Whoops!

I got the opportunity to visit another group's rapier practice recently. It was nice to get out and face new people and try out new things. Well, okay, do a refresher on some not-so-new things. Specifically, the baton. I haven't really played with baton in years, even though it used to be one of my staples.

So I was out there, and doing pretty well with it until I faced a guy using cane. We were both fighting right handed and as we were fighting, he trapped my blade and tried to do a high attack to my right side. So there I was, staring at a completely exposed side and thinking, "I know what to do..."

I thrust.

About three-quarters of the way into my attack, I realized I wasn't holding a dagger. Luckily, my baton doesn't have much mass and I was able to pull my blow with only lightly tapping his side. I was chanting "Not a dagger, not a dagger..." as I reset and my opponent was pleasantly surprised to realize he didn't die. I wasn't sure if he got me or not, but after that big of a screw-up I considered myself dead. And figured it was time for a break.

This was one of those times where I got lucky. I was lucky that it was a practice and not a tourney. Core sample or no, if you gack someone with a baton in a tourney, odds are you're done - for anywhere from the day to six months, depending how hard you hit them. At practice, you get a talking to and are advised to practice some more with it before you take it into a tourney. Of course, that's why I was playing with it there, instead of at a tourney. I'm a firm believer that it's never a good idea to try something out for the first time at a tourney: if you're going to screw up, screw up at practice.