Ouch!
Last night, I managed to do something spectacularly silly on the (fencing) piste...



On the piste, against a smaller opponent, who decided to come forward, I decided to use one of my favourite 'tall person' tricks; the move known as a 'rassemblement'.

Starting in the en garde position, you draw your front foot back, stand as tall as you can, and try to outreach your opponent; typically to their shoulder (as the arm isn't a valid target in foil fencing).

Something not a million miles removed from this picture of two epeeists.

Except that on this occasion, I drew my front foot back and reached out with such enthusiasm that a) I achieved liftoff and b) both my feet went a couple of foot or so backwards, resulting in my assuming a position more generally associated with a fleche.

...except that I was moving backwards, rather than forwards, and thus was unable to bring my foot down to land on (as you would with a fleche).

Gravity is unforgiving of people who lift both feet off the ground for any length of time.

I fell about a metre and a half onto a hard wooden floor, landing hard with an almighty thud on the point of my left elbow and my hip.

It was apparently fairly spectacular to watch; just under 80 kilos of fencer going 'splat' on the floor; enquiries were made as to whether Wile E. Coyote was a relative.



I now have invisible bruises up my entire left side. Ouch.