2003-07-24 - 11:55 a.m.

Well, some sort of small miracle has occurred. I went to household practice last night, and other than getting frustrated with my own inability (and getting bitten by mosquitos), I had a pretty good time.

The Dukes were in good form and I got at least an hour of practice before I had to share them with the beautiful (and inspirational) Suuusieful one (and sharing with her is a Good Thing(tm) - I learn from her too! Besides, I was tired by then!)

Over the course of the evening, I progressed from absolute rank first-time-holding-a-sword novice to "That wasn't too horrible", which is a major step forward. (My first practice of the season began with "Ooh, that was dreadful!") I seem to remember which end of the sword to hold, and I remember which mistakes I make customarily. My stance is a little better, and while I'm nowhere near as graceful as S, I am getting the hang of little things.

My current working hypothesis is that I need to be treated like a rank beginner who may have a slightly surprising first-month-learning-curve. In other words, I suck. :-)

There may be some muscle memory in there somewhere. Certainly there is with spear - I took my old one out a few days ago for a bit, and while I'm rusty, and need to focus on the new face-thrust standards, I think I can bring that back online fairly quickly.... But I was never any good at any other weapons form, so whatever muscle memory is in there is probably wrong anyway....

But, and this is key, I had a good time last night. I felt like I learned something (several somethings, actually), and I didn't feel like it was a cosmic waste of time (as it sometimes does). No doubt I'll have at least ten or fifteen "that's it, I just suck, I'm giving up" sessions over the next few weeks/months, but I felt like I took a big step last night. I feel pleasantly sore today (my sword arm is tired, and my knees ache), but I'm generally feeling 'exercised'.

So, perhaps if I pull my finger out this weekend, I'll be in armour next week and out embarrassing myself in front of a larger audience.... The fact that Diccon already got into armour is a huge motivating force....

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