Wet Weather Fremen part 4 - Nathair Uisce prepares for battle!

[Hugh]

A bit late to this party due to needing some extra recovery time for an injury. Feeling grand now though

 

Last time I might have bitten off a little more than I could chew so I'll be carrying some of the goals forwards to continue exploring them. Other things were ideas and experiments that perhaps didn't go as planned.

A truncated version of my last goals and how I did:

Kobudo - not too bad... though not as good as I'd like. 

HEMA - Got the longsword syllabus done.

Katana - not good. Only did a couple of practice sessions.

Spear - Pretty good. 

Conditioning - Did a few sessions but not as many as I should have.... Definitely a good workout for my next 4WC.

 

I have a few things going on this next month...

 

I've got a HEMA seminar / tournament coming up in a couple of weeks. Gotta train for this. Prepare for Battle!

 

I have been failing to properly implement frequent moderate exercise so have decided to make a small, simple commitment to go for a 20 minute walk/jog/run each day time I am sitting about at my friend's house while my wife is working (PA for said friend). I can even take my friend's dog for a run about while I'm at it

My cardiovascular system and blood pressure will thank me.

 

Specifics:

Martial Arts Training:

HEMA: Twice  a week, sparring at least once a week.

Karate / Kobudo: practice my karate katas twice a week and my kobudo katas once a week.

 

My usual training isn't making me a better fighter...

 

 

Cardio:

20 minutes of walk/jog/run fartlek exercise each day I'm waiting about for my wife at work (three days a week - typically Monday, Tuesday and Friday)

 

 

Workouts... for the sake of workouts:

Once a week - bodyweight (and maybe kettlebell) workout including a conditioning section, HEMA-Style like last 4WC. 

 

 

DON'T INJURE MYSELF:

For the last couple of weeks I've been hobbling about with either a damaged achilles tendon or a pulled lumbar muscle...  need to take it easy and not damage myself again for a while (especially not before the tournament - I want to represent my club without limping too much...). I'm sick of lurching about like Igor...

 

 

Compete in the Longsword Tornament at  Féile na Gaiscígh. 

Not a training goal so much as a milestone / club outing. (Mustn't drink too much on the Saturday night ...  )

Want to do better than last time when I was knocked out in my first fight.

 

 

[Kishi]

Glad to see you again, boss! Looks like you're back on your feet. Now to train and get anti-fragile so that you don't get injured again. Can't fight with swords if you're hurt.

[theodinspire]

Yay! Another swordsperson!

[Teirin]

Great!  How is it going so far?

[Hugh]

Been somewhat remiss in posting updates since my OP. Apologies - been surprisingly busy.

 

martial arts:

HEMA - all good. plenty of practice and sparring.

Karate/kobudo: Less karate practice done than I'd like. and no kobudo at all - been so focused on the HEMA. :-(

 

cardio:

Did the frequency as intended but had to keep the intensity down to mostly walking as my Achilles tendon is still tender and i REALLY don't want to aggravate the old injury (again). 

 

workouts:

Hmm. not so good - again I'm worried about my Achilles so have been taking it easier than intended but I've made my HEMA warm ups / sparring a bit more intense to try to compensate. Still... not good.

 

injuries:

This has ended up being one of my two main focuses this 4WC, along with HEMA. Keeping the joint mobile and stretching the calf muscles. I think I'm at the age where injury prevention is becoming more and more a priority as it takes longer to bounce back these days.

 

tournament:

Wow. What an event! Took part and fought with enthusiasm and aplomb. Won some, lost some. Didn't make the quarter finals but I don't mind as the quality of the fencing was excellent and there's no shame losing to a superior opponent. 

Also, I sparred with, or met in tourney, all three medalists. I didn't beat them by any stretch but did OK and learned a lot from them (especially as one of them also taught workshops at the event).

Also learned a lot form the workshops - longsword (bio-mechanics of the zwerchhau), messer (basics of Leckuchner), sidesword & dagger (basics of Marozzo and another master who's name I can't remember).

 

If anyone's interested, here are videos of the longsword tournament final bouts for the medals:
Bronze.

Silver and Gold.

 

There's a few days left in this 4WC and I'm still keeping it going. more "cardio" in a few mins (i.e. walking - Achilles still a bit weak). Karate tomorrow. HEMA Thursday. etc...

 

 

 

 

 

[Kishi]

It's okay, man. I didn't end up coming around as often as I would have wanted either. But! It sounds like things kept up for you here. And it's cool that you got involved in a tournament - those are things that galvanize training in ways that you just can't appreciate without having been in there.

 

And hey, going easy is worlds better than injuring and re-injuring yourself. You get a training effect from the training you can do, right?