We held a party for Scott's 7th birthday at Swordplay Studio in Burbank, California.
The first thing the instuructors did was teach a few fencing fundimentals to the kids. They were friendly, and entertaining, and the kids paid close attention.
Then the boys got their protective vests. There's something appropiate about clothing that looks like straight jackets.
Next their fencing "helmets". Seventeen boys turned up for this party.
Finally, something we've tried to keep away from Scott his entire life...
Down to business! The boys were broken into two teams. The first drill for each team had the boys stand in a circle, with one of them in the middle. The boy in the middle had to fence with one, then another, in random order. If he lost, the boy on the edge got to trade into the center.
One of the instructors said, "Hold your free hand behind you. There's only one think you can do that'll hurt, and that's to let you hand get hit with a foil. You'll only need to learn that lesson once." Fortunatly, no-one got to find out!
The kids were remarkably patient with the instruction... maybe they were a little intimidated about using real swords! Their patience was rewarded when the two teams got to face off in a free-for-all. (The narrow strip in the middle is "the moat" - they can't cross it.)
Scott (L) fences with his cousin Bobby Pedersen (R).
If the opposing team scored two points during the free-for-all, each kid* was supposed to die a glorious death!
*No children were hurt during the production of this birthday.
The instructor joins forces against Bobby.
There was one final battle at the end. The instructor challenged Scott to a duel! The first one to score three points would win. Amazingly, Scott had learned enough in his first group lesson to defeat the instructor with all his years of experiance!
For beating the instructor, Scott was awarded his Olympic medal, and was knighted "Sir Scott" with a touch of a sword onto each shoulder.
We recommend Swordplay. All the kids had fun, and the parents felt it was safe. They are in Burbank at (818) 566-1777
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