A Cadet's Journey

Ld Walter Robin

Rundel's Vormund (5 November 00)

Vormund is an elected winner, similar to the Mooneschadowe Insegnante. Since I had recently won Insegnante, and since I am familiar with everyone in the tourney, my goal was to win each fight, rather than aim for the title specifically.

I approached each fight aggressively, trying to control the action of the bout and forcing my opponents to react to me. This was not my most elegant fighting, nor my most intellectual. I was operating on intuition, and sheer nervous energy. However, it was fun to cut loose and fight from flow.

Now the Play-by-Play:

First fight - Ld Puck. We took Del Tin and dagger. With Del Tin lately, I've been trying to use an open style that uses a lot of passing footwork. A defensive weapon is a necessity in this style, so we took rapier & dagger. After a few passes, Puck hit my dagger hand (I've had trouble defending that lately), and dropped his own. It is difficult to defend with the Del Tin alone, but we managed a few more passes. One of the other factors with Del Tin play is the difference in length. We tend to drift too close with Del Tin, being accustomed to schlager ranges. I hit Puck with a surprise long lunge.

Second fight - Ly Theresa Marie Giovanni. Rapier & buckler vs. Rapier & boffer. She did a good job keeping me away. Eventually I managed to hit her left arm, and then the right.

Third fight - Ld Yoshiie Hokumori. I'd been wanting another bout with Yoshiie since Insegnante. We went singles, since I couldn't find a buckler. Yoshiie is a fast and energetic fighter, so I really went after him, driving him into the corner a couple of times. I touched him with a lunge, but he leaned away from it. I added a half step, to press the shot home. A fun fight!

Fourth fight - Ld Alexander Marchand. Case, Del Tin & short schlager. Marchand is tall with quite a bit of reach on me. My usually case techniques weren't working, since he was avoiding my binds, somehow. I kept trying to clear the blades aside so I could get close enough to hit safely. I chased him back to the wall with a flurry of blows (swimming a bit, I confess). Once there, I managed to hook around and catch his left arm. He dropped his blade, maintaining the Del Tin in his right hand. After a few moments deliberation I decided to maintain my short schlager, since I don't like fighting Del Tin without a defensive secondary. After another flurry, I ducked under his shot and thrust upward to hit him in the right shoulder.

Fifth fight - Don Stephen Hawkins. I was eager to meet Hawkins in tourney again. I thought I was sunk when I heard the challenge for the round: fight off-handed. Stephen is very strong with off-hand; I have seen him win tourneys by sniping an opponent's sword hand, and then defeating them left-hand vs. left-hand. I requested single sword, since I find reversing the defensive weapons to be rather confusing. I approached him cautiously, expecting him to aim for my hand. A few probes, and he called a light shot to his arm. He switched to his right, and I matched him. Then the fight began in earnest! I kept trying to get him with disengages (single, double, triple...), but no luck. Then we both thrust at the same time. I dodged away, and his blade passed in front of my chest. Luckily, I hit.

Written: 15 Nov 00, Last edit: 15 Nov 00

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