I figure I should start off by laying out why I'm starting this blog, what I hope to get out of it, and the time commitments I'm willing to make to it. It'd also be nice if I put down a little bit about me.
I'll start with me.
First off, experience-
I've been fighting since mid 2011, which as I write this, means 3 years. The first 6 months were heavy- 3 practices per week, with up to 30 people on the field, since I was in college. Then I graduated, and moved- after that I've been only able to practice at a sorry rate of about once every two weeks. In that time, I resisted going to events- I've only been to one big event- Battle for the Ring, this last year. I did fence for about a year before that.
Second, skill-
At battle for the ring, I ranked as a solid roadblock in the ditch- there were less than 5% of the people there, that were better than me. However, that 5% is a tier of fighters I clearly can't touch (without backup). They seem to be mostly from the mysterious land of the east, known as the midwest.
I also did quite well in the group battles there. Oh heck, I'll just say it- I won the second regional battle in the name of Norcalia(Norcalia won the first as well, but that was in no way my doing). The second one definitely was- In addition to being the last survivor, most of norcal had no idea we still had bodies on the field when I won. I'll write it up in another post sometime.
Finally relative to local opponents-
There are about 2 fighters in the tier above me- One of them is actually not that far above me, (maybe 25% kill rate) is from the midwest. Not sure how long he's been fighting. More than me, for sure. The other one has ~ 17 years experience with Amtguard(Approximately 10% kill rate).
There are about 6 in the area at about the same tier as me. At any given practice there will be about 2 of them. Kill rate 35-60%, depending on person/day/weapon combo.
Oh yeah, my fighting name is Princess Socrates. Probably should include that too.
So why am I starting this/ what do I want to get out of this?
First I'm interested in using this a training journal. To fix in my mind by recording a head of time, what I hope to work on, and afterwards to record observations about what I learned.
Second, I have some observations about fighting that I'd like to firm up. Half formed ideas that I'd like to record. That way I can both get them out of my head, so they stop teasing me, and so that I can look long and hard at them and see if they have any merit, because some of them are not 'accepted knowledge'.
Why a blog? Meh. I figure why not? It's a convenient stash- and it's almost more convenient to publish than it is to not publish. Also, sharing information only grows the sport. I figure that a set of blog posts like this is something that I personally would love to pour over. If you know of anyone else chronicling their fighting journey, I'd love to read it.
Now on to time commitments-
I'm committing to write before and after I practice or work on my swords.
Why I want to keep the time commitment-
If I don't have time to write, I'm not learning anything I'm just exercising. It's fundamentally a waste if I don't. Now, I won't always have time for fighting. That's ok. Just if I make time for one, I should do it right, and do the surrounding 'homework'.
I need this to get to the next level, in any time-frame that's acceptable. While it's possible that I may just end up there if I just go to practice and drift,
(a) It would take being surrounded by more and better fighters .
(b) It will eat up more of my life than it would otherwise require. I'm pretty sure this will actually net save me time (which I may or may not invest in achieving greater skill levels overall).
(c) It's possible that I would age out before ever making it there.
This will help provide a disciplined approach(though I'll never have to personally be disciplined/responsible if I don't wanna) that a chess game requires to do it justice.
This is my way of honoring the game.
What I'll do to help myself keep the time commitment-
I won't let myself burst all of my energy out. Rather than write everything I can think of down today, I'll limit myself. Keep ideas unwritten, not because of time, but so that I pace out the rewards, that way I don't satiate on them. My limits will be, one before, one after. The sandwich in between could be a construction session, a formal practice, or 'pell' work. Pell is in quotes, because it'll probably be a fencepost.
Second, I'll try to do the after practice writeup 'after practice'. Which means that unless I'm with a cute girl, I should be doing them as soon as I get home, same day.
Hope to see you around
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