Pennsic 46 - Rapier Champions

This year was first time fighting on the singles team for Rapier Champs. In the past I've fought on the melee team several times, but that's infinitely different for my brain space. The entire experience was a great one, and I am honored to have been chosen to represent the East and the Rapier Community.

Picture by Cecily O'Donell

I was paired with Master Davius of Trimaris, previously of the East. I knew that he was left handed, tended to use case, and of course, is a skilled fighter. We happened to fight the day before, not yet knowing that we would be paired up. I think this was somewhat helpful for me - it allowed me to remember some of his go-to moves, for example. But I think it may have been more helpful for him. My entire fighting style has changed in the last couple years since we fought, whereas he has stayed in the same general vicinity of his. If he had come up against me without more recent knowledge, I may have managed to surprise him.

But of course, that's just speculation, and we'll never really know.

I fought warm ups specifically against Master Antonio, who was kind enough to make sure he was there to be a left handed warm up for me. I felt very good after those warm ups. But then I had to wait. And wait. Going last is hard. Duke Kenric offered to renew the warm ups partway through the boughts, but I felt rude to be fencing off to the side so I declined. (I wonder if there's a better way for people late in the list to stay warm? It's not rude if everyone agrees to a fighting area a bit away beforehand.)
I did spend most of the intervening time ignoring the other fights and doing forms off to the side to keep my body warm and my brain focused. This part worked quite well.

Davius was even more aggressive than I expected. This was smart of him - it did catch me off guard at the very beginning. I've heard it said that he doesn't like to fight the same person the same way twice, and this showed. Once it was apparent what his plan was, From then on I was kiting him, because I didn't want him to be the one who decided when we clashed. We had a few such clashes with no touches landed.

In the end it was a move that I associate strongly with him that finally got me - a cut to the calf. Even once I was on the ground, I did have a buckler, and so it was a near thing.

I need to get better about moving between upright and bent over stances, as well as moving from circling to attacking, smoothly. I knew this, but it was particularly clear during this fight. Had I felt more comfortable with those transitions than I could have caught him from an angle, or moved into the Fabris stance that he has less familiarity with without pausing my movement and giving him a tempo against me.

Also, no matter how much I know that I need to be aggressive, when the fight matters I always end up more cautious, especially if I can't enter the fight already amped up. I think if I can move into aggression more smoothly - primarily using the transitions I noted above - that that will help.

On a more general note....
There were some interesting observations that are sparking the beginnings of a post in my head. Many people, including Davius, were certain the Davius was in complete control of the fight. I felt as though I was kiting him - and thus, despite his aggression, that was not always true. I do think that when viewing the fight, it's easy to assume that the aggressive person is in control. But I also wonder if we have some internalized biases affecting us - that the larger person, or the male person, is assumed to be in control. I've spoken to a few people, and the women were much more likely to be told that they need to control the fight better. Anecdote doesn't mean data, but I'm interested in pursuing this further.