Mia

I was training one of my star pupils when a nurse came in wheeling a sickly looking boy saying "Mrs. Mia, I have a new student for you!" she exclaimed as she wheeled him towards me.

"That's great! Hey what's your name?" I asked the boy.

"Rhys." the boy said with a faint voice but with a smile that made me want to tackle him in a bear hug.

The boy looked around 12-13 years of age and even though he looked sickly and fragile, the burning in his eyes was a determination I see in all of my students here.

a determination to prove that he can do this, even though he's in a wheel chair.

The kid had orang-ish brown hair and had brown eyes. His skin was paler then white, and he looked completely exhausted, well except for when you looked into his eyes, that is.

"Rhys here wants to learn to fence. So I thought you'd be the best teacher for him." the nurse said.

looking at the kids face, I saw pain flash over it but then he started to smile again.

"Thank you, I can take over from here though." I said as I walked behind his wheel chair and started pushing him towards my office.

on the way there I introduced him to all of my other students. all of which where in wheel chairs.

"As you can tell, this is a fencing arena for kids that are in wheel chairs. I established this facility when I myself was disabled for a long period of time." I said once we where in my office.

I scooted him up to my beautiful cherry-wood table and sat across from him and put my head on my hands as I turned to a more serious tactic.

"If you don't mind I'd like you to fill out this sheet for me." I said as I scooted it close to him and a pencil of Corse. "Take as much time as you need, I'll be back in 5 minuets, I have to stop Shinon and Soren from killing each other…" I trailed as I left Rhys to fill out the form.


Rhys

After Mrs. Mia left, I looked down at the sheet and wrote my name, then I read the questions and answered them like so:

Question 1: where are you from?

Answer: America

Question 2: Where do you live?

Answer: St. John's Orphanage

Question 3: What are your parents names?

Answer: I never met them

Question 4: Why are you here?

Answer: I wanted to be able to do something with my life.

Question 5: How old are you?

Answer: 17

Question 6: Do you have any siblings?

Answer: No

Question 7: Have you been in any other kind of sports besides this one?

Answer: No

Question 8: Do you have any friends?

Answer: Only three. Mist, Ike, and Ranulf.

Question 9: How old are they?

Answer: Mist is Ike's younger sister and she's 13. Ike is 15 and Ranulf is 16.

Question 10: Why are you in a wheel chair in the first place?

Answer:


After I wrote that, the girl Mrs. Mia came back with a tall girl around my age, and she too was in a wheel-chair. She had red long hair pined back into a pony-tail and she had blazing green eyes.

"Rhys, this is Titania, she said she's willing to help you when your in better shape to start fencing." Mrs Mia said enthusiastically while jumping from toe to toe.

"Hey, you're the new one, neh? It's nice to meet you!" Titania said with a big smile.

"Ok, Rhys. Here are the simple rules;

There are three different classifications for fencers based on a functional assessment test: A, B, & C.

A is for the fencers with the greatest mobility, including usually full control of their abdominal muscles and good upper body strength.

B's are mostly paraplegics with little to no abdominal control and good upper body and arm and hand strength.

Lastly C is with the least mobility, generally no control of abdominal muscles, and often loss of grip or hand strength in one or both hands.

There are as many exceptions to the rule and every candidate for wheelchair fencing will be assessed on an individual basis with an emphasis on their level of function and overall ability" Mrs. Mia paused, letting all of the information she had just said sink in.

Then she continued.

"Blade work and strategy for wheelchair fencing is very much the same as it is in able-bodied fencing, but, because the fencers compete closer then normal fencing, the game tends to develop more quickly and there is less time to react. This is why it is so important early on to begin to develop good habits and skills."

"The ultimate goal is to train your hand to perform all of the skills and appropriate actions or counter-actions-without having to think about it. Like when someone is playing an instrument. Ideally, everything becomes second nature so that you can focus on devising a strategy to score a point instead of being overwhelmed or bogged down by mechanics."

How often does she recite all of this? I wondered before she continued.

"The irony is that footwork is just as useful and important in wheelchair fencing as it is in able-bodied fencing. Your footwork begins with pivoting or bending your waist, using your abdominal muscles and non-weapon arm and hand to pull or push yourself into various positions like: the neutral or the on guard position, going backward, half retreat and full retreat, and going forward advance, & lunge.

Understandably the A fencers tend to use the full range that their bodies allow them to move whereas the less functional B or C fencers tend not to move over as great of a distance and as easily.

"While there is plenty of movement in the chair, your not allowed to leave, raise up or slide along the cushion to the point where you are sitting on the wheel and on the non-weapon side, the side guard should prevent most if not all people from retreating beyond the legal limit."

After she had finished she smiled and said "Don't worry, Titania and Boyd, my best fencers, will show you everything I just said. I'm sorry i recieted all of that, fencing laws. It's boaring but you have to know the rules..."

"Who's Boyd?" I asked as I visibly paled. She wheeled me into the gym and out of her office with Titania close behind.

"You'll see, my young friend, you'll see." she said as she patted my shoulder.


I got the request from wet noodles so tell me what you think so far!

R&R

~Ashmaria