver

I am not a foil fencer. I don't look like one.

I don't act like one. But if I can't beat my high school aged foil students in a tournament, I am gonna be in trouble. I ended up in 6th place (out of 17) in an in house tournament. Mostly because I like to attack, am annoyed when I am parried, and my response is to drive forward rather than recover-retreat-counterparry-counterriposte.

Hangover Open in Denver

First off, I had a decent New Year's Eve/New Year's with my roommates and their awesome friends. I have kinda lost interest in the idea of NYE as a drunkfest hookup time, especially since it is so hard to get home on New Years whether you drive, look fruitlessly for a cab, or take the train. Halloween is much better suited as the pickup holiday.

Even so, my roommates and their friends loved shots of cognac, so I was pretty sauced the next afternoon when I fenced epee with the few enterprising adults and many in shape and well behaved high schoolers of the DFC Hangover Open epee event. I didn't fence badly, but I didn't fence crisply or precisely. Again, it looks like I know what I am doing, but for the last six months or so I have felt off my game.

It's weird, I spend most of my evenings in the fencing club, but only a tiny percentage of that time is devoted to my own training. I give private lessons, teach classes, work in the armory, referee tournaments, but not much actual practice for myself. I like to think of myself as a competitive fencer, but it seems I am doing less and less to justify that title.