Mr. Topp and the Big Bad Blog

For a while now — since before Backpacking Dad pointed out to me that I will no longer have time for it last week — I have been pondering what to do about fencing next year.

Clearly, my ideal participation level — practicing three times a week and attending a tournament once a month — is out. Come October, there will simply not be time for it. But I very much enjoy this game, in which you try to tag your opponent with a spring-loaded metal stick, so making time for it is paramount.

Heading into the British National Championships, I was contemplating playing a bigger role on the sidelines — rather than competing and training, I would endeavour to contribute through refereeing and maybe volunteering some of my time with British Fencing.

However, my experience at the Nationals soured me on this idea. In order to contribute to the well-being of British Fencing, it seems that one must put a lot into the relationship and expect to get nothing out of it. But I have no prior relationship with British Fencing to make this unbalanced relationship seem worthwhile — I just do not care. I have tried to list what British Fencing does — or has done — for me.

The results do not look impressive:

1: They provide insurance, as part of the membership. But I do not spend time volunteering for any of the other insurance companies that cover me, so that means little. Also, I have never had cause to make a claim upon the insurance policy.

2: They provide training for referees who referee domestic competitions. I am trying not to laugh, really. Really. If you aren’t laughing yourself, you clearly do not fence domestic British competitions.

3: They provide training for coaches. But not my coach, who is Polish, and not trained through the British system.

4: They organise tournaments, like the National Championships. I am unable to attend these, as a competitor, as I am not a citizen of the UK.

In total, British Fencing does very little for me, and I do not feel the same attachment as I would for the Canadian Fencing Federation or Ontario Fencing Association back home — those organisations played a large role in my development as a fencer, coach and referee. I do not get the same enjoyment helping British Fencing as I do from playing, nor as much as I might from supporting one of the organisations that helped me.

Unless I am to be compensated for my time, I can see little reason to contribute my time to fencing in that manner. This leads my plans away from the sidelines, and back behind the mask.

I will fence next year.

My goals are very small: to attend practice at least once a month, and to compete in three tournaments over the course of the fencing season. Of course, this means I will not actually be joining a fencing club — I will be attending sufficiently rarely that simply paying drop fees will be more economic.

But it will keep me in the sport for the coming year.

And in future years? Who knows — my daughter might turn out to be a fencer, and the impetus to sacrifice my time for the sport might appear.

Image by Alan Chia, available under CC License

When writing morning coffees, I very much want to get the image credits correct, and link back to the artist/photographer’s own page. This being the Internet, this is not always possible. Over time I tend to build up a collection of uncredited images from the website FFFFound.

Today, I officially have too many bookmarked. Here are four of them:

Plus, of course, a webcomic:

With a baby on the way, at some point this year I will have to babyproof the house. Luckily a friend of mine has written a handy guide.

(Lego Monkeys at the Philadelphia Zoo by Sean Kenney)

DRM is bad, and spending time and money fighting copyright infringement is futile. Adam P. Knave explains.

Those video games they sell to strengthen your brain? Big surprise — they don’t actually strengthen your brain.