good, fast or cheap: pick 2

It's not just for software development anymore :/ My lunge is either:

• Good: stable, with no leaning or overextension
  
• Fast: sudden and explosive to surprise both my opponent and myself
  or
  
• Cheap: economy of motion and effort that leaves me ready for further action if needed
  

Turns out I CAN have the first two, but always pay: sometimes immediately, as after a couple of good lunges I'm left wheezing like Darth Vader with a bad air filter, or later, when my back and/or feet go "ping".

V. says I need to practice lunge-recover-retreat off the strip to the point that it becomes automatic. He is not wrong, but MAN, it is gonna hurt! Think I may try this at home, on film, to make sure at least my form is good before I go back under the watchful Eye of Sauron (i.e. lecturing coach).

It's disheartening that I've been fencing this long and am still so bad at such a basic move. On the other, damn, look how far I've come already(!)

Writer's Block: Father figure

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He first planted the critical thinking seed in my mind. Whenever I read something, he'd tell me to take into account what perspective the writer was coming from, and whether that knowledge affected how seriously I took the text. He also pointed out that the the research or writing was poor, I didn't HAVE to finish everything I started.

I also remember him telling me not to trust the cops, and if ever pulled over admit nothing :P