Rat-a-tat-tat

Here is Paralympic athlete Cat Bouwkamp's saber tat:

Race Imboden has Olympian ink, too:

From Ginger Snaps Tumbler

But you don't have to be an Olympian to sport the rings

And fencer's tats don't have to be about the Olympics

Renee (epee) explains her ink this way:

"My first sci-fi/fantasy book was Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffery...after reading that, I fell in love with dragons. I found a pic online of a dragon, but it wouldn't fit on my arm the way it was designed. My tattoo artist (without knowing how much I love the water) designed a new tail in the shape of a sea horse and put bubbles around it and colored it in blue. It was fate, and I've loved my tatt ever since. "

Dormouse (one of my teammates in Rockville Fencing Academy's Team Menagerie), doesn't really have to explain hers:

(Now that you've seen this, next time you see Team Menagerie in action you may understand why Tabby and I are yelling "Nap, Dormouse, nap! Whatever you do, DON'T WAKE UP!!!!")

Pam D. (vet women's foil) shares this story behind her tattoo:

"Nu Kua, or Nu Wa, as she is sometimes called, is the Chinese Godess of creation. First mentioned in text form the Xing Dynasty, she fashioned humans from clay. I chose her from a book of deities while looking through a book store in Philadelphia. My husband and I had come to get tattoos from a friend of a friend, who was visiting the states, from Amsterdam. We had originally planned to get wedding rings tattooed on our fingers. But on a coffee stop along the highway, we saw a magazine cover with movies stars holding up their newly tattooed wedding rings. Ugg. So we decided on arm bands. He has a dragon wound around his arm, and I picked my Chinese Goddess."

I've also collected some pics of fencing tattoos sans stories (not that they didn't have their own tales--I just didn't have time to ask. Middle of the competition, and all.)

\

This is the same young gentleman sporting the non-
Olympic rings, above. I assume he is/was indeed a Marine.
Heck, maybe he was an Olympian and I just
didn't recognize him. Oops.

I'm hoping you will send me or Allison a pic of your tattoo(s), ones we don't usually get to see, when you are all suited up for a competition. Especially if they have a story that goes with!