The J-Train leaves the staion

I've never really had a nickname other than 'Joe' being short for 'Joseph.'  However, I've decided to embrace, and embellish, a nickname that I'm picking up at fencing.

So, when you're topping the scales at 260, there are certain nicknames that naturally come your way.  The ever ironic 'Tiny'.  'Goliath', 'Big Guy' etc...

But recently, people have started to refer to certain aspects of my fencing as 'The Freight Train.'  I have to say, I like it.  There's a certain mix of power and inevitability that the name conjures up.  From Agent Smith talking to Neo in the Matrix, likening the oncoming train to inevitability, to Fred "Night Train" Lane of NFL olden times.  The people ho say it mean it in just that way also.  Like I come at them like an avalanche, seeping away anything in my path.

The thing is, it's really not me.  Outside of that one instance, I'm accommodating,I'm nice, and I like harmony.  But recently, put a saber in my hand and I'll stutter step my way down the strip, legs churning like the pistons on a car, until the distance closes enough to hurl my mass forward behind a thin fencing blade which I'm trying my best to lay, as gentle as a butterfly alighting on a flower, on your mask.

Because, in the end, I hate causing pain.  I've never run anyone over, I almost never hit people hard, and I've only run into someone once (my friend Shaye, and I'm the one who ended up on the ground, having bounced off like a racquetball.)

So I never thought anything of the nickname until last week.  Suddenly, in the course of one evening, people started, for lack of a better word, cowering when I charge down the strip.  It bothered me.  I don't want to be the bully, the intimidator. 

But the next time I went to practice, I realized two things.  One, it's handy to have your opponent intimidated.  It opens things up, slows them down a little.  In the end, it's handy.  I'll never try and hurt someone, but as long as they don't know that, the bluff works.

The second thing I realized is that I relish the underdog role.  It's the best motivation I've found thus far.  We'll see what happens in Chicago.

Comments

[John]

Hmmm, Can't say that I have a nickname in fencing. Don't really run people down as I don't move as fast as I used to or fast enough now. Kinda depressing on that. Been thinking on if you ever ran into anyone while fencing, but am drawing a blank. All I can remember is one of the first times fencing against Josh(? curly hair glasses, I think he spoke Italian or faked it) and I pull distance on him and he cleaves the floor. Also what comes to mind is when Rudy breaks the Michigan State girl. I still smile when I think of it. Especially when she busts her left wrist the next time as she tries to fence lefty. Ah those were the days