Fencing Club - The Salle, Monday After Classes

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Apologies for the lack of meeting last week. I was called away." He fell down a well. It was embarrassing. "This week we're starting with actual blades. I know some of you have used them before. Please use that experience to be extra careful with the more inexperienced members of the group. I have a range of swords available for you to choose from. Zayne, your weapon of choice isn't exactly practical for this session so I've prepared something more suitable but a step up from the wood. Azula, I promised you an Arming sword lesson. The sword on the end is yours.

Pair up. Take your time, respect your opponent and if you're hurt, alert either myself or Captain Algren immediately. The point of sparring with live weapons isn't to hurt your opponent, it's to practice movements and control."

Comments

Talky Stuff

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

As you do

Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

There are broadswords, long swords, fencing sabres, katanas, etc. (plus Azula's and Zayne's swords).

Re: Sparring

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah picked one of the broadswords, and grinned at its familiar weight from practice. Yes! Finally!

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Is this what you generally use when training with Arthur?"

Re: Sparring

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah looked up and brightened. "Hi! Yes, this is exactly the shape, and the weight's right too." She lifted it to shoulder-height, on guard, then nodded as it felt right, and steadied it.

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Good," he replied with a nod. "I remember you mentioning a katana as well. If you want to practice with that one week, there are a few available."

Re: Sparring

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o picked one of the broadswords that had the same weight and balance as the Sword of Omens. Still, he was a bit clumsy with it since he was used to a sword that magically covered for his mistakes.

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Good choice," Edmund complimented. "You have the upper body strength for a broadsword. If you work on your agility out of the salle, you'll find it easier to use."

Re: Sparring

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"Good idea," said Lion-o. "Agility could help me from feeling so awkward. I'm still trying to get used to the growth spurt I had over the summer."

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I'm still getting used to my own growth spurt from last year, so I understand. Focus on your footwork first. You'll find your upper body will be easier to manage once your feet know what they're doing."

Re: Sparring

[awesomebigsis.livejournal.com]

Ellie chose a fencing sabre because it seemed like the safest option to her. She was nervous about using an actual sword, but she wouldn't mind sparring with anyone.

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund could tell Ellie wasn't entirely comfortable and he made his way over. "You made a good choice of weapon," he told her. "If you can, pair up with one of the more experienced swordsmen...or women," he added awkwardly. "They can practice their control and you won't have to worry about hurting anyone. Is that what's bothering you?"

Re: Sparring

[awesomebigsis.livejournal.com]

Ellie nodded, feeling slightly awkward. "Yeah, that's definitely one of my bigger worries right now. Working with someone more experienced is a good plan."

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"I'd recommend Dinah or Emma," Edmund suggested. "They can work on their own skills while giving you a formidable opponent. If you want to address anything specific with your technique using the blade, tell me. I might be able to help. If not, know you will get better with practice. It's sort of like dancing."

Re: Sparring

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose wasn't nearly tall enough for a broadsword even if the strength wasn't a problem. She found a longsword that was short enough to stay balanced .

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"We can have a look at cutting swords later this week if you're interested," Edmund said quietly. "They might come in handy with your job."

Re: Sparring

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Is it a weapon?" Rose asked, giving Edmund a wink. "Then I'm interested."

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund smothered an eyeroll. "With cutting swords, only one side of the weapon is sharp. It's good training for situations where you won't have a sword on hand, but want to use something you have available like a sword anyway."

Re: Sparring

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

Zayne checked out his sword. It was basically just a weighted metal pole, but it felt pretty close to the real thing. Really, he just needed to adjust a little bit to the slight weight along the blade and it would be just like using a safe lightsaber.

Granted, it's not like Zayne was great with a lightsaber in the first place. Furthermore, he wasn't going to adjust that easily. But still, that was user error, not the fault of the blade. Really, Zayne was pretty happy.

And he was going to showcase that happiness by trying some katas with the sword until either he started to get a feel for it or somebody approached him.

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"How does it feel?" Edmund asked of the makeshift lightsaber.

Re: Sparring

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

"It's about as close to the real thing as possible," Zayne said with a smile. "Good work."

Re: Sparring

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Edmund nodded this thanks. "Do you get to spar with other lightsaber users much regularly?"

Talk to Edmund and Algren

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

Same as always!

Re: Talk to Edmund and Algren

[shiroi_tiger]

Algren was there, and now that the students were using actual weaponry, his eagle-eye was somehow more intense than it had been in all the meetings prior.

He'd brought his sword along as well, of course, but he was possibly too paranoid that somebody was going to do something stupid to make use of it, himself.

OOC

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

4 days to go until jetplaneness!