~JcZw

History: It's the first time I haven't updated my blog for more than a week... Anyway, I was too busy / stressed to...

What can I say... this week I've owed God a lot... Winning the Indiv Epee wasn't that much of a thing for me, cos the victory was considerably dampened by the fact that the semi with Brandon was won through a double yellow... Kudos to him though.. he was on his way to thrashing me by 3 points when somehow I changed the ROE and came back.. and also even more so for Cephas... and I hardly consider the fight fair...

It's the first time the fencer-side of me and the first aider-side of me clashed. Being a sportsman would have meant just fencing all out, going for the jugular... But for a first aider, when I was on the piste, the words that echoed in my brain were "First do no harm...". Well too bad, I've fenced for only a year and a half, but I've held a first aid cert since sec. 1. Still do in fact, until 31st August. It wasn't a good way to win, but I don't consider myself "lucky" either, because in neither situation was the judge outside his jurisdiction - everything followed the FIE rules. It's just that the game was like that... It's the same way Argentina lost to Germany... It goes either way.

Team event.... I have nothing to say for myself really... Fencing short style really subjects yourself to a lot of injuries... After I got hit in the same-place-that-Brandon-hit-me-two-days-ago, my capability to octave was gone. When the judge happily said "Oh, I don't give yellow cards for this kinda thing", and I got hit there 5 more times, I knew my performance was going to change... It's akin to your soccer opponent cutting you down via sliding tackles and no yellow card is awarded, while you're accumulating bruises on your anatomy. And to those who think "if you're good enough, then the judge shouldn't be a problem", hey, even the olympic fencers have enough dodging their opponent's blade. We should not have to be parrying flying body parts either.

But that said, I guess I also made a wrong tactical decision throwing Chermin in... Should have just continued... But no use for recrimations now... It's something like "It's my fault again", just like at U17 a year ago... Also, consider that CJC was really on form... and they were really hungry for the medal, more so than us, maybe... And Cephas and team fenced really well, more than we've ever seen them... They, as well as their supporters (who were really good, before I forget to mention that) deserve the team win =)

Stupid judge... then in the RJ match, I think we were all kinda rattled... Thanks Cephas again for coming and encouraging me.. We trailed for most of the match.. And again, the gigantic RJ guy who liked to sweep people off the piste, plus our *beep* judge's no-yellow-card policy resulted in the former twisting my wrist in an angle God had not designed it to go. I felt the muscle strain and realised I was in deeper trouble (I was bracing for the "snap"). And then when I was playing a very rapid catchup in my last bout, I could hardly feel my wrist, and was just willing myself to compound parry when my simple sixte stopped working... And the judge still had the nerve to ask me "what's wrong" when I stalled on the en garde line cradling my wrist.... Well, everyone knows how that story ended....

Anyway, as I mentioned, thank God for:

Safety. Despite twisting my wrist, getting a large contusion on my second rib, I was spared serious injury. Brandon didn't do a follow up stroke after my mask got knocked off during the semi otherwise I could have been typing this in hospital... I've now got more bruises, cuts, a strained leg muscle and a fragile wrist, but it could have been much much worst.... At least I didn't tear anything (As mentioned before, having too much first aid knowledge is not good for the peace of mind).

Strength. After fencing Daniel, I was praying and praying for energy cos I had expended a lot fighting Daniel's height with double and triple parries and I was super exhausted, and everyone knows that my counterattacks are disgusting. God gave me energy to continue =)

Wisdom. I don't know why. My fencing style was so different on wednesday... I didn't do fleches or pull myself into CQC as I usually did, but that saved me a lot of energy I needed later. And somehow when Brandon was leading me by 3 points with one minute, I didn't panic like I used to... In fact I felt more emotionless and detached.

Friends. So many of them. The VJ team and Mrs Chan for coming and supporting us. Maurice and Daniel for continual advice. Cephas and his CJC people who gave encouragement. Cynthia who was cheering us during our RJ bout. I dunno... too many to count I guess...

Healing. So I went to church today, and guess what? After prayer, my wrist can now do a pull rotation!!! Well even though the muscle aches are still there, but I won't be having to use the bandage anymore =) Yayness! Thank God!

Well, that kinda rounds it out for now... pictures in the near future maybe... But we have too many nice pics to choose from actually =) Anyway cheers, and feel free to comment on the tagboard (people always have choice comments when I post about my competitions)