The Danosi Tournament

On January 11th, I competed in the Danosi Tournament at Wayne State University. Fencers from all around came to compete for plaques and bragging rights.

I now have bragging rights.

A former championship-winning martial artist in kenpo karate, I had to switch sports after cancer in my right arm made sparring unsafe.

Fencing was a great choice.

I did not win an award yesterday. But as I noted in a previous post, your definition of winning will not be the same as everybody else's, and I definitely won yesterday.

1. My primary goal was to not have any shut-outs. This means I needed to score off of every single person I faced.Last year, there were a whole lotta zeros next to my name. Yesterday, I fenced in many bouts and scored off of every single person.Such exhilaration!
2. This was a mixed event, which means gender is not a consideration. You fence whoever you fence. I held my own against larger, stronger, faster competitors.And—here's the victory—I didn't feel inadequate.I discovered that I have skills that need enhancing, of course, but not once did I feel like I didn't know what I was doing. I know I gave it everything I had, given the knowledge I had at the time.This is such an under-rated sentiment, so when it shows up in my life I make sure I pass it on so that you can give yourself the same grace:Given what I knew at the time, I know in my heart that I did my very best.
3. About two or three matches in, I took a careful look around the gym to see who else was there. It finally dawned on me that there were no “regular” people there—if I'm not mistaken, every competitor I faced had earned a medal at a major competition recently and were “of standing”.This is unusual—there is usually a contingent of new or first time competitors, and this is who I thought I’d be paired with. It is likely that the winter storm the night before impacted some people’s decision to come out, especially since you didn’t have to pay the registration fee until you arrived.I, a newbie, was strongly competing against literal champions.
4. This also means that I, a 53 year old two time cancer survivor, was fencing folks who were 25 to 30 years younger—and I never got tired.Several competitors actually noted this later and asked me about it—how could I still be walking around, not sitting, after all the bending and lunging they watched me do with their own peepers? They were sprawled out on the floor, and I wanted to fence some more.Several other people who I later learned were coaches from other schools commented that my endurance was really good, and that once I get my technique down I will be formidable.Wow!
5. AND I am right-handed. I fenced competently, with zeal and humor, scoring at least one point off of each ranked champion, with my non-dominant hand.

I

Did

Great!

Conclusion:

I strongly and with energy fenced several bouts against champions who were 25 years my junior with my non-dominant hand and scored off of every single person.

I won.