You've taken a break from class for a little while. There's a few things you can expect.
One, you may find that things get easier. A little break every now and then can relax your fencing muscles.
But, if you've taken an extended break from classes you may find your perceived abilities are not where you think you are. A real gap may develop between your academic knowledge, which would stay the same, and your physical abilities, which may slacken. Thus, those lunges aren't as fast as you remembered and your stamina goes down.
Depending on your particular situation your academic knowledge may have increased, making the decrease in physical ability seem even more drastic.
All of this can make for a very frustrating return to fencing. Getting over this is a two-step strategy
- recognize that your abilities may not be what they used to
- keep practicing
Step 1 will prevent you from beating yourself up over something that happens to everyone. Step 2 will get you back into form. Since you retain your academic knowledge you'll have an easier time of getting over the hump and start making new progress.
While we're on the subject of missing classes, I should point out two great accompaniments. Booking private time with instructors can streamline your return and, to prevent a slump, there's our DuelloLearning channel which provides short videos of classes and other snippets to you keep you in fine fencing form (also watch for Duello.tv coming soon!).
So keep yourself in good spirits and keep practicing!
Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Read more from Devon Boorman.