Week of February 6th, 2017, sabres aren't actually sharp, fyi (1)

As the first post, I of course have to name a couple things (yay!)

I have certain goals, long term and of course short term (bc I'm lazy and don't like thinking long term)
Long term:

To be able to do 100 spins on both hands
To be able to be a three

Short Term:
To be able to do fifty spins (many)
To toss it once
To learn the indoor routine
To practice for an hour everyday


A little intro to my history with color guard.
I've been exposed to the Wissahickon Color Guard since I was born- literally. My dad's Mr. Hood, the band director, and was in charge of the Marching Unit until I was four. I've been exposed to this stuff forever. I used to go to my dad's games and competitions. When I started to go to this school district, I would hang out in the band room more, so I saw more of the color guard. My dad says it's page 273 in the cosmic book of irony that I'm in the marching unit, but in the color guard. I joined the color gaurd this year during freshman orientation.

They were short of people, and I mentioned I wanted to join, and so my friend called me the next day, and that monday I joined. I have always had the skill and coordination to be able to do anything. I also have a fairly impressive amount of armstrength, even thought that might count as bragging, but in seventh grade I was able to bench press 3/4 of my weight. I weighed like 98 pounds then. I've always been able to accomplish what I put my mind to. With the color guard I practice at least 20 minutes every day, and at the marching band bandquet I won the "most improved" award.

Color guard is incredible it's like a family. We're just like any other team, and there's a hierarchy. I tried out on air blade (pictured below) And didn't make it, because I couldn't catch it as well because I was nervous, and I'm a freshman. I have time. The different tools/ weapons in color guard then turn into "squads", the sabre squad, the rifle squad, and the flags (the flags you don't try out to make it, everyone as a basis makes the flag, and everyone is on flag for the last section) This is basically how the color guard is set up.

This week I got the sabre I needed for the project on tuesday, february 7th.
That night I learned how to do dropspins, a basic element of colorguard, I asked a friend of mine who's not an expert but she could shwo the bare minimum of basics.

On thursday there was a snow day, so I naturally spent the whole day trying to do fifty drop spins in a row (because I definitely have a life, and most certainly didn't sell my soul to color guard....... who would think ~such~ a thing whaaaat) which is an important part of mastering the sabre. Spins are a basic in color guard, they're the starting point in warmups, and they take a l o t of arm strength.

I spent three hours on thrusday practicing, two and a half hours on friday, and four hours on saturday

These hours, of course, are of the twenty minute snippets (yay accurate attention span) I practiced throughout the day. Occasionally just five minute snippets.

So I've been practicing a lot. I love it, I just do spins while watching youtube, or tv. It's ideal for my true procrastinating ways, because I'm doing something I enjoy, aside from procrasting, and yet I'm still procrastinating. It's like secretely moving forward

At this point, I'm scared for the tosses, because witht he flag tosses in the indoor season, I just learned how to toss a flag. Also, tosses can only be done outside because the ceilings in my house are too low, and there's too many precious things. So when practicing the tosses, you get less practice time in. Will keep you updated.

here is a video of me doing ten spins on my right hand dated thursday, february 9th