ghosts of gymnasiums past
Feb. 21st, 2011 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonSundays at fencing club have been intimidating of late.
This is because a group of the Big Scary People - high-rated fencers who move like greased lightning and are six moves ahead of things Ordinary Mortals (meaning me) haven't even thought of yet - have been coming for the past few weeks. There are about 4-6 of them and they show up early, and if I'm there before noon it's either grit my teeth and cycle in or repetitive footwork/target practice until other Mortals show up.
The Big Scary People (BSP) aren't scary socially - as near as I can tell they are all friendly chaps and don't have superiority complexes over their considerable abilities. When I get the nerve to approach they don't refuse to fence with me, even though I don't pose much of a challenge.
It's just that my lizard brain still remembers humiliating high school phys ed, in which "natural athletes" bullied or simply bulldozed over apathetic bookworms like me. The teachers/coaches didn't seem to notice, or if they did, they didn't mind, which in retrospect makes sense, I suppose - what teacher wouldn't rather teach kids who are clearly enthusiastic about and good at the subject matter? The administration was another matter - school athletes got a pass for some of their less savory behavior, perhaps because team sports brought in money, and they were perceived as team players in a way that solitary bookworms were not :P
I need to remember that we are not children at club and I'm not just a bookworm anymore. I did cycle in yesterday and took my knocks and delivered a precious few of my own. There are still a couple who I think we'd be wasting each others time (I'd be little better than a moving target to them, and I can't even see what they're doing), but one of the ways I can improve is to play with the big kids.
This is because a group of the Big Scary People - high-rated fencers who move like greased lightning and are six moves ahead of things Ordinary Mortals (meaning me) haven't even thought of yet - have been coming for the past few weeks. There are about 4-6 of them and they show up early, and if I'm there before noon it's either grit my teeth and cycle in or repetitive footwork/target practice until other Mortals show up.
The Big Scary People (BSP) aren't scary socially - as near as I can tell they are all friendly chaps and don't have superiority complexes over their considerable abilities. When I get the nerve to approach they don't refuse to fence with me, even though I don't pose much of a challenge.
It's just that my lizard brain still remembers humiliating high school phys ed, in which "natural athletes" bullied or simply bulldozed over apathetic bookworms like me. The teachers/coaches didn't seem to notice, or if they did, they didn't mind, which in retrospect makes sense, I suppose - what teacher wouldn't rather teach kids who are clearly enthusiastic about and good at the subject matter? The administration was another matter - school athletes got a pass for some of their less savory behavior, perhaps because team sports brought in money, and they were perceived as team players in a way that solitary bookworms were not :P
I need to remember that we are not children at club and I'm not just a bookworm anymore. I did cycle in yesterday and took my knocks and delivered a precious few of my own. There are still a couple who I think we'd be wasting each others time (I'd be little better than a moving target to them, and I can't even see what they're doing), but one of the ways I can improve is to play with the big kids.
