Fencing for the first time (and why I love/hate Groupon)

It all began with a Facebook message. My friend Sophie got an email from Groupon for a beginner 6 week course in fencing. Who wants to join her? I do, I do! I’ve never done fencing before, but I do love the Princess Bride and Highlander and was in Pirates of Penance three times.

First day arrives and I head to my first class with Fighting Fit Fencing. The studio is a basic concrete shell beside Caledonian Road - it’s not glamorous and it’s unfinished but full of heart.

The club is family run - started by a father who had a son who wanted to fence (what little boy wouldn’t want to play with a sword). When the club they went to shut down and most other clubs favoured those with an Eton education, they started their own place at the back of a pub. They are now one of the only public fencing clubs with their own full time fencing centre.

The class is completely full and we stand and listen to a truncated history of fencing and how to stay safe. I glad about the safety part. We are playing with swords after all.

After practising being “en guard” and moving back and forth like a speedy crab, we get into our gear. First is the plastron, an underjacket that covers your sword arm, and over that is a padded long sleeve jacket. It’s nice and thick and heavy. Perfect for summer…

As a lady, I have the honour of wearing breast cups that tuck into my padded jacket. After getting a sword in the breast a number of times, I’m glad for it. Next is a glove on my sword hand and then a mask. Masks are great from stopping swords from poking you in the eye. I like that. I don’t want swords in my eyes. Fact.

I try my hand at going through the fencing motions. Not bad. And it’s fun. I LOVE stabbing people with skinny swords. My knees hurt for a week afterwards but it was a (not so small) price to pay for pretending I was a pirate or something equally glamorous that week.

Today is the third class and we try electric fencing. Lots of buzzing and I’m not that great at the parry but I got one hit in. After I sigh  and say that I’m not very good, my instructor says I’m trying to be too perfect and shakes his head at me. I can’t help it, I like to win.

So back to Groupon. I love them as I never would have tried fencing if it weren’t for that one window of 24 hours where I could get a 6 week course of training for £29. I hate them because of what they do to small businesses. I’m sure you read the stories of what happened to Posies Café and Chicago Bagel Authority amongst others. Fighting Fit Fencing didn’t expect too many people to take fencing up with them. Their estimation of “maybe a hundred if that” became 340 people signed up. And out of that £29, guess how much they get? £20 you say? £15 you mutter with raised eyebrows? Nope. £11.

That’s it. £11. Hardly worth it I say. But our instructor remarks with honour that the little bit of money we pay will help the kids in the area get the equipment they need to fence. That money will go back into the club and back to them.

Amazing. Seeing the bright side even as Groupon rips them off. Good on them.

Want to try ‘chess with a sword’ yourself? Go to Fighting Fit Fencing and book a session to try your hand at fencing. All equipment provided. All you need is your wits, some good trainers and your heart.

Technology and Resistance: Talk on phone hacking & revolutions on Twitter

I got this wind of this brilliant event yesterday and though I’m not usually for regurgitating press releases, I’m busy watching the Select Committee so the full details are below.  Basically, I think you should all go and take part (especially as it’s so pertinent to now).

TECHNOLOGY & RESISTANCE
Dingwalls
Middle Yard, Camden Lock, London, NW1 8AB
7:30pm - 9:30pm
FREE

Wikileaks,phone-hacking and revolutions playing out on Twitter. This revolution will not be televised. Come join Mark Simpkins (Creative Technologist at Spring Digital) + James Ball (formerly Wikileaks and now Guardian) and Sarah Morrison (Independent Newspaper – who reported in detail on the use of twitter in organising recent protest).

More details are here:
http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/event_view.php?uid=135506&days=300

MEANWHILE ON
Camden Lock Market Square
6-9pm

BYO-DIY TECH
Mean while on Camden Lock Market you can bring your own home-made tech devices to Camden Lock Market from 6-9pm on July 19th and demonstrate how to make them. Also present will be Netaudios’s sonic tabletennis. Prize for the best DIY tech. Drinks vouchers for Lock 17 for every DIY piece brought along.

Your help needed: What represents a relationship to you?

Excitingly, Michelle Tsen and I have been commissioned to make a short film for the Museum of Broken Relationships which is on from 16th August - 4th September, 2011. The film will be screened outdoors on 27th of August (and you can book tickets here).

But as I love working socially, I wanted your input into the final product. I don’t want to give it all away, but we are looking for an answer to this question: “What represents a relationship to you?”

We need things from the beginning of a relationship, the middle parts and most importantly, the end of a relationship. For us, the more your answer is based on sound (and action), the easier it is for us to use. I.e. A drink together (a clink of glasses), the first cup of tea in a new flat (a kettle boiling), stomping and slamming, the last kiss.

And what will you get if we use your suggestion? A special contribution credit will appear on the film and we’ll send you a copy of it.

So let the fun begin and drop us your suggestions here!

Moving up North

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Yes. That’s right. You’ve heard it here first. I am making the move back from the South to the North. Of London that is.

Five and a half years ago I left the dirty streets of North London (Archway to be more specific) for the leafy greens of Clapham Common. I can’t say it’s all golden in the south. If you’ve ever been on Clapham High Street on a Saturday night somewhere near Infernos, you’d know what I mean.

Moving happens a lot. I know. I’ve lived in 22 places in the last 30 odd years in 6 different cities. But London is the city I’ve lived in the longest in any one time and I’ve lived in my current house longer than I lived in any other house. So you can imagine I’m excited but also a little sad.

In a way I don’t want to move. But my landlord gets nothing done and raised the rent by over £300 4 months ago and my flatmate can’t afford it.

So I’m going. And before I leave, I am making a list of the things I need to do down south that’ll I’ll miss when I go.

• Go to a show at the BAC


• Have a picnic and a kick about


• Go to a day of a festival on Clapham Common


• A night of music upstairs at the Ritzy


• A wander through Brixton markets


• A pint on the sunny banks of Richmond


• A day at Hampton Court Palace


• One or two or three more movies at Clapham Picturehouse


• Have a go at as many restaurants and pubs as possible

I know this isn’t much but that’s where I’ll need your help. What things do I need to do in south London before I’ll go up North? And yes, I know I’ll still be in London but I also know how often my friends visit. So I don’t think there will be a lot of trips this way.