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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 17:08:10 GMT
Moving to my new house with the family has been great so far, and we have a nice smallish garden which I have been able to swing my sword around in - but now we are all settled in Mum is making the garden look amazing (she is a keen gardener!) so my training space has somewhat disappeared. We have a small decked area which is just about big enough for me to swing a single handed sword around without it hitting anything - but I have no room for practicing footwork whatsoever. There are plenty of walkways/cycle paths around the house but it's quite a residential area with plenty of dog walkers and the suchlike - there is an area of grass nearby that is well maintained, but it is again surrounded by nearby houses and dog walkers (see picture) There is also a dog-walker's field further down the river, but for the majority of the time the grass is ankle/knee height which makes it difficult to do footwork. I don't have any gyms or tennis courts that are within walking distance - but I'm not even sure what kind of place would let me swing even my rawlings synthetic sword around even if i hopped on the bus (gear in bag of course). I was wondering if anyone had any comments/thoughts or suggestions on where I could practice learning I.33 when I'm not in club sessions? I'm quite a beginner with I.33 so any practice of drills and techniques learned helps greatly. Where do you train in your free time? Many thanks! Attachments:
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Post by adtharp on Jul 3, 2012 17:25:28 GMT
When I was in Oxford we would just train using blunted swords in the park and that didn't seem to be any problem. Never had the bobbies called on us or anything . I would try and figure out who owns that green space (municipal or private). If it is private, I would just ask the owner - doubt they would have a problem with synthetic swords. If it is municipal I think you are probably fine to just use it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 17:28:34 GMT
I can't help much with location suggestions, but I do feel your pain. I have a small room in my house which I leave empty in case I need it for small studio work (ie, product photography, etc.). That's what I practice my daily swings in, but my ceiling is low so I can't do any overhead swings (ie, like men). With a wooden bokken I can practice with a little bit of footwork, but with a live blade I have to practice swings only with feet in place for the safety of my walls, lol. On the plus side, that does help to train you to fight in closed spaces, which in my opinion is more of a reality to true life fighting than a huge airy dojo. You can still train to perfect some useful skills, even if you don't get the chance to vary it up much. Take advantage of what you do have. Somebody who trains in tight spaces can still fight in open spaces, but a person who only trains in open spaces will have trouble fighting in tight spaces. Of course, I also have a backyard... xDI see you are close to a river... is there a ravine near by that you can practice in? Those are usually secluded enough areas, or perhaps along the riverbank? You should be able to practice footing without worrying about tall grass there.
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Post by ineffableone on Jul 3, 2012 17:29:53 GMT
I am lucky enough to have a nice large forested back yard that is mostly private, at least until someone decides to move into the empty house that faces it. That yard has a nice large 50'x 50' open clearing that I do most of my training in. Nice part too is the area is an old stream channel but the stream is no longer running as it was diverted long ago up stream. This makes it lower than the houses around and sheltered by being down hill as well as with trees and brush.
As for where you can practice. Is it laws preventing you from practising out in the grass field? Or not wanting to be on display and/or wanting to avoid doggie landmines?
That field seems like the ideal place if you can legally use it. We don't want you to get in trouble though. Definitely helps to have a good place to practice.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 19:05:30 GMT
Some wise words right there! The riverbank closest to me isn't that wide and has a slope to it, dog mess aside I think I'd probably be a little too close to the path for cyclists & walkers' comfort zones. As far as I'm aware there are no laws as it would be my synthetic sword (no cutting with steel or anything). Pretty certain that patch of grass is public as it is maintained by the same grass cutters for the entire riverbank. Being on display feels awkward as a beginner (and also being a girl with a sword), there are always onlookers with the paths nearby - but to combat this I could try and get up really early when there are fewer people out. I'd love to train in the rain (it's England after all! WHAT SUMMER!?) but wet grass really doesn't appeal to me and I'd have to dry off and probably oil my steel buckler each time. If only I could train with my brother :cry: Having a training/sparring partner would be awesome
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Razor
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Post by Razor on Jul 4, 2012 4:26:16 GMT
How about your driveway? I have trained in parks a lot. Most of the time people don't bug us. Mostly watch and ask some qustions, usually it will be kids(they just love it) But the people that bug me are the ones who want to see us fight. They ask when we are and get mad when we tell them we are just training right now. Like we are there for their entertainment :roll: . But the good thing about training in public places, is you might find others that are interested in learning to. So you might find other training partners. You should get a synthetic buckler for your synthetic sword. Then you could train in the rain. That way you will have a synthetic set and a steel set for your practise. kultofathena.com/product.asp?ite ... ng+Buckler I just order two of them to go with my syntetic basket hilt swords.
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Post by deejay on Jul 4, 2012 13:46:56 GMT
I usaully train in my backyard or down on the local beach-actually have a choice of 3 to go to-people usually get bored of watching the old guy quickly and wander off.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2012 17:05:05 GMT
You're going to get funny looks at the least wherever you practice in public. Best bet is to look around until you find somewhere secluded.
I used to practice in my folks back garden and even then got some funny looks from nosy neighbours. When I moved out, the new house has a much smaller back garden and I've not yet plucked up the courage to strut my stuff out there, even with 6' high fences!
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Sam H
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Post by Sam H on Jul 5, 2012 17:20:05 GMT
Training in your driveway/back yard is a good idea. You may get odd looks from pedestrians but at least you're on your own property and you won't be in any danger of getting in trouble.
Personally I have just started training again after a long medical leave from it and I do so in my yard. More often than not I just get my neighbors stopping by to see what I was doing and ask if its difficult. I also have use of several acres of land that I can train in - its got varying terrain, grassy field, hills, woods and even some sand.
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Post by johnwalter on Jul 5, 2012 18:31:00 GMT
Is there a gym nearby you could join and possible use an aerobics room,or the like,when there isnt a class going on. Or a local Y where you could book a racquet ball room?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2012 4:04:37 GMT
not 100% directly related, but it may help.
I train Shotokan Karate with a very traditional dojo. One of the major excuses that come up is "I have no space to train katas"(the choreographed forms)
Our sensei tells us how to overcome this in two ways. one, we can break the kata up into bite sized pieces. Practice each piece(several moves) individually, and then in the dojo or somewhere larger, we can stitch the whole thing togeather. it works well.
The other thing that we have is a couple of "practice" katas. They take up very little space. In fact one, called huppugeri(8 kicks) only uses about 2 metersX2meter in a square shape. No it is not fancy, but it, if used correctly, allows us to practice several core values/drills of our art.
Is there somewhere that you can find something like this to do?
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