En Garde!

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!

Fencing

Saturday afternoon we managed to rouse ourselves off our Olympic viewing couch in the basement. We headed over to our local rec center, which was having an open house. What we wanted to see was a fencing demonstration. The rec center is starting some fencing classes this fall, including a homeschooling one, and we had already decided to sign Nathan and Luke up for them (the ages were 7-12). I've always thought fencing was a neat sport, and Anthony is fencing for the Academy. Plus, we watched the women's team sabre bronze medal match on TV, and it was so interesting! We all wished we knew more about how points were scored, so we were hoping to have some of our questions answered.

The McC boys showed up with their dad for the same demo--they also are planning to take the homeschool class. There was only one man there, who kept saying he was waiting for more people, but no one else ever showed up to help him. That didn't really matter. He was a big talker, so he explained all about the 3 different blades and let everyone touch them. He showed all the padding and mask you wear, and he talked about the differences in rules for foil, epee, and sabre. Very interesting. Really I need to go back and watch the team final with him right there to explain the action though, LOL. It all moves so fast.

Then he got all 8 of our boys dressed up, and he gave them each a foil. He explained some basic moves and practiced with them for quite a while. The boys were so excited! It would have been great to see people demonstrate fencing, but actually doing it was even better, especially when they never dreamed they would be able to! At the end he even hooked up Isaac, Caleb, and Daniel McC in the electronic vests and stuff that they wear for an actual match and showed how to get points in each event. (My boys are very slow volunteers, espeically when they are not sure what they are volunteering for, so they did not raise their hands, unlike the McC boys, who shot their hands up as soon as he asked for volunteers!) We were there about 2 hours. We were the only people there for a while, so our boys were the only ones dressed up. More people did trickle in, but they just had to watch! The man did say that when he was done, he would give everyone else a chance to suit up and try on the equipment, but it was nice because we got so much individual attention.

So now I need to remember to sign up online on Aug. 21 for the class. I think it will be a lot of fun for the boys!