Back from Halifax, somewhat battered and sore from the competition, but feeling very very good about my performance there. After the first round of pools I was ranked 5th/31 which meant I had to win one direct elimination bout to get into the Super 8 pool. With that behind me the Super 8 was an amazing round (even though I lost every match). The top eight is always my goal at any fencing competition (well in Foil anyway) and I'm slowly clawing my way up in points against the guys. There was at least 1 that I could have won (lost that one 5-4) and a second against a tough competitor that I came very close to winning (lost that one 5-4 as well). The final results for me were Gold in the Women's Foil event and 8th out of 31 in the Open Mixed Foil event. Now that's a much better placing than at the AQV tournament. This time, the big difference was that I let go of any niggling doubts or uncertainties; let go of second-guessing my actions and did not hold back at all. I just got into each match letting the action flow as it would. This helped enormously in terms of letting your body perform the reflex actions you've trained it to do as well as setting up the opponent to position yourself for the opportunity to perform those reflex actions. Letting go of all the mind chatter also helped in focusing on reading the opponent more clearly, doing some on-strip analysis and setting the direction of the bout.
Over all I learned a lot this weekend and am eager now to put it to use at the training hall tomorrow night.