how fencing saved my personality
Some autobiography; in 6th grade we moved to another area so rural that grade school ended at 7th grade. Only one other kid was zoned for the same high school- so my new associations effectively disappeared. I was badly bullied, we lived a 30+ minute walk from the nearest bus stop, and my parents effectively isolated me by not issuing any allowance, not letting me work (since my “job” was to get into college), and later refusing access to driving lessons and car.
how fencing saved my personality
This is also pre-internet, so I had no perspective on ANYTHING. All I knew was that I was ugly, physically incompetent, incredibly stupid, socially unacceptable. The highlights of my life were monthly game club meetings or getting to the mall, I had only one friend within 5 miles, and I was constantly depressed, which nobody noticed or cared about. Having been repeatedly forbidden to even mention suicide may be the only reason I didn’t off myself.
My GPA was 4.0.
how fencing saved my personality
So the summer before I was a senior, my parents let me try this cool thing. The student scored a point on me; I scored three on him. That caught Gene’s interest, and he asked if I wanted to fence him, and of course I wanted to! I think it was testing whether I might make a good student, because I scored on him while he was toning it WAY down- and then he fenced like someone with years of experience including training Olympians, and wiped me out. I was star-struck.
how fencing saved my personality
That was apparently the reaction Gene was looking for. He talked to my parents and money changed hands.
And during senior year I’d go to Five Points and fence after school once a week. Suddenly even though I wasn’t *that* good, I was good at something. And it was *my* thing, not something like the GPA or SAT scores I was doing to make someone else happy. I was a little like a D&D character, like D’Artegnan and the Grey Mouser. God that was cool!
how fencing saved my personality
I went to college as an emotional wreck, but that year of fencing seriously made even that possible. I gave up fencing in college but was in a theatrical fencing group afterwards- and knowing I could do it is part of why later I felt I could try wing tsun, capoeira, weight lifting.
So now you know.
re: how fencing saved my personality
@Leucrotta that's seriously awesome. :)
how fencing saved my personality
And then a miracle happened.
My parents will occasionally be REALLY generous and helpful, entirely at their option and unpredictably. *Most* of the time they forget I exist or they can be real assholes, and it’s always been this way. Fencing or going to Ren Faire were some of the “suddenly we’ve decided to be incredibly indulgent” things.
My Maitre d’Armes ran a booth at the Renaissance Faire, to drum up interest. You’d pay to fence a student for a few rounds.