~JcZw

I had a lot of time to do reflection just now.... Cos i was making my way to orchard road to retrieve a new pair of spectacles, namely, the first pair i've had since sec. 1 or something.... Whoo! Improved vision is such an improvement! Now I can actually differentiate a twenty cent coin from a fifty cent one, n my peripheral vision's back to normal! Haha....

Yesterday went to OCS with some ppl in my class.... Gerry, Stella, Charmaine, Christl, Desmond n En Jie. Gives mixed feelings about NS yeah... Sometimes when I'm tired n think about NS I'm thoroughly scared of it. Sometimes when I'm energetic I think that it could actually be fun! Haha... well, we'll soon see... But there's been a lot of improvement to the army? Even in the camp the soldiers were using the SAR 21 as much as the AR15, or, as the latter is more commonly known, the M16. Got to fire the paint gun which resembles the CAR15 while we were there..... Hmm.... after that 1 year of air rifle, aiming at a target which looked only 2 mm across, hitting the larger target with this much lighter rifle was a breeze...

Got my pants seriously dirty though.... Waha.... Oh yeah, n our chaperones were quite hilarious.... direct opposite characters of one another, if I may say so.... heh...

The thing that got me thinking today was actually a conversation I'd had with George yesterday online. He was asking something to the effect of our chances in the Under-17s this year. The chinese say (translated literally) goes: know yourself known enemy, hundred battle hundred win. Unfortunately, just knowing our opponents at the moment ain't enough. In fact, I think I translated too literally, so we'll leave it at that.

Who are going to be our opponents then? Well, two from the much-feared ITE Balestier at least. Sing Ni, the girl-with-the-extremely-long-arm (whom I eat narrowly 15-14), and another guy whom I haven't seen before. Coach says he's not very good, but Su San, from her long years of experience, says that usually ITE people's skills increase at an exponential rate while we progress at a geometrical one.... Mainly because, they have the time as well as the resources.... I mean, they actually have blades bought by their school for them to practise with! How lucky can they get?

Next most dangerous would probably be the secondary schools, namely Pasir Ris Crescent and SJI. Mere secondary schools to some people, but for me, this means opponents that have fenced for 4 years, not 4 months like us. Opponents that are skilled enough that the longer reach of our people wouldn't be a problem when we tangle. Every inch as enthuisiastic with us, they will be no pushovers.

Last on the list would be the other fencing JCs. I'd say the greatest threat in this sector would come from CJC, for they obtain a good supply of experienced fencers from SJI (the 2 are affiliated, apparently). The lowest threat profile, curiously enough, probably comes from RJ, who only specialize in sabre and not anything else.

In short, the only weapon VJ can wield would be enthusiasm for the competition. This we do not lack at the moment. Mr Tan's comment about recreational CCAs put paid to that alright. Great is the potential of the team, but we need the time to train, which is something we do not have. We need our blades quickly, a place to train in school, maybe an electrical system for school practises (otherwise we'd be forced to stick to the old manual scoring). But we don't have these things. Not yet anyway.

Our chances at the moment are slim yes, but that doesn't mean its impossible.

And don't forget. What we do now will pave the way for the future. In other words, the VIPs. By the time they reach J2 they will be good, and then the sparks will start to fly. Maybe.

Just for me, foil doesn't look bright at all, and my own chances for winning the competition, or even getting a bronze is the same chance a snowflake has of surviving mid-summer in the Sahara (where have I heard that from?). Dalen from ACJC and Wei Yang from RJC are enough to kill me off already. Foil, unlike epee, requires technique and much much more speed. Which must be slowly trained up. A good foilist, apparently, takes 4 years to breed. By that time comes, I'd be of no use to VJ already. *boom

The thing about fencing that sets it apart from other competitions then, is that you fence against much more experienced people than yourself, not like hockey, or swimming, or soccer when you play against people with roughly the same experience as yourself.

But we'll see.... One day fencing will become more established, then we'll see.... Our own fencers are already getting better:

Maurice, Daniel, Randall, Liang Sheng, Elgin, Vanna, Clarissa, Mark, Charlene, Jomaine, Jonathan Boon, Dhevy, Zhi Hui, Eileen Soon, Shakura, George, Victoria, Eileen Yap, Aaron

and me =)

and of course, all our seniors (without them even starting the club things would not have happened at alL!)

Our fencing club rulez.... Like... really...