I fought at the Cloisters demo in September. As you may be aware, demos are the most dangerous thing that we do. Fighting at demos is different. We get over dramatic. Sometimes, we get hit multiple times. I'm not sure how, but I think I kind of ended up with a concussion. I think it was getting hit multiple times by Gui's heavy great sword. Regardless, I had a headache later that night, and then another the next day, and headaches for about three days following, and then intermittently for days after. I also had a bad headache the day the hurricane rolled through, but I get headaches when the weather changes a lot. I've had concussions twice, once from fighting, once from hitting myself in the head doing pell work (don't say you've never done it). Neither was like this. Both those concussions felt worse. This is just eh. I've got an appointment to see a specialist on Wednesday. I'm sure that like all specialists, she will say "nobody should ever do what you are doing." My new helmet is still awesome, and MUCH more protective than my old one.
After two weeks off, I fought again at Middle Town. I started feeling a headache on the way up, but that was as soon as we drove into the country, and the fauna changed, and my nose stuffed up (decidedly un-fall like foliage we've got right now). I felt great while fighting but the next day I felt like I had a virus.
In other words, I'm sure right now that every little thing I'm feeling, up to and including the toe I stubbed the other night heading for the bathroom, is a concussion.
FIGHTING
So today wanted to get in five sets. I got six, including two with Ron, fighting him being the main reason I went down to practice. I felt great. No headache, and I got hit hard twice. I also fought Bill and Harold. Bill beat me once out of six fights. Harold beat me three out of five, which is odd. I usually do better against him. He and Ron said I was tentative, which was probably me being overly cautious.
My first set with Ron was terrible. I won only one fight (though that was with a Houghton trick, which against Ron is a real coup. My second set against him was great. I won half our fights, and we were really going at it. I was crisper, moving better, everything. Of course, I always take a while to get warmed up.
I also discovered that my wrist, which has been a bit achy lately, is truly sore. I know what to do about that--brace, exercises, etc--because this is a flareup of the repetitive stress injury I got last year. It made my second shot very difficult, and I did better with tear drop returns as a result. One classic three blow Bellatrix combination won me Ron's leg. It also worked on Bill.
The biggest problem early n was that I was not protecting my leg. I was probably expecting to be covered in my stance, and I clearly wasn't. My defense got much ore active after a few bouts.
All I can say about Middle Town is that I had some great fights against breeder but he had my leg every time he wanted it. I did well against Arne too.
There are 20 days until Crown. I hope to be in armor twice more between now and then.
