Fencing Begins

So, tonight was the big night.  We started fencing!  There are 10 people in the class, with the hubby and I being the only adults (other than the instructor and his wife).

Our first session started off with learning the basics - foot position, moving, lunging.  It was neat and oh so frustrating.  The foot is not meant to be at right angles to each other and move in that plane.  Of all my athletic attempts (basketball, softball, karate, running) nothing prepared my feet for being in that position.  Oh, and don't forget to be in a crouching position while standing like that.

We did a bunch of drills with feet position and lunging.  We even got to play with the sword.  :-)  And that's an adventure in and of itself.  This will take some getting used to.

Then we all got the chance to claim gear - the mask, jacket, plastron, and glove.  These pieces of gear are on loan right now through what should eventually be the West Shore Fencing Club (or some such title).  But, for now I am number 13 and I have gear.

After gear check, I got to stab the hubby.  Heehee!  Yea.  We got to practice on each other tonight.  I don't think that was the plan, but as the instructor worked with each person individually he paired us off to practice on each other.  As hubby and I are the same height we paired off together.  We hit each other over and over.  And our feet drove us crazy!  Could.not.keep.them.straight.  LOL!  Being night one, it was permissible to have incorrect feet stance.

Overall, fun.  I anticipated a bit more activity, but I have a feeling tomorrow there will be weird parts of me that are sore.  Now to spend time this week working on feet movements.