That has been a common question from me to Christian during our rehearsals for our sword play on stage.

We jumped from saying, "Okay we fence here" to actually doing it a couple of weeks ago in rehearsal.  We have been doing well under the expert tutelage of Sword Master Guy Windsor and our Director Zoë.  They have been very patient with us when we stop mid battle and chuckle asking, "was it a lunge here or not?"  On top of that, they have been getting us to cool down during our duel as it has been a bit of a challenge to control our on stage excitement and nerves.  With their help and lots of practice we have been able to improve our performance.  After all, the goal is to really give the audience a good show of dashing sword play!

We both are beginners in this form.  I have had limited sword play previously on stage and a good bit of fencing way back in university.  However, what we are doing now is quite a bit different than anything I have done previously.

I cannot speak for Christian, but I have been having quite a lot of fun rehearsing it and I have the feeling he does too.  The big moves, the clinking sound as our blades meet urge us on in our duel.  Sometimes in the heat of battle, we halt, with sweat pouring from our brows and blood coursing through our veins.  We face each other down, glaring into the other's eyes with one question ringing in the air: "Did I get you?"