Nine brave students chose to take part in a swordsmanship elective at the YMCA. Over the week, they learned basic guards and attack movements, and each had the chance to spar against me to get a sense of what real-life combat feels like. They all did incredibly well.

We then moved on to a short choreographed stage fight scene, which the students performed for the rest of the class. To wrap up the week, we watched The Princess Bride (with popcorn, of course).

Everyone survived to fight another day.