Fighter's Collegium - the Aftermath

Well, we survived. Despite the 6 hour drive (each way). Despite freezing our butts off in unheated cabins both nights. Despite losing the Queen's Ring to Lord Hawk. Even despite the vegetables being hurled at my lady wife by the Dark Pelican of the Apocalypse. We survived to return home, we weary travellers. To be honest, the good outweighed the bad. We got to see people we haven't seen in a while. The classes were enlightening and went off more or less on schedule. I had some fun fights and managed to pull off several victories defending the Queen's Ring before Hawk took it. I don't mind losing to Hawk. He's scary good. My melee class was well received (I hope) and everyone seemed to be having fun with the practice melees we ran at the end. Ysabel managed to take the Precious (the Iron Ring of Meridies, which is different from the Queen's Ring) from Lord Sigurd. Considering she can't fight with her right hand at the moment, they agreed to fight left handed to the first 5 touches. They were both at 4 each and doubled on the 5th, so a tie-breaker was fought and Ysabel got the touch. Very impressive. As for my fighting, I was a little disappointed in myself. I never feel like I'm good enough, of course, but lately that feeling has deepened. Control is paramount and I've been too busy with mundane concerns to devote the proper amount of time to honing my control. Even when I win a fight, if I don't feel my fighting was clean enough, it bothers me. Winning isn't about beating my opponent (no matter how skilled or unskilled they are). It's about achieving mastery over myself. It's time to get back into fighting trim again. Time to practice daily, like I should be. I know that our hectic lifestyle is not conducive to that, but the attempt must be made. When I take the field, I will be in control. Period.