Sparring day

Our country flag.



Just to remember that our sweat, energy burnt is all for a great cause!



Today, for sabre:
Y, Ie, Az, and I turned up for a session of 5 point sparring matches. each person stays on the piste to play 2 players in a rpw.

For foil: A, D and Bz. They played 10 points i think, with one person staying to play 2 games before a change.

so what happen? what worked today?
The whole week was all about reaction and accuracy at targeting the finer areas of the forearm.
well... it started off well. i got some great points from new techniques but that only lasted for a few games.. then my focus went off for a bit... and also when my wrist started to tire... I need to be more consistent! Preparation was fine.. need to finish better especially after leading them to the end of piste.

Another poster that is put up at the fencing hall. We r very proud to be poster boys! our coaches especially are happy that our successful moment is used to highlight the theme of solidarity coz.. thats how we did it last: PURE TEAMWORK! Spirit!

Training: Lessons

Usually thursday is for gym or cross training but as this is the fasting month, we r just getting fencing lessons. only Y, Z and I today... so we finshed training early.

Warm up, relaxed footwork. Then we spent a lot of time on hand work technique.
The attack with step forward

Focus is on reaction, rhythm of the hit and the accuracy. the target is the forearm.
oh.. not forgeting the slicing! oh.. that reallt gve my wrists the workout!

long term Objective: Must improve my wrist side ways movement strength..whatever it is..

And at the end, a motivating talk by our coach. About keeping our dreams and remembering our goals 2011 in Indonesia. Keep our heads up, we r moving in the right direction. have faith and keep training.

The first post. "Why?"

I'm a left handed sabreur. And I play music as well, just not the violin. I'm a bassist now, converted from a guitarist. Just like how for the first years of fencing, I was a foilist. Anyway..

Perhaps, a little bit of history is needed here:

• Started fencing quite late at 17 in Shrewsbury school in UK. Played foil, went for some competitions, but really this was all pretty casual training. I didnt even what fencing was until i stepped into the fencing gym. It was winter season, and they only had rugby and no football, so i had to do something else. Who would have thought that i would have fencing in my blood! two years here...
  
• I fenced at Newcastle uni as well. Started to be competitive in uni and open competitions. most memorable was gettin the team to the premiership in 2003. This is where i started to learn more about footwork and tactics and all, plus how to train and compete while being intoxicated!
• My sister mentioned to me tht theres fencing in Brunei at the stadium. So i went for a peek and next thing you know, im training regularly and i get to join some more competitions!
• Over the years, this is where i have been training. Also where i started to learn about Fitness (strength, general, etc), mental training, better technique.. and other related stuff. All at the Fencing hall with my indonesian and local coach. There were competitions abroad as well and that did help in gaining exposure but not as go
  
• It took a while, a few years, 4-5 in fact (actually 8 years including all that casual fencing period) before i won medals that is worth mentioning about. 2 team bronze...in S.E.A regional events, y see if its not a regional event, its not worth much in the eyes of the people 'above'. So i only consider these two.
  
• so there is a progression here and i know that im going somewhere... when will my breakthrough in Individual events come?

There were competitions abroad as well and that did help in gaining exposure but not as good as when we went to China for a competition and then training with some other fencers. That was what opened us up, training with different people with higher ability than you. you cant help but push yourself to improve coz u spar with them everyday! I had a similar experience in Leipzig, Germany but it was too short though.