Today was the first homeschool fencing class at our local rec center. Nathan and Luke were signed up, along with Isaac, Caleb, and Daniel McC. When we got there, we recognized another boy, Johnny, from our homeschool co-op who is in Isaac's class (5th grade, between Nathan and Luke), so they were excited about that. There was also a boy, Liam, in (my) Caleb's class (first grade) of co-op, and I wasn't sure how he would do, plus one other boy who looked about that same 6 year old age who we didn't know. I had thought about signing my Caleb up too, but aside form not having another $100 to put into this, I just wasn't sure he would be ready for it. This was indeed the case with Liam! He is the kind of boy who, frankly, gives homeschoolers a bad name, LOL. He talked all the time to the teacher, but paid no real attention. He goofed off with the foil and generally made a nuisance of himself, while the other boys tried to ignore him or keep him on track. I am sure Caleb would not have been that bad, but the influence would not have been good! Anyhow, by the end of the class, he had been reprimanded a bunch of times, and finally, when told he couldn't just whale away with the foil, he collapsed in a heap behind my chair and cried that he wanted to go home. His mom obliged, and I think they will just do the class for younger kids, where they use a foam sword-thing and it's more of just a fun thing. The other little boy was distracted by Liam, but I think he'll be fine without Liam there. He seemed to have a lot more of an attention span.
So after they got suited up and learned the right way to hold the foil, they worked on basic forward and backward footwork. They learned how to lunge and parry. They got to practice a little one-on-one with each other, and the 6 older boys paired off so well with each other. It really is going to work out well. The little boys worked with each other until Liam's melt-down, when the other boy got to fence with the instructor. I would say that Daniel would probably be his partner next time, and Isaac would work more with the instructor, or all the older boys would take turns with him or something.
The boys had a good time, and it was good exercise, especially for their arms! Caleb, Jonathan, and Joel McC played around with the foam swords from the earlier class while trying out the moves the older boys were learning. The instructor was really nice, and he encouraged even us parents to take a stab at it, LOL. I think I'll save that for a non-pregnant day, although I would love to gracefully dance back and forth like those Olympic fencers we watched!
4 comments:
Thanks for posting about fencing, I hope they continue to have a good time with it! I am curious what kind of foil grips they used. Is it just like a straight handle or is it a pistol grip?
It was the straight (French?) grip. Also, the man is basically teaching them epee rules first, but using the lighter foil blade. That way they don't have to worry about right of way, and they have a bigger target area. I thought that was an interesting way to do it, but probably good for 8-11 year old boys, LOL.
I told Eric about your appointment - 5 minutes long, 3+ hours to accomplish it. His reply, "they're having another one?" Ummm, yes, I told you this ages ago. Guess we've had a bit going on the last couple of months. :-)
That's an interesting way to do it, but I guess it's good since epee is the heaviest. I started with a French grip foil too, until I switched to sabre.
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