The heat of the desert sun, the chill of the desert air conditioning, and the new experience of manning a booth for eight days straight were all notable parts of my Phoenix experience — but all of that paled in comparison to seeing so many SharperMind Training athletes competing, with amazing results.
Some of those results were obvious — SharperMind Training fencers brought home:
Gold in Y10
Silver in Cadet
Bronze in Y14
Top 8 medals in Division I and Vet-60
And I love to see it!
Less obvious, but even more important to me were the moments when I saw the fencers I’ve worked with overcome personal challenges, putting new tools into practice and finding a new way to engage with competitions.
Some of the most notable to me were:
The Y10 fencer stepping up to Y12, facing loss against athletes twice his size — and handling that loss gracefully and with composure
A Y14 fencer who, after losing 3 pool bouts 5-4 went on to win two consecutive DEs in overtime (and aaaaaalmost won the third!) showing incredible patience in each of those bouts
The parent who told me “His attitude has improved so much!” and that recognition that results are only a fraction of this sport
The fencer who came to my second presentation, followed that up with a 1-on-1 session, and then immediately put the skills we practiced into use the next day
And so much more than I can list here.
Aside from any results or accomplishments, it was truly wonderful to see so many of my clients fencing, and meet many of them in person for the first time.
(For those I still haven’t met, I’m probably taller than you think—you just can’t tell over zoom)
Finally, it was wonderful to meet so many new people excited about mental training, and have such great attendance at the two presentations I gave on mental training.
(If you were in one of those audiences, thank you for your participation! We had great energy in the room for both, and I super appreciate that)
If you didn’t make it to the presentations—fear not! I will be sending out each of them shortly, so keep your eyes peeled for my next couple emails.
Keep Sharp!
Corwin