Actually, it's kind of a non-weight loss victory, but it's fitness related so I figured it was okay.

I got second at the statewide high school fencing championships! I started fencing when I started trying to lose weight and I was really skeptical about my ability to ever be okay at it (my first tournament I fell over twice), but I guess it just goes to show that sometimes all you need is obsessive determination and working harder than anyone else.

In any case, woo!

Wow congratulations!

I've always wanted to try fencing. It looks so cool haha

Fun goal! Congratulations!

Wow ImpalaHoarder that is really impressive. How long have you been fencing now? How cool that you found something you were good at in trying to change you life.

I've been fencing about a year and a half now, sabre. It's a fantastic sport. If you're considering trying fencing, I'd say go for it. Generally fencers are very nice people given that it is a competitive sport, and very welcoming of beginners. There's three weapons, too, so you've got a lot of choices for exactly what kind of looking cool while hitting people with swords you want to do.

Wow that is really impressive ImpalaHoarder! That really sounds like fun, what inspired you to start with fencing? Is is an expensive sport? Oh by the way I really love your avatar.

At the beginning of last year a friend of mine pushed me into starting fencing. He, his father and his sister fenced (in fact, his sister got recruited for fencing last year), really often, so I just went with them when they went to the fencing club. I initially fenced foil, where you have to poke people and didn't find it very much fun. Sabre you can score by hitting any part of your opponent from the waist up with any part of your blade.

How expensive it is varies on which weapon you fence, but unfortunately yeah, kind of. Membership at a club tends to be about 500 dollars a year, or 10 dollars every time you come to fence. You also need to buy equipment, which can range (depending on weapon, quality and exactly what you're getting (for instance, you don't NEED fencing shoes, but they're nice to have), from about 250 dollars for a simple set of epee equipment to about 600 for a bare-bones set of sabre equipment.

The problem is, in two of the weapons you need a conductive jacket/vest and in one you need a conductive mask. These things, unless you buy a really fancy one, will oxidize so much they no longer work in a year. So they need to be replaced. And sometimes blades break, and they need to be replaced. I'm not sure how this stacks up against other sports for cost, but I suspect it's a bit more. Still, I think it's worth it.

sounds awsome! good for you!