[HEMA] Is the devil in the detail?

One thing I have yet to see in my short relationship with HEMA is discussions on the importance of getting body positions perfect. I think a lot of this is down to my expectations coming from a sport that places a huge importance on body position. Everything from the angle of your foot being slightly wrong to your shoulder being slightly dipped could be critical. I was taught to watch my opponent for these slight tells to let me know where they were going, or that they were tired and it could be exploited, or just that they had a bad habit that would expose them to something. Or it could be that it’s really not as important as I think it is so no one really puts much time into it. Most importantly I can’t sleep so thought I’d write something. 

[Health] Why I’m so fat

I’ve been considering trying to tackle the issue of why I struggle with my weight so much for ages, it’s something I’ve always avoided as I know the response will be “just eat less and exercise more fatty” which is the current mind-set around weight management. Don’t get me wrong I’m fully aware that to lose weight I need to eat less and exercise more, I get that but the issues are way more complicated than that.

Tl:dr – I can’t do this myself but thenhelp I need isn’t available.

[HEMA] I’ll get my coat

I have yet to find a decent HEMA jacket that fits my needs, there are many fine HEMA and fencing jackets on the market but none of them are quite right for me. Obviously the most sensible solution is to just design one from scratch, right? Whilst I’ve made various clothes in the past and am quite good at making things out of leather this will be my first jacket. As with all good projects it’s important to set your requirements at the beginning so you know what you are working towards.

[Archery] Turns out I don’t suck

I’ve only done 4 real sessions at archery so far and I’m already half way towards my first badge. My club operates something called the 252 scheme. Starting at 20 yards (so not very far at all) you shoot 3 dozen arrows and if you average 7 per arrow you get a score of 252. Achieve this on 2 separate scored sessions and you get your badge. It’s designed as a beginner scheme as a 7 average at the shorter distances is not that hard.

[HEMA] The Traditional Martial Arts Warm Up

You know the Traditional Marital Arts Warm Up (TMAWU)? The one that starts with some running around or other cardio, it will then probably include some static stretching and maybe some dynamic stretching and then finishes with some form of conditioning. It usually takes about 20-30 minutes and it’s the way most of us will have warmed up at the beginning of most of the sporting or martial activities we’ve done. We all got taught at school that this is the correct way to warm up to keep us “safe” and to stop us from injuring ourselves from tearing something. Yea that warm up, I really hate it.

[HEMA] Ilkka Hartikainen Sidesword Seminar

While back we were asked who we would like School of the Sword to try and bring over for seminars. For me there was one name that jumped out straight away and that was Ilkka. I’ve loved his videos and I’ve been very excited to get a look at the system he is developing for bolognaise fighting. Once again the SotS team managed to make it happen (much love to you all) and it was a real treat.

[HEMA] Lets do that again

Wow, just wow. I’m truly stunned by the amount of people who read my silly little post and went out of their way to respond to it. Whilst I obviously have a secret desire for millions of people to read what I have written and declare me the greatest writer ever in reality I mostly write for a mix of my amusement and to help me shape my thoughts and ideas. I always found writing about something can help me give it a better shape in my head. In this case as well it gets questioned by people with different knowledge and experience to myself. I’ve always believed that all ideas should be questioned and I very grateful to everyone who made such great points. It genuinely has help change my views on the topic and I feel I need to write a follow up piece.

[Archery] Well that was quick

My wife and her friends were all part of the archery club together whilst at university and she has wanted to get back into shooting for as long as I’ve known her. She’s made several attempts to start again but there are long waiting lists for the clubs around Reading which have always gotten in the way. Recently though we got in touch with Crowthorn Archers who are open to new members and were happy for us to come and have a look.