En Garde
Just before Christmas I went fencing for the first time, thanks to my good friend Shauna. It may seem like a strange bucket list item for some of you, but given that my favourite movie is The Three Musketeers (I know, please don’t judge me), I always thought it looked like fun. And indeed, I had a great time. Shockingly (or not for those of you who know me) I was deemed “aggressive” by the person teaching me. Little did he know who he was talking to…. En Garde is a French warning that translates to “[be] on guard”. It is defined as: a direction to be ready to fence, taking the opening position for action. This all sounds like positive, affirmative action in fencing. One must be “en garde” and ready to engage. However, it was not at all what I expected, and significantly more exhausting then I had banked on. I have definitely not conditioned my arm muscles to be fencing fit and maintaining a fencing position had my arm and hand shaking from strain by the end. ...