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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2007 10:33:49 GMT
I have made some updates to my strength training website and I invite you all to take a look and see if any information might be useful to you. I have over 20 years experience in strength training. I find being at my strongest gives me many advantages in fighting. Not that I depend on strength to win, but it is an additional option for me to use when I want to. In melee being stronger offers a clear advantage. Melees often turn into pushing contests as one side tries to out-manuver the other. It allows me to wear more armor (get less bruises) and move easily in that armor. In singles combat it allows me to preform some shield hooks and weapon presses. It also means that I don't need to put too much effort into my strikes. I don't need to windup the weapon for momentum. I can make short, sudden strikes with little warning. In rapier I am able to use a 47 inch rapier and move it like a 40 inch rapier. This gives me a tremendous reach advantage in a primarily thrusting game. It is kind of funny, because in my rapier group there is not pushing or grappling allowed. However, my strength gives me more of an advantage in rapier fighting then in any other form I fight. My rapier fencing is better then longsword or sword & shield. Rapier is a game of finesse. With strength, a am able to finesse a longer rapier. Rapier is where I win the most fights. In archery I am able to use a bow with a heavier draw-weight. Most people use a 35 lb for accuracy. I use a 65 lb for accuracy. The benefit is that at 40 yards I only need pitch the bow slightly above the target. I could use a 120 lb with decreased accuracy and more penetrating power. Most people can't do that. They draw my 65 lb bow with the same effort and loss of accuracy as when I draw 120 lb. Here is a link to my strength training webpage: mysite.verizon.net/tsafa1/workout.htm
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2007 14:48:20 GMT
I could take this into account for football training as well.
In the weight-room:
"Sorry coach. Im doing the swordsman workout today."
Lol
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2007 15:00:21 GMT
Remind me not to mess with Bill when we revert to the dark ages after a nuclear holocaust, and everything goes back to a feudal-tribal system. I'll be joining his tribe.
That's pretty similar to what I do when I weight lift, and I gotta say I've really improved in the past couple months. Is there anything you DON'T do, sir?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2007 2:13:10 GMT
lol, I try to be a well rounded guy.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2007 22:06:59 GMT
I agree that strength training in todays combat systems is a must. It gives a huge advantage over the guy who doesn't, even if they have more skill. I like Tsafa know what it is like to be in the shield wall mashed between masses of armored combatants.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2007 15:19:03 GMT
It takes a good deal of strength just to stay standing, lol. Kind of like fighting 6 foot ocean waves.
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Post by septofclansinclair on Nov 26, 2007 16:12:10 GMT
Hmm, for a guy my size... I'd probably try to stick to the outskirts of battle, then run in and stab unsuspecting foes. And try not to die, of course, that's always a plus.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2007 20:35:37 GMT
Of course. You're Scottish. We expect that kind of cowardly behavior. But when I die gloriously in battle after felling many foes, and you're alive to enjoy wine and women, I guess you'll have the last laugh.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2007 21:27:50 GMT
Aye, yed be cautious too, if'n yeh only weighed 150 lbs soaking wet!Yeah, I'm skinny. I'd make a better Grey Mouser then a Fafhrd, I'm afraid... www.stormbringer.net/mouser.html
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2007 22:23:27 GMT
You can be a spearman. You can stand behind a shieldwall and thrust over their heads into the face of the enemy.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2007 22:31:44 GMT
Aye that would work.
In fact, I love the spear as a weapon. It's so much faster then most people think. And It's always an advantage to be able to attack your enemy from 7 feet away! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2007 0:04:48 GMT
Ever work out with a double-weight sword? I think that is pretty standard in the SCA by now.
Also, look into the Olympic lifts. You can develop a lot of functional quickness from them.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2007 1:50:43 GMT
Most people just work with 3 lb swords. After much experimentation, I do the same. When I use 4 lb swords and axes my fighting style changes and I end up establishing a different muscle memory. I find I fight better, if I train with the weapon I plan to use. The strength from the weight training carries over without changing my fighting style. I have seen people do some alternative activities to gain strength like going up stairs with someone on their back or doing a thousand push-ups and sit ups. I'm have never been impressed with the results from that kind of training. Those people tend to be slightly better off then people who just depend on their fighting practice to maintain strength. There is a lot of opinions out there on this subject. The fighting videos I have posted in the other thread will give you some idea of how my type of workout helps my fighting.
I did power cleans, snaches and clean-jerks through out high school when I was a competitive shot putter and discus thrower. Many coaches swear by those exercises. I personally find that they are more trouble then they are worth. After you do those exercises you don't want to do anything else. It is also very hard to teach people to do them right. It will typically take me 2 workouts to get someone to bench right, 4 workouts to get someone to squat right, at least 10 workouts to get someone to do cleans and snaches right. The key to these exercises is to understand that all the lifting is done by the legs. You lift the weight up just enough so you can drop your body underneath it and catch it. In the case of the clean-jerk, you catch it across the top of your chest and again use you legs to push the bar over head and lock out. You can't learn it unless you have someone really coach you for a few weeks. You won't find anyone to teach you in a regular gym. These are the reasons I have not included cleans and snaches on my webpage.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2007 19:59:43 GMT
What do you call that exersize thats like a crunch, only instead of bending your knees and folding your arms over your head you keep them strait?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2007 22:28:53 GMT
What do you call that exersize thats like a crunch, only instead of bending your knees and folding your arms over your head you keep them strait? I don't know the name. I do abbs after every workout and I do a number of variations when I do them. Legs straight, knees up, knees wide, legs raised in the air, etc. I do a variation sometimes over a big round ball. This allows me to stretch my abbs to their full range of motion. People in the gym usually do not bother with the name of all the abb exercise variations. Working abbs is not very exciting, but it is necessary.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2007 2:00:41 GMT
Im rather big... I could be a guy in the front ranks of a shield wall, with a longsword by my sides. Cant be much harder than lining up with 300 pount OTs.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2007 2:07:06 GMT
Being big has its advantages in melee. I knew a guy that weighed 275 pounds that ran full speed and just flattened a shield wall! It was amazing to watch. I also know one of the best fighters I have ever seen who is about 5'8" and weighs about 175. He ran at a shield wall and bounced off and landed flat on his back. It was hilarious.
So yeah, being bigger, heavier, and stronger in melee has its advantages and skill does not count for as much.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2007 19:53:39 GMT
I saw a many examples of the benefit and limits of being big in this past weekends melee. In a skirmish where the shieldwall is only one row deep, a big guy can disrupt the line very effectively and create an opportunity for his buddies to absolutely kill everyone as the opposing line breaks up.
When the shieldwall is 2 or more rows deep and braces for the impact the big guy charging is less effective against the front line. That is because the front line is being pushed by at least two guys behind him. So even if the big guy weighs 300 lbs, he is facing off against the combined weight of at least 3 guys which will likely be 600 lbs or more.
It is very hard to time a charge, so that the charging line hits at once. What usually happens when the whole unit charges into a shieldwall that is 2 or more rows deep is the front line hits and then is stopped by the braced shieldwall. The second row of the charging line hits a second later and slams into their own first line, which has already been stopped or even bouncing back into them.
A shieldwall, a few rows deep, that is stopped and braced always has the advantage over the charging line. The best way to beat them is to outflank them. As the line tries to turn, they often loose formation. The front row is no longer being pushed by the back rows. This is where the big guys charging in can be most effective.
In this past weekends meele, the garrison forts had doorways that were only 5 feet wide so it was easy to put up shieldwalls that were 4 or 5 rows deep. Everything bounced off that. Then the attacking side would bring up their spears and try to snipe at the shieldmen's faces. Spearman with good point-control can pick a line apart from out of range. That is when it is useful to have some archers on hand to counter the spearmen.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2007 22:30:50 GMT
thx tsafa as a supplement, i'd like 2 recommend surfing (and those 6 foot waves u mentioned). just treading water in moving water is much like the tai chi/bagua forms. and paddlin is the bomb.
when i can't get 2 water, i like slack-lining (tite-rope walkin) and the indo board (balance board) w/ a medicine ball. medicine ball is the bomb.
i'm more partial 2 the tai chi body--cottony on the outside, steel on the inside, chiefly f/ chi gung. only 3 things needed for training: a jar (medicine ball) to roll; a staff/pole to shake; and a stick to twist. after these, the world's yer oyster. oysters are the bomb.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2007 0:51:35 GMT
thx tsafa as a supplement, i'd like 2 recommend surfing (and those 6 foot waves u mentioned). just treading water in moving water is much like the tai chi/bagua forms. and paddlin is the bomb. when i can't get 2 water, i like slack-lining (tite-rope walkin) and the indo board (balance board) w/ a medicine ball. medicine ball is the bomb. i'm more partial 2 the tai chi body--cottony on the outside, steel on the inside, chiefly f/ chi gung. only 3 things needed for training: a jar (medicine ball) to roll; a staff/pole to shake; and a stick to twist. after these, the world's yer oyster. oysters are the bomb. Last week, my sensei said, "Stand like the floor is moving." Reminds me of the times I have ridden on trains, busses and subways standing up, challenging myself not to support myself with my hands. It's a good exercise, in addition to all the other stuff mentioned here. And it's drier than surfing.
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