Fencing is fun. I’ve had a bit of journey to get somewhat good at it though.
I began my journey in sword when I was young, towards the end of primary school, around the age of 12. I made my own sword from some spare metal flatbar, some cut up broom handle, and some plastic pipe. It was a kind of cross between a Japanese inspired single edge sword and a concealed cane sword. It was quite heavy. The edge was fairly crudely ground, but it sure did the job. I learned to flow through my cuts, playing with the sword until I was midway through highschool.
I next took up the sword in my late 20s. I was more interested in rapier as it was more specific in what and where you wanted the blade to go. It was a bit of a struggle to switch my old cutting flow into a more SCA specific fencing method. I drew from the lessons from Prospero and Duena Catelina, who were able to show me the basic ideas and the rule set that our game is contained within. I drew from prveious martial arts (Eastern) and tried to both extrapolate (extend the pattern) and interpolate (fill in the holes in the patterns). I was very enthusiastic about becoming proficcient in the sword, and so I encouraged people to pick a sword and train with me, teaching what I had learned, what I had worked out, and trying the new ideas I had.
Around 18 years after starting in the SCA, I was invited to join the Order of Defence. I accepted and now have the title Maestrə. The last letter there is called a Schwa, and emphasises that the sound is “a” from the word “far”. In modern Italian, it is a gender neurtral form of Master, as those in the order of Defence are considered Masters of the Sword, and I do not feel aligned to any gender.