Longsword at Queen's Gambit '23 - Just the Fighting

Here's almost all of my longsword matches from Queen's Gambit 2023. I omitted one fight as it was recorded in portrait and not landscape. I have elected to provide this without commentary, but I will be following-up with highlights on individual exchanges I want to break down.

I finished this tournament with 6 Wins, 1 Draw, 3 Losses. I was pleased that I was able to place into and remain in the highest tier pool for my subsequent sortings. My personal objective for the tournament was to try and focus on my fundamentals and try not to gamify my strategy. A more aggressive competitive strategy would have been to really drive for the shallow targets once I secured a 3-pointer, but I didn't want my fencing to be influenced by the score. In retrospect, I am disappointed in how strongly I favored a right-foot forward, point extended position. It's "comfy" - mentally, physically, and strategically. I'd have liked to explore other postures more, but the adage holds true that you fight your worst in a tournament.

I had the distinct pleasure of fencing several subscribers over the course of the weekend, and meeting several more. I thoroughly enjoyed my matches with you all, and look forward to the next!

The tournament operated on a Swiss pool system. You'd have three fights, and then your position in the pools would be rearranged based on your current W/L ratio. Pools would be resorted three times. The advantage of this over a traditional elimination bracket is that you're guaranteed a tidy sum of fights, and they'll be fights at your skill level, so you're getting better bang for your buck if your objective for the tournament is self-enrichment.

Fencers could elect to carry a thrusting dagger as a sidearm.

Scoring worked like this:
2 Minute Matches, first to 4 points
3 Points = Hits to the head and torso
1 Point = Any other valid hit
Points would only be awarded if the fencer could land the hit and withdraw, or control the opponent, without being struck in return.

#longsword #sword #fencing #hema #martialarts #tournament