More Fencing

     So today actually went okay. We fenced cadet and I was extremely nervous.  Usually men’s foil events are the first event and are super early. BUT NOT TODAY!!!! Our event started at noon and I am so happy. But, we didn’t sleep in because our teammate Alexander was fencing Y10 so we went to support him. I am actually extremely jealous of this child. He bought a blue blade. I have always wanted a blue blade but my teammates said they would make fun of me.

     Anyway, today we fenced cadet and it was pretty hard. My head wasn’t in pools at all and I went 3-3. Out of all the fencers in our event, our bracket end up working out that I was gonna fence Sean and whoever won fenced Cole. Sean hurt his leg in pools and took a medical withdrawal. This means I was forced to fence my teammate Cole. We have been back and forth for years and I hate fencing him.

     He got up like 9-3 and I thought I was screwed. But then I just got my shit together and brought it back 15-9 and won. After that I won another bout that wasn’t that bad. Last weekend i was in Kansas City and fenced cadet. I lost to this guy 5-0 in pools and today he beat me 12-11 in over time. I am very bitter. He was 17 so I think I did fairly well. So that was the round of 16 so I think I got 9th again…ugh.

     Us boys are so sore that we just came home ordered a pizza and all just laid down. We are now in the basement listening to music as Cole and Sean play Pokemon on Cole’s Gameboy color. I think they have homework too, but screw that right? We are all in so much pain, as I said before. We all have attempted to go back up stairs but failed. This shouldn’t be surprising. Sean can barely move his leg. To be honest, I am also completely half-assing this assignment. I probably need more sleep. But guess who does’t get to sleep in? ME1 This is due to the fact that I have to get a plane tomorrow in time to make it to fourth period.

     I don’t think I have mentioned Dima on my blog. Dina is a really good friend of mine who is a badass fencer. Just so you know, his name comes from his real name, Daniel Makogan. My sisters want to have kids and name them Dimu for Daniel Murrin. Whenever I fence, my sister tells me to release my inner Dimu..so thats interesting. Speaking of my sisters, Bree called me this week and gave me a two hour rant about terrorists. I am assuming this was triggered by the recent incident with Paris. I apologize, this blog post is literally all over the place, but I am half asleep so whatever.

Heres a photo from today :)

Denver!

     “I hate the tags on clothes, they should just stamp their products,” -Elaine.  I am currently in Denver for an SYC event for fencing. Shocker right? Anyways,I am writing this on Saturday night and today we had Y14.  I think I may have briefly explain this before, but I am going to do it again. Fencing is based on age and skill. So there are Y08, Y10, Y12, Y14, Cadet and junior. Cadet is 17 year olds and younger. Junior is 19 year olds and younger. Then there are Div 1, Div 2, and Div 3. These events are based on rating. In the world of fencing you are ranked with a letter. So A-E and then unrated. It is very difficult to get rated, especially in Utah. To put things in perspective, only ten percent of fencers are rated and only one percent are A’s.

     Being this as it may, I am an E. To most people that is pretty good, but I have been so close to my D so many times that it has become frustrating. (insert Sean’s bitch face here) So ANYWAYS, today i fenced Y14, It went actually really well. I was 5-1 after pools and then ended up getting 9th over all. I just remembered as I typed that that most people don’t know how these tournaments work.

     The first part of the event is pools. Basically, you are put in a group of people. This group is usually anywhere from 4-9 people depending on how ny people are in the event. This group is called your pool. You fence everyone in your pool, each to 5 points. Each match, or bout, has a 3 minute limit. So today in Y14 I went 5-1. This means I got 5 wins and 1 loss. This section of the tournament helps set up an elimination bracket. This is your standard single elimination bracket. These bouts go to 15 points.These matches have three three minute sections. In between each section is a minute break where coaches can talk with the fencer, and the fencer can get water, eat, wipe sweat, etc. We call these matches Direct Eliminations or DE’s. It may not seem so, but a lot can change within 15 touches. The match evolves so much in that amount of time.

     Tomorrow I am fencing Cadet and to be honest, I am extremely nervous. Thes guys will be smarter, and faster. Besides that, they stop pulling bullshit that younger kids pull. For example, today, I hit a kid and ran into hi and he pulled what I call a soccer player. This means he acts like he’s in  lot of pain. when in all reality he can fence fine. They do this in order to make their opponent feel bad and make them unfocused. My coach told me to kept fencing. “No mercy, he’s faking it,” as she said. Anyway, I am super tired and super nervous for tomorrows fencing. I will upload a post tomorrow to let you know what happens in cadet.

I will update soon.

And btw, heres a picture of us today waiting for DE’s to start.

First Part of the Trip

     I am currently in Kansas City, Missouri.  There are only a few things that draw me to the South. Those are barbecue, sweet tea, and of course, fencing. So as I said, I am in Kansas City at a national event. Fencing is very weird compared to other sports for many reasons. But one of the biggest reasons has to be the tournament structure. In football, track, or soccer, winning State may be a huge deal. In fencing, its like ehh, go when nationals and then you will be good.  This means that most people assume you are super good when you say you are going to nationals. But, this doesn't always have to be the case.

     Ir is currently 8:30 on Thursday night. Before tournaments, we have to have our gear checked. For those of you who are not aware, fencing gear consists of many wires and circuits that allow us to know when a person hits on target.  The unfortunate part about this system is that it breaks....often.  Before competition, you have to have your gear inspected to make sure everything is working properly. This process doesn't take very long but usually the lines are horrendous. Knowing that tomorrow morning my event starts at 8, I will get there at 7 as to allow time for warming up. If I was going to check gear I would have to go even earlier. So instead, Dean and I decided to try to go tonight before it closes (6:00). Our flight landed at about 4:10, and we left the airport in a Super Shuttle at about 4:45. Believe it or not, we did in fact make it to the venue at 5:55 and I successfully had everything pass. Thank god!

     It is kinda strange how this system works, coaches and students cannot sleep in the same room together if they are of the opposite sex. Being that my coach is a woman, I cannot share a hotel room with her. My teammate Cole has family in Kansas City who have offered to\ let people stay at their house.  Their house is about forty five minutes away from the venus and I do not wanna leave the house at six before I fence. This means I had to get a hotel room near the venue, but couldn’t share a room with Elaine. Conveniently, my friend Marissa and her coach Dean were also going to Kansas City. after a while we decided to have Marissa’ stay with Cole, his family, and Elaine at their friends house while Dean and I shared a room in the city.  This ended up working perfectly because the Marriot we picked was literally three minute walking distance from my hotel room. This, with trust from Dean, allowed me to pretty much go to the venue whenever I wanted.  An come back and shower whenever I wanted also.

          Anyway I am really nervous for tomorrow because I am fencing Cadet. some fencing events are based on age and Cadet is the same as 16 year olds and younger. This is one age group above mine, 14 year olds and younger. These guys will be extremely good and I am proud to be killed by them.

Heres a picture I took on the plane :)