BLADERUNNER COMPETITION

BladeRunner. In my opinion it’s the most defining competition. Not in terms of if you place (of course that’s great) but in terms if it’s worth continuing and if you have what it takes to continue.

That being said let me rewind. BladeRunner was exactly 2 weeks after my first competition back from coming out of retirement. Now, that’s not a lot of time to train and to make matters worse I was on the waitlist until 5 days before!

I focused like I was going to be competing so I found a club!

SOCALFA! It was my buddy who I call my ‘fairy fencing godmother’ because it’s her club and she invited me and I jumped! Everyone has been very kind and welcoming which is the most important in choosing a club. It’s that unexplainable energy that you just feel comfortable.

I took my first private lesson. I almost passed out because it was so good but tough. I was proud I was able to do the entire lesson and I remembered how to parry. The new rules of preparation is 100% going to be my biggest hurdle because my brain hasn’t understood it yet and my hand isn’t confident yet. It will come with practice.

My goal for BladeRunner was to be able to clip myself without issue, win a bout, get touches in every bout and win a DE or at least higher than Ontario. Now it sounds crazy because less than 2 weeks is not enough time to improve that much but I’ve never been one to think within reason lol.

The competition happened so fast I didn’t even have a chance to meet all the coaches at the club. I met 2 of them at the competition and they were very kind but also strict. Which is great because I can naturally be flighty and I need the focus lol.

I can ecstatically say I was able to clip in with ease! That instantly gave me confidence. I got points in every bout and I actually won a bout! That told me I can do it and with more training and practice and get back to what I have accomplished before; it’s not to outlandish to think.

I did not win my DE sadly and it was the preparation and attacking that killed me. The lack of confidence with it was my downfall and that’s a hard pill to swallow because my attacks used to be what let me win my bouts before and now it’s the cause of me losing. It’s even harder because I logically understand but my hand and feet and brain couldn’t work together.

Even losing I’m very proud of how it went! I got 2 points higher than Ontario and initially it looked like the girl was going to smoke me! She had 8 points and I had 0. I breathed and watched my coaches’ hand motions and tried to replicate as best I could. I went from her coaches laughing at me because it was an “easy bout” to getting 7 consecutive points. They were points I got defensively and relied on my parrys.

I don’t like losing but maturity has taught me to take all the wins and be grateful and learn.



Even though I lost I feel like I won. I know I can. I can win and I can get back to what I was but improve because things change as we do hopefully.

Until next time!