Uni Blog October 2007
My first fencing session was due to be a week after I arrived here at uni. Well that was the plan, but like some plans have a habit of doing this one went out the window.
Due to a communications error we turned up at the venue to find out that we couldn’t fence as we weren’t due to start until the following week. In true fencing style we went to the pub instead.
We were there about 3 hours and as far as I could tell only one round of drinks was bought and they were all non alcoholic. I put that down to the fact that a lot of them were health conscious athletes / driving / penniless students.
I think some of my club mates back home would be horrified if a totally non alcoholic round was bought! The upshot of the evening was that I was asked to join the team for the BUSA fight against Swansea the following Wednesday (I must have talked a good fight.)
It is a Tuesday (the 16th I think) and my lecture finished half an hour before I had to meet for fencing. I don’t have any of my kit with me other than my glove as its all back at my halls and I don’t have time to go and get it... Once we had warmed up and been split into teaching groups we spent the best part of an hour doing foot work, at least it felt that way. Bearing in mind that everybody in my group has been fencing for a year or more we were using foils and being taught how to parry carte. It turns out that most of the people in the group are sabre or foil people.
The emphasis in training is foot work, foot work and more foot work (I know that’s what you are always telling us Fitz!) I might even have good foot work by the time I come back for the Christmas break, assuming I am still able to walk as a result of it.
They are letting me fence Epee now which is great as everybody knows that is by far my best weapon.
We are at home to Cardiff on Wednesday (November 14th) for our next BUSA match, which I intend to be a part of. Hopefully we can win this one, the others have been lost by really close margins. The last against Aberystywth was drawn on overall points but they beat us due to the number of weapons we lost (two against one rather than actual weapons mislaid you understand)
I had better get in some more practice... Where’s that weapon?
X
Emar
Uni Blog November 2007
I am back for a bit then off to my last lecture and then straight to fencing, so whilst I have a bit of time...
Yesterday was a home match against Cardiff. I was there in good time, but was told that I would be the reserve. The first weapon was foil, and it didn't start to badly considering it is our weakest weapon and supposedly Cardiff’s strongest. It was a really close match with some good fencing by our girls and some great fencing by Cardiff's all-rounder. Cardiff won but not by much.
Sabre was next. We started well and worked up a pretty good lead, at one point we were 9 point in front or something like that. It looked like we might win quite comfortably and then Cardiff pulled right back into the match. From then on in it was a very close run thing. We eventually one the match but again only by a few points.
After two weapons we were drawn on points and weapons won so it was all down to epee.
This match was even more swings and roundabouts than the previous two with both teams being in front and then behind. It was the last bout and we needed 5 points to win and Cardiff needed 9 (or 11 I don't remember which.) It was nerve racking to watch but in the end we just eased ahead. The final total score was Southampton 133 and Cardiff 128.
I haven't finished yet, I want to write a bit about the pub crawl social post-match discussion last night as well, but that will follow as I have to go back to lectures now.
Having watched our match come to a very exciting conclusion, I went with the girls to find lunch and go to the pub for an hour before the guys matches began. I could only stay to watch the foil match, but it was fantastic fun.
The guys were fencing Reading and were determined to win. Anyway much banter was being exchanged mainly because the nick names of some of the Reading team were Fluffy, Darling and Cuddles, need I say more.
Back to the foil match, It started slowly, actually very slowly. I think after the first two periods the score was 6 - 4, to Reading (I think). But then the Frenchman came on, he was probably born with a sword in his hand. Well, what can I say, I have never seen anything like it. How does somebody move that fast and manage to get their arm to do what his did. It was amazing to watch. I completely lost track of the score after that I just couldn't keep up. The upshot was they guys won the foil pretty comfortably, I think it was about a 15 point lead. I couldn't watch the rest of the match, but the guys won, so it was a good day for both of the Southampton teams.
We had a social planned for the evening anyway, but we had even more of a reason to have a good time and celebrate. The idea was to go on a pub crawl consisting of 4 pubs and to drink lots of alcohol. The senior members of the teams were also picking nicknames for the team members that didn't have one. As there are only two 1st years on the teams, namely me and one other, we were going to carry on the existing nick names of Senior Fag and Junior Fag. As I am one of the oldest in the team (!) I am now 'Senior Fag', they however found an alternative nick name for the other guy, which I can't remember off-hand. The Junior Fag name is going to a guy that is not on the team but is going to the BUSA individuals, which incidentally is the same weekend as the Kent Team Epee.
The pub crawl went well and at one point we were playing the game 'I have never', which is where somebody suggests something that they have never done and others drink if they have done it. I will not say any more, but I am sure you can imagine what was said.
The favourite pub of the whole night was called The Hobbit, it was great as it sells cocktails with names like, Frodo, Lelolas and Gandalf, and they all seemed to be pints. It had a really great atmosphere. A good night was had by all, despite the fact that some of us decided it would be a good idea to do the half hour walk back to halls in the freezing cold...
Until the next time
X
Emar
Uni Blog November 2007
Its Wednesday again, I don't have any lab work so it must mean there is a home match for the women’s fencing team.
Again I am due to be reserve, though I am hoping that I will get to fence. I am up early well fairly early) all bright eyed and bushy tailed so I can do work before the match, then the text come in...
Exeter can't make it, so there is no match!... How disappointing is that?!!! It means we get a walk over i.e. we win 135/0 but it is not very satisfying. I will console myself by going to watch the men fence, they are also fencing at home, but to Surrey.
We all turned up in good time for the match, so much messing around and general having a laugh was being had. Some of the guys decided that their warm up was to throw a medicine ball to each other, its probably a good thing that I was one of the cheerleading guys and not those actually fencing. Five minutes before the match was due to start they opposition still hadn't arrived, so we sent search parties out but to no avail, they could not be found and were not picking up any of their phones. After waiting for an hour just in case they turned up, we left and went to the pub. Another victory for Southampton fencing team with out a sword being crossed.
Apparently if a team gives away a walkover they are not allowed in the playoffs, which apparently means that both the Southampton teams have a real chance of going up to the next division, which must be a good thing.
At least I have the BUSA individuals next weekend, which should be good.
X
Emar
Uni Blog December 2007
It’s the week before uni finishes and I am off with the rest of the fencing teams and a few others to the BUSA individuals. For those that don’t know, it is the inter-university individual’s competition, which was being held in Nottingham.
The drive up was an experience as the drink started flowing almost as soon as we left which meant that we stopped at almost every service station on the way there. A new game was also invented (or perhaps discovered), Pen wars! This involved water soluble pens of various colours and rather inebriated people (not that I was one of those).
Our hotel was pretty much in the centre of Nottingham and wasn’t too bad at all.
I wasn’t fencing until the Saturday, but that didn’t stop me from being up at some silly time in the morning on the Friday so that I could go to breakfast and join the others in the mini bus in order to be a cheerleader.
It was men’s epee and women’s sabre and they all did pretty well considering that some of guys have done very little in the way of competition fencing if any at all.
That evening we went out for Indian then on to pub in true fencing style. Quite a few of the group went to a night club, but there were a fair few of us that didn’t have the right attire to get in (myself included)... such a shame!
Saturday...Hmmm the nerves set in as soon as we got up; it was not helped by the fact that I only got four hours sleep because I was too hyper to sleep so kept my roommate up talking.
Anyway waiting around at after check in was horrid but eventually we got going. I lost my first poule fight and I think a lot of that was due to nerves. I did win against a left handed lass, it’s strange but most of the time I don’t realise they are left handed until after the fight. I ended up with two wins and three losses (2 up - 3 down in the parlance) and was seeded 53rd after the poules. By the time the DE’s were announced I was pretty hyper and bouncing all over the place, watching my team mates in the men’s foil.
There was no cut so we fenced an incomplete 128, and I was drawn against the left hander that I beat in the poules. It started well and I was quite a few points up and thought that I would win comfortably.
As soon as I thought that she decided to start moving and clawed back a fair few points with some excellent fencing. The end score was closer than I thought it would be at the start, being 15-10 to me. So I won my first DE and was happy. The next was not good. I was seeded against the girl who was seeded 14th after the poules. All I can say was that it was short and very hard work, my hyperactive state had suddenly gone taking my energy with it. Needless to say I lost that fight 15-1, which I was not to upset about as I didn’t expect to get that far at all. Overall I ended up 53th, which for a first competition was a great result.
I have some friends at Nottingham Uni and they popped in to see me whilst the men’s last 16 or 8 matches were going on (I don’t remember which) and we got to see the Frenchman fence foil. It was so exciting to watch. At the end of time the score was 14-14 and the last 5 hits had all been scored in as many seconds. Unfortunately in the extra time the Frenchman just lost out, but it was a good match none the less. My friends were really impressed and enjoyed it immensely. I wonder if I may have converted them to fencing.
Sunday was much the same as Friday as I was being cheerleader again. It was women’s foil and men’s sabre. The highlight of the day was watching the Frenchman fencing sabre, as he really wasn’t sure what the rules were. As a result he got told off for crossing his feet a few times, though not in the same match. I think he got knocked out in the last 16, but am not sure on that.
The journey home was very like the journey there, drinking started as soon as we left and pen wars also commenced, though not to the same extent as before. It was a really good weekend but I was glad to be back at halls at the end of it.
X
Emar
Uni Blog February 2008
THe Slough Open
Saturday February 2nd - Women’s epee
It didn’t bode well when the fire alarm at the hotel we were staying in went off at 4am, especially as we were to be up two hours later.
Being up at silly o’clock in the morning in order to find breakfast and be at the venue for when check in opened was fun! Anyway we arrived in good time and managed to find somewhere to stow gear that enabled us to watch the fencing.
The poule’s were announced, mine was one of seven. It was eventful, not least because I was plagued with weapon problems.
My relatively new weapon (brought just before I started at uni) stopped working completely and the other’s tip was illegally light. As the web monkey rushed it off to queue at the armourers to get it fixed, I nearly had to concede the fight but was saved by the lovely Harrowgate fencer in my poule, who lent me a pistol grip for the match.
The match proceeded, and I lost, partly due to an unfamiliar weapon (we all know I don’t like pistol grips) but mostly due to the superior fencing of my opponent. My weapon came back from the armourers and lasted one match before it had to go back with the exact same fault.
In the end half of my 6 fights were done with a borrowed weapon. Despite trying my best I only won one fight and that was against the only left hander in the poule.
After the poule’s they made a cut at 70, so I missed out on the DE’s as I was ranked 81st out of the 87 competitors. I didn’t come last, which is all I wanted, so was happy especially when I found out that 5 of the others in my poule were in the top 100, and one of them was the No.3. Both weapons went to the armourers before we left and both were fixed.
Sunday February 3rd 2008 – Men’s epee
I am back at the venue, with kit in-tow, but this time I am not fencing, I am being cheerleader and photographer to Team Bexley. The boy’s are in separate poule’s but their pistes are close enough to each other that I can pretty much watch them all at once.
There was a bit of drama in The Good Doctor’s poule as both his weapons stopped working at the same time. He ended up using mine as the only other person who had a French grip weapon was The Competition Fencer and he was using it at the time.
As I was getting his fixed, he used mine to good effect getting in to the next round. I think the web monkey caused a few problems in his poule, him being a leftie and all, however neither he nor captain Kev made the cut to the next round though valiant efforts were made by both, they came a respectable 98 and 101.
Both The Doctor and The Competition Fencer made it to the next round. The Doctor switched back to his own weapons (after saying how well he was fencing with mine) and promptly knocked himself out, whether he had jinxed it, is any ones guess. 78th is a respectable position.
The Competition Fencer made it into the second round of DE’s however after a truly exciting match exited the competition in 43rd position. A good day was had by all with a great effort on everybody’s part.
X
Emar
