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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ledded" data-source="post: 2050522" data-attributes="member: 12744">Amen to that, though the Kenjutsu I did can be very physically taxing, because some of the more complicated kata, plus the kumite (contact sparring), are very energetic.  And we weren't really allowed much 'rest' during class, as our Sensei ran it like a traditional dojo.  But really, instead of being super-intense and fast, it was more like exercises in endurance and stamina (a heavy contact bokutoh gets very heavy after an hour of straight contact kata).  Sounds like you should have tried Epee <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.  Seriously though, my biggest problem was not the rules (because I understand their reasoning behind some of them whether I liked them or not) but the things people would try to come up with to circumvent or take advantage of them that were not even related to good swordfighting, i.e. excessively whippy "flicks" in foil (you fencers know what I'm talking about).  Come on, if I was a real swashbuckler and a guy "whipped" his flimsy sword at me and just barely smacked me with the tip, I'd whip the crossgaurd of my cutlass into his nose... but *nooooooo* they get all upset when you do that in olympic style.  Sheesh, he *has* a mask on. That being so, the best time and some of the best exercise I ever got was when we would do Sunday afternoon "melee" in fencing... line up 5 guys on a side, you get hit by anyone you are sidelined for 20 seconds; 3 hits and you're out for good.  Just enough rules to be safe and 10 guys go at it, using tactics and positioning to gang up on each other.  One of the only times I ever got to feel like Errol Flynn when fencing was fighting off 3 guys coming for me, back to a wall, while I yelled for my buddies to get back in.  Of course, *real* fencers would never do stuff like that, because it might mess up their style (i.e. they'd get trounced).   Yeah, it depends on the people a lot, but it can get kind of frustrating when it gets too "sport".  One thing I loved about my kenjutsu is that while we didnt have unrestricted sparring, our sparring kata were usually active enough to scare the crap out of us, and it was a class for people who were serious about good sword work.  Plus, after you got good enough, they gave ya a real sword and you got to cut up bamboo and stuff, and *that's* when you find out who really knows how to swing that sword.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  That is so cool.  My wife is not much of one for reading guys like Musashi or Yuzan Daidoji or books like Hagakure, the Konjaku Monogatari or Tengu Geijutsuron.  Though she does like to watch my old dojo videos every now and then so she can make witty comments about us all wearing our "funny black skirts" <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.  To think, "I will not think" - This, too, is something in one's thoughts. Simply do not think about not thinking at all. - Takuan <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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