Had a great catch up/holiday dinner and beer with Lauren, Kelly and Robin. Robin's back in town from Med school in Boston, so it was good to get back together. We all came up with our own pentathlons, which included such competitive sports like dog ball throwing. I'll have to have a "name your pentathlon" page on my website.
Rushed off to fencing after that and arrived just in time to watch the end of the basketball match. Garik (the coach from Belarus) feels pretty strongly that diverse athletic activity can do us all a lot of good. Basketball especially is great because of the bent knee stance and hopping around that are an important part of the game. We did a couple balance drills that were really challenging and something that I can take into my other events. One, where you stand facing your partner and try to make them lose their balance by pushing their hands, will prove especially valuable in my riding as it really emphasized loose elbows.
Greg (one of our other fencing assistant coaches) started me in on my epee adventure. What a difference from foil! The best way that I can describe the different feel is that epee felt much more like street fighting. You bounce around a lot and wait for the perfect moment to take a punch. Foil is has a very classic look and feel to it. I describe it as high speed chess. Very strategic and defense is quite important. In contrast, epee is different in that you don't have to establish right-of-way and the whole body is a target. Thus, if you spend time defending yourself, you'll probably receive a touch from the opponent before you realize what you were trying to do. I really enjoyed it, but realize that I have a long way to go. Since one of my big problems was trying to parry against Greg's blade all the time, it will be good to leave foil behind as quickly as possible. I have a long way to go!
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