What is your exercise regime?

[Desdichado]

ledded, you got it. Luckily, I was with a club that didn't care to compete with anyone other than each other, so we didn't worry too much about our form. It's all about pretending you're Errol Flynn on the deck of a sinking pirate ship, IMO. Although for that, I really needed to learn sabre, I think, and unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to do foil.

I've been seriously considering finding a local fencing club and taking it back up again, but like you said, I most certainly do not want to worry about competing or anything like that.

In other news, barsoomcore, I have no idea what you're talking about letting the other guy have a turn after having been blocked. Maybe I'm just completely misremembering from when we were actually taking lessons as opposed to just fencing for fun, but I have no recollection of any rule like that in the textbooks we used, or the way we fought for that matter.

 

[Ibram]

about 3 hours a week of classical Japanese Martial Arts makes up most of my exercise.

 

[Greatwyrm]

I've recently made a concious effort to use the intercom less and actually walk to talk to people at the office. That's the closest I've gotten to exercise since my Junior year in high school.

That is, unless you count all the walking at GenCon.

 

[ledded]

ledded, you got it. Luckily, I was with a club that didn't care to compete with anyone other than each other, so we didn't worry too much about our form. It's all about pretending you're Errol Flynn on the deck of a sinking pirate ship, IMO. Although for that, I really needed to learn sabre, I think, and unfortunately, I only had the opportunity to do foil.

I've been seriously considering finding a local fencing club and taking it back up again, but like you said, I most certainly do not want to worry about competing or anything like that.

Most of the fencers were into just fencing, some were goofy "purists" like me. Then the club got more organized, got real coaches, and took a more competitive edge and I lost interest. I did some rapier work with some guys who claimed to have did some training with John Clements, but they turned out to be a bunch of yahoos that were more likely to get someone injured than to learn much real rapier. I also did a bit with some SCA breakaways who did some fun things with rattan and goofy protective gear, but that just got a bit too silly. *Great* exercise though, and reading the books, then putting them into practice will give you a whole new insight into swordplay for movies/games/books while getting you in great shape. I wish the guys that really "got it", i.e. were there to try to understand real smallsword/rapier/broadsword fencing methods, had not mostly moved away, because we had a lot of fun reading old fencing manuals and working out wherever we could find a piece of gym. We would even mix up an epee fencer with a guy wielding a bamboo shinai to get a little east vs west flavor.

In other news, barsoomcore, I have no idea what you're talking about letting the other guy have a turn after having been blocked. Maybe I'm just completely misremembering from when we were actually taking lessons as opposed to just fencing for fun, but I have no recollection of any rule like that in the textbooks we used, or the way we fought for that matter.

Ah, the fun of foil. Remember, whoever extends their arm on attack "threatens" first, and the "threat" must be removed before attacking. So guy 1 extends and lunges, you have to parry/beat/etc before attacking, because if you attack into his "extension" and get hit, it's his point regardless of who actually landed their attack first. It's supposed to teach you to parry so that you dont attack at the expense of skewering yourself on your opponents blade. Epee is a bit less rigid... hit the other guy first, who cares how. Of course, being 5'9" and short-legged, I usually ended up just getting hit on the toes or fingers a lot before I could get within 5' of the typical 6'4" Epee guys. So I took up Saber, where you can actually whack people in addition to sticking them, which was fun.

To anyone who plays an RPG with swords in it and wants some exercise, I do suggest that you find some kind of iaido/kenjutsu/kendo/fencing/whatever and at least give it a try, because you'll learn a few things about the stuff in your game while getting some superb exercise at the same time.

 

[Desdichado]

Ah, the fun of foil. Remember, whoever extends their arm on attack "threatens" first, and the "threat" must be removed before attacking. So guy 1 extends and lunges, you have to parry/beat/etc before attacking, because if you attack into his "extension" and get hit, it's his point regardless of who actually landed their attack first. It's supposed to teach you to parry so that you dont attack at the expense of skewering yourself on your opponents blade.

It's been a while, but I do vaguely remember that now that you mention it. Of course, it's so intuitive, that it hardly needs to be spelled out as a rule; it's just common sense.

Then again, the foil was my second best. What I'm really interested in is taking up some serious sabre work. Wow, I'm really starting to get motivated again. I'm gonna look up a local club and see what they've got going on.

 

[Pbartender]

I used to do a little kendo back in college to help with my stage-combat style in plays.

I had friend, who'd had a lot more lessons and practice than I did, and we'd just go down to the beack along lake Michigan and spar... With no real hard and fast rules. Just: 3 hits to extremities and you're out. One hit to head or torso and you're out. That's it.

We had a lot of fun pretending we were Jedi or Highlander or some such nonsense.

Plus, dueling footwork on sand or peagravel increases the difficulty of the workout tenfold.

My buddy was taller, heavier, and generally more skilled than I was, so he beat me more often than, though I did get my licks in. My proudest moment was when he made a powerful over-head cut at me, and I just dodged it by retreating a step or two. He over-extended himself, and the tip of bamboo sword dropped into the sand. I took a step forward, stepped on the tip of his sword, and made a short lunge. He couldn't hold on, and dropped the sword at my feet. So I picked up his sword, and chased him down with one in each hand.

Oh yes, those were the good old days.

Now, I can't find anyone nearby willing to teach it. I'd love to get back into practice.

 

[der_kluge]

I've recently made a concious effort to use the intercom less and actually walk to talk to people at the office. That's the closest I've gotten to exercise since my Junior year in high school.

That is, unless you count all the walking at GenCon.

I lost 5 pounds at Gen Con one year. Really looking forward to that again this year.

 

[barsoomcore]

Of course, it's so intuitive, that it hardly needs to be spelled out as a rule; it's just common sense.

Shut up.



Common sense my sweet patootie.

 

[Desdichado]

Shut up.



Common sense my sweet patootie.

Well, if you're going to essentially run yourself through on your opponent's sword, I can see why you didn't take to competitive fencing.

 

[ledded]

I quit smoking a couple of years ago. The physical cravings actually go away after (so I'm told) three days. From then on out it's purely psychological.

Shut up.



Three days my sweet patootie.



Seriously, the medical experts tell you it's three days to a week, but the second and third week of quitting has always been the hardest for me, and it still comes on strong some days weeks later and the craving lasts for an hour or two (like yesterday). It's like having a small monkey sitting on your shoulders, squeezing your neck with his legs, and then every 10 seconds or so slapping you on the forehead really hard. Sounds kind of funny at first, not so bad, but after a week you just WANT IT TO FREAKING STOP ALREADY

<whew> Ok sorry, I'm feeling much better now.

One GREAT trick that really helped me is that most cravings only last for a limited amount of time -- usually less than a minute. Just tell yourself, when the craving hits, that you'll wait for five minutes and see how you feel. Just five minutes.

Not the rest of your life. Just five minutes. I found it MUCH easier to resist for five minutes at a time.

I do that, and think of my kids while I do so I can really twist the guilt knife in hard. Makes me more anxious and angry at myself, but less likely to light up.

OldDrewId had a really good mental method that he used which I am borrowing.

There was some statistic that said that only 1 in 10 people who quite smoking actually stay quite for more than a year, most go back within the first few weeks/months. You get competitive and imagine these 9 other guys all trying to quit, and watch them drop off one by one as the time period between guys dropping off increases, until around the 11th month it's just you and that last monkey-flocker; then you really dig in and see his ass off too till it's just you and no cigarettes.

So far I've mentally asked guy #3 for a cigarrette like 6 times, but he said no, and now he's being a *real* prick about it...

All that said, I just sucked back a little tobacco smoke this morning. Hunter S. Thompson is dead and it seemed an appropriate way to mark the sad occasion.

Yes, last night, in lieu of any tobacco, I threw back several whiskey-n-waters in fond rememberance and honor of him, then ranted illegibly to my dog for several minutes about my lack of willpower regarding nicotene. There really are not, and probably will not, be another journalist with quite the cajones, or mental instability, of that man.

Ragboy, I know your pain my brother. I did the gum several times and it never worked for me... I just chewed more and more and had to start buying cigarrettes again to help me quit that damned expensive gum.

The workouts do help a lot though, especially the exhaustive super-set weight conditioning; it's a great alternative to the illogical nicotene-anxiety-driven urge to hit something really hard when I don't have a bag around to work