As I have been recuperating I haven't been out and about much lately. Also the weather here in the UK has been foul. Lots of rain, thunder and lightning and grey sullen clouds covering the sky. Anyway, I thought I would share one of my other hobbies with you which is historical fencing.I have been practicing this for nearly six months now but it is something I ahve always wanted to learn having watched films like 'Excaliber' when I was younger. The picture on the right is of my hand and a half sword which I love using. It was a present and has a wire bound leather hilt and has been hand crafted. It has a double fullered blade and a simple cross guard. At the moment it is the only one like it! It is so light to use which is ideal as it means my arms don't tire so easily and I can move more quickly.
The main problem I have is with getting armour. The men (I am the only female in the group) have no problem obtaining gambesons to absorb the blows (steel still hurts even if you pull the blows) but no-one seems to cater for women. I have got a fencing mask though which is handy.At the moment I am not that great but apparently I am coming along nicely. All I know is that I get beaten most of the time! It is actually a great way to exercise as there is a lot of movement involved so you can get a good cardio workout but you also get to use your mind as well as you try and out wit your opponent which is a lot less boring than pounding away on a treadmill in a gym (although I do that as well). Anyway, I hope to get back to training really soon. So what do you do at the weekend?
6 comments:
Very interesting! The only fencing I ever did was at Drama School...we actually had a class in "fencing". But that was a million yesrs ago and it was not serious the way this is. Ours was for the stage, you know? This sounds really quite Real...Armor and all! Good for you my dear Bob-Kat! Hope you can get back to it soon.
That's incredible! I've watched some movies like the one you mentioned, and I never thought I would actually meet someone who did this as a hobby. I wonder if you could teach me your skills, Ms. Bobcat! I think that would make for a very interesting time, don't you think? ;)
I didn't know about historical fencing! my son's friend is a local fencing champion so I only know about this!
We have a replica of the spade used by the Spanish Duke of Alba, which we got in Toledo,Spain, the place to buy spades :)
Hope you can get back to training soon, so that we can see your armor too!
We love to go for long walks on the weekends but not in august, it is still too hor around here!
Here's a definition for you of historical fencing:
Historical fencing is a type of historical martial arts reconstruction based on the surviving texts and traditions. Predictably, historical fencers study an extremely wide array of weapons from different regions and periods. They may work with bucklers, daggers, polearms, bludgeoning weapons, etc.
Thanks for the viit...hope you are continueing to recoop!
I think I posted quite a few pictures of stuff in the neighborhood back in February & March & April...you might take a look at the archives to see some of the sights of my street....Interesting homes in these hills....!
Looking forward to seeing Wendy later in the day!
Hope you are feeling much much better, my dear!
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