A hearty congratulations (and welcome from me) to Pamela Muir, the new instructor for our Saturday adult intermediate longsword class at the Virginia Academy of Fencing. Pamela has been a student of mine for a few years now. She's started out taking private lessons from me, seemingly very reserved but determined to truly understand this as an artform. Over the years I've watched her dedication and passion develop into a wonderful fighter, and at the same time a humble student of the sword (who will probably be embarressed by this post!). But she deserves the congratulations, as she has not only really excelled in her practice, but in teaching beginning courses has also shown the patience and demeanor of an excellent teacher as well. I couldn't be happier to have Pamela taking over the Saturday class. Heck, I need a day off sometime, right? I kid, Pamela, I kid. :)

Seriously, Pamela is going to be a wonderful addition to our program, and I just wanted to share how proud of her I am.

Anyone want to see her kicking my butt all over the place? Of course you do. Here you go:

http://www.ericwargo.com/sword/bouts/sbgvpm1_4_05.mov

Congratulations Pamela!

Thanks for the movie link, Bill.

A question for either/both of you. Bill has longer arms, and a longer sword. How much of an advantage does that give him?
I would have thought more than is obvious by watching the clip.

Gordon

Congratulations Pamela; The clip is very impressive even for my untrained eye. Moving the clip frame by frame sort of helps understanding a bit what is happening.

Just a question for you or Bill: How much do you depend on your eyes before sword contact and how much does your brain switch to the tactile feel of pressure & sliding of blade on blade once the swords make contact ?

How much goes according to a conscious plan and how much is reactive and in the moment ? I would think you need the training in various moves / techniques to give you an alphabet / vocabulary as a starting point while having to " write " the actual script of the engagement based on initial intent and modified by opportunity and mistakes made by you and your opponent. ( Now this is a real convoluted sentence !!! :p )

In any case this is my intuitive impression of what is happening at each engagement and my attempt to put it in words: Just curious if this makes sense. ;) :lol:

If my words end up being true, being able to express it in words might be useful. :?: :D

Congrats Pamela! Under the wing of Mr. Grandy and having seen him in action making fruit salad out of a cantalope, I'm sure you will excel even more.

That is very exciting news, Pamela! Congratulations! I will be interested to hear of the differences you notice in the transition from student to teacher.

Let me add my huge congratulations, Pamela (my favorite sparring partner :) ) Besides the qualities Bill mentioned, you also have the ego-less-ness that makes a great teacher. In Bill's case, it is probably due to brain-damage :D . But in your case it is natural. You'll do great!

Eric

Congratulations! And Yay for female instructors!!!

Wow. :blush: Bill, the compliments from you mean a lot. Thank you for your confidence in me.

Gentlemen and Lady Jessica, thank you for all of your kind words. I must give most of the credit to Bill, my teacher, coach and mentor, and to Eric, my friend, favorite sparring partner and photographer. After all, passion is contagious. If they weren’t so willing to work with me, I’d still be hiding in the corner before class. :) (And Bill would still be calling me “Pam." yuck.)

It’s time to dust off that education degree and put it back to use. I hope I can live up to your expectations.

Post Script: Jessica, I took a peak at your profile and it looks like we have a lot in common!

Pamela;

If I didn't live about a thousand miles away I would rush out and join your class as a student. :( Sad I'm so far away. ;) :lol:

Pamela:
Congrats on taking over the Intermediate longsword class BUT also for your first Intermediate 6-8 year old Olympic Sport class! I'm so very proud letting people know that you are my friend as well as a good coach and then signing them up for your class :). You've got nothing but great reviews from your beginning students and more will come with your intermediate students. You go girlfriend!!!!

(Now I hope I don't see her anytime soon for embarrassing her even more...yikes!)

Regards,
Helen

Pamela;

Again, I'm impressed about what I see in the clip: Lighting fast, precisely timed and accurate moves IMHO. :cool: :cool: :cool:

Maybe you should do movie / T.V. sword work or look into it: I know that theatrical fighting is very different but if you could make the movie stuff much closer in look than the real stuff it would be great.

I keep thinking of the " Highlander the Raven " series without the cheesy quality sword fighting. Love what I saw of your fighting even if my eye / brain can't follow it.

Congratulations Pamela! :D It's good to see your accomplishment being recognized!

Thank you, Lance!

And a special note to Mark, my husband, thank you for not just understanding my need to participate in this hobby, but for joining me in it as well. :*

Pamela;

So do you and your husband settle disputes or make decisions with a friendly duel: Who wins decides which movie to go to or where to go on the next vacation. :p :lol:

One way to break an impasse when a decision is hard to arrive at. :D

Getting this in a little late here, but .... Congratulations, Pamela !

Were all proud of you, lass ! Cheers, Mac

Congratulations Pamela!

Auld Dawg