Janka's log

Since it is obvious to anyone who isn't both blind and stupid that the best thing I can do for my swordsmanship is to acquire some fitness, I have been working towards that.

I am happy to declare that I can do one honest-to-god all-the-way-down-and-all-the-way-up "narrow" push-up keeping my elbows at my side, and a bunch of more in a wider position and/or fudging a little (but no more than anybody else) here and there. I can also do other stuff that I could not three months ago, but I'll list that one because it is the one I am most proud of. (People who do fifty before breakfast can STFU. Progress is what matters, no?)

There's a downside, though: I am constantly hungry. Not hungry as in "mmm, I think I'll have some chocolate" or "could eat something if something magically appeared but not hungry enough to bother making something", nor hungry as in craving some particular thing, or hungry as in vaguely feeling like eating, as if something is missing from the diet. No, hungry as in hungry. And constantly as in "I had a large pizza an hour ago, so yes, a steak and salad sounds like a really good idea".

It's probably good for me, but for gods' sake, I do wish there was a food source on campus other than the Unicafes and the student associations' stacks of instant noodles and microwave pizza.

A picture of a strike in seconda over the dagger from a feint, and a parry with the dagger from above to below the right arm.

You are in terza or quarta, with your swordarm withdrawn and your dagger at your wrist.

He is in quarta with his swordarm withdrawn and his dagger extended on a high line.

Feint under his dagger and raise your own dagger. He will seek to parry your feint with a downwards motion towards his left side.

On that same tempo, you will disengage over his dagger and parry his sword. This parry goes under your right arm, pushing his sword further inside (see picture).

Your strike from the disengage will be in seconda, over his dagger (shown).