Time For A Change.

According to some traditions, a new year started a couple of days ago.

In that spirit, I've been meaning to make a resolution, and now, it seems, is as good a time as any to do so.

For the last year or so, I've been extremely busy. To be honest, I've been working on things pretty much 7 days a week for most of it. I really wasn't kidding when I said that taking the day and a half off was a rare chance.

Hopefully that will change for the better soon (and I'm working toward that end), but until then, I just have to deal with it.

That said, the schedule I've been running on (or being run over by depending on how you look at it) has left me with a problem - I haven't been as active as I should be.

To tell the truth, I feel slow and stiff lately. Granted, my "slow and stiff" is still faster and more graceful than most people on a good day, but by my standards, I've slipped more than a little.

In order to remedy this, I have decided to try to carve out some time to start training again. I'm going to have to ease back into it because I haven't for a while, but thankfully I know what I'm doing and how far/hard I can push myself (this is one of the things that having had a really good sifu will get you).

Talking with Karyl about this earlier today, we decided that I should at least try to get back to where I was when I was in college putting the fencing team through its paces and playing with the local black belts. Personally, I want to not only get back there but surpass it. It will take time and effort, but I think it will be worth it.

I made the comment that I want to be skinny, and it was pointed out that, by normal concepts of skinny, that's not going to happen and that "lean" would be a better word to use. She's right. Skinny really doesn't fit with the size of my frame and the amount of muscle that I have (even given my decreased activity of late).

Starting out, I think it's best that I work on strength, flexibility, and endurance. From there, I'll add targeting and fine motor control training.

In my opinion, the last two things on the list have slipped even though they're still better than most of the people I've gone up against. I used to target within 1/2" of a thumbtack sized target at full extension (using either a rapier or a hand and a half sword). Now it's within 1" of a 1" target. Both are, by most people's standards, quite good, but I dislike that I've let myself go a bit. I'm better than that, and I know it.

Now it's time to prove it, and get back on top of things again. By the end of this, I want to lose the tummy, regain my flexibility, and hopefully have my stamina back.

Current mood: pondering
Current music: Bodyrockers - Round & Round

The Basics.

When I was a child, my sifu used to tell me that while learning to fight properly was an important part of my training, the basics were far more useful.

Focus on your stance, posture, breathing, and small movements, because fighting can get you out of some bad situations, but the basics can help you with so much more.

The longer I travel on my path, the more I see that he was right.

The ability to fight has indeed gotten me out of some bad situations, and even helped save my life and the lives of a couple of other people. However, those basics help me focus and clear my mind when I get overwhelmed with things in my life.

Focus on stance, posture, breathing, and small movements.

With those four simple tools, I can work to pull myself together when I start to fall apart. That isn’t to say that they cure everything or make everything “all better”. Nothing will do that, and anyone who tells you differently is lying to you (and possibly to themselves).

For me, those four basic things help me regain enough mental and physical composure to attempt to keep going when things feel like they are going to become unbearable. They allow me to let the flood of problems wash over and around me without drowning me.

For that, I owe him a great deal.

Current mood: …
Current music: Breaking Benjamin – Here We Are

Why yes, I *am* a swordsman...

Slashdot had an article about a book review on what sci-fi technologies may actually be feasible at some point. The thing that made this semi-noteworthy is the fact that the author was Michio Kaku, one of the inventors of string theory.

Among the things he thinks could be possible are light sabers. Of course, there were a number of people that were all for that one, myself included. However, I also had to point out that, being a swordsman, I know full well that most people who tried to use one would end up cutting off various parts of their bodies with them (not that I view this as a necessarily bad thing *grin*).

Slashdot being Slashdot, someone had to come on and tell me that I didn't know jack about anything and that "People who practice with swords are the ones more likely to get hurt bacause it seems like something they are used to, but isn't." (Which isn't true. Only people who are bad at it would have that problem. The people who actually know what they're doing can practice with just a hilt or a simple empty hand and be able to know where the blade would be)

To top it off, in an effort to "prove" that I didn't "know jack" (his words), he demanded to know how many life and death combat situations I'd been in.

*smirks*

I don't think he was expecting the answer that he got, which was a non-zero number (and further explained that it was a lowball number because there were other attempts to shorten my life over the years, but they weren't very good, so I only counted the ones I saw as a real threat). I then asked him how many *he'd* been in =]

Believe it or not, there have been some people out there that *really* didn't like me (hard to believe, I know. Lovable cuss that I am heh), and there have been situations where I've ended up in, shall we say, the strange place at the interesting time (sometimes that means that you get a fun/interesting opportunity and other times it can mean that someone wants to put a few new holes in you...).

I also don't think he was expecting to find out that I've been training as long as I have... Heck, *I* have a hard time wrapping my head around that one sometimes because I never really think of it that way, and it's such a large portion of my life.

He never said another word.

Funny that.

Sorry, but the whole thing just amused me. It happens sometimes.

(Yes, I know I haven't been updating lately. I really need to work on that among everything else that I'm doing. Bad James! Bad! Bad James!)

Current mood: amused
Current music: A Perfect Circle - 3 Libras

Grace vs. Force

It seems like most martial artists that you see now are taught to focus on raw strength. They all just try to overpower their opponents. It’s all just punch and kick faster and harder than the other guy to them.

It seems to be an American thing. Think of the most popular American sport – football. The biggest part of what’s drilled into the head of the people who play it from the time they’re kids is that you hit the other guy as hard as you possibly can.

As a consequence, they tend to lack grace. Their motions are jerky and disjointed. Their balance is not the greatest, and they aren’t prepared for surprises because they expect the other guy to be doing pretty much the same thing.

The real practice of martial arts, as opposed to simply being a bruiser like most of them try to be now, requires a great deal of grace, finesse, and balance. In fact, it has a lot in common with dancing – one motion flows into another.

Your opponent moves and you counter, avoiding his strike and flowing into the opening that his attack creates.

Strength often takes a back seat to grace in the actual practice of martial arts. People are very fragile creatures. It doesn’t take a lot to incapacitate, injure, or even kill. The only thing going at an opponent full force generally does is make you tired.

I’ve seen the same thing over and over again. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s watching a couple of karate-ka spar or trying to teach people how to fence. They almost always seem to want to simply overpower their opponents.

Granted, it can work sometimes, but if you ever face someone who uses finesse instead of force and try to force your way through the fight, you fall flat on your face. This is something that most of the fencers learned when they fought me.

Personally, I would advocate that all martial artists learn to dance. I know it sounds silly to most people, but the movements have a lot in common. It’s a matter of grace. In fact, a lot of people who have seen me use a blade can tell you just how much it looks like a dance.

There’s one other advantage to learning to dance – it’s a wonderful social skill. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this area (and others that I’ve been in) who think that dancing is completely the opposite of everything masculine. Of course, they also think the same thing of anything artistic.

The Midwest seems to be especially bad about that mindset. In high school, I was at a friend’s house when his stepfather came home. Since I’m a fairly large guy, he asked me if I played football. I told him it didn’t really interest me. The immediate follow up was along the lines of “What are you? A sissy? You probably play flute in the band don’t you?” in a rather taunting voice since, of course, football is the only thing that matters in this life.

My friend turned pale, afraid that I was going to kill his stepfather.

The thing is that it isn’t an isolated incident. In fact, it’s pretty widespread. It’s a shame really. I think the world would be a little better off if people relied less on brute strength and more on grace, finesse, and judgment.

Current mood: contemplative
Current music: Loreena McKennitt – Between the Shadows

Scent and Memory

It sometimes amazes me how much of an effect some smells have on me.

I know they say that smell is the sense with the closest ties to memory, but sometimes it’s surprising that the memories come with a depth of feeling that you wouldn’t believe possible until you experience them.

Of course, a lot of us have the memory triggers from certain perfumes or shampoos or what have you that remind us of our first love (I know that I do). However, I have some that a lot of people would consider odd.

A lot of my childhood involved training in martial arts – first kung fu and then European and Japanese sword arts. Sometimes I think they were the happiest times in my life until I met my first love.

As a result, two of my major scent triggers (other than the aforementioned shampoo, perfume, and makeup) are well worn leather and cosmoline (gun grease).

Of course, the leather comes into play because of my harnesses, belts, baldrics, scabbards and gloves (who would ever guess all of the straps and things you have to wear). The deep, musky smell of leather gloves or baldrics which have had the dyes cured into them by the sweat of your body is just somehow very intoxicating (and a darn site more pleasant than the black and blue stains the leather leaves on your hands and chest before the dyes have been locked in by the salt – ask Karyl about the screaming blue hands).

There are probably, however, some people who are wondering what gun lube has to do with martial arts. The answer is simple – good carbon steel blades will rust if they’re not properly lubricated and I try not to buy blades that I wouldn’t be willing to use anymore (which means that they’re all good carbon steel blades).

The same was true of my sifu and my other teachers, so I have a lot of memories that involve the smell of well worn leather and cosmoline. It reminds me of times with the grass beneath my feet and the wind ruffling my hair and fighting robes, blade in hand, standing lightly and waiting to respond to the situation facing me. It’s a very serene feeling that I think more people should be able to experience.

It’s the place where you simultaneously loose yourself and find yourself, and I have to say that it gives you a different perspective on a lot of things.

It was enough of an influence on me that, after the relationship with my ex ended, my style of dress changed as well – back to one more reminiscent of my training clothing. Simple, comfortable, flowing shirts and pants that were almost monk-like in style (Loose black semi button up shirts with no appreciable collar and loose black pants).

I spent a lot of time at the lake training and meditating. It was my way to find myself again. Amusingly it also frequently got me accused of looking like a monk, a priest, or a mercenary.

What brought up this trip down memory lane? Taking care of my blades, of course. After all, I don’t want them to rust. I have too much respect for them to do that. Ask any of the fencers I chided for not taking care of their equipment while I was teaching them in college.

Current mood: tired
Current music: Papa Roach – Forever

Happy Birthday To Me

For my birthday, the world gave to me…

A mild case of sun poisoning.

I decided to take the day off (after all, who wants to work on their birthday?) and head to the lake.

Taking along an ample supply of water and my new blade, I spent a few hours training and meditating. Unfortunately, there’s that whole problem of my being photosensitive.

Generally, it’s just a matter of wearing sunglasses since bright light really adversely affects my eyesight (on the upside, I see really well at night). However, after a winter of being cooped up, my body wasn’t used to the UV radiation and I got a sunburn and mild case of sun poisoning because there was basically zero cloud cover today.

Nothing too serious. I should be back to normal in a day or so. In the meantime, I’ll just be kind of drained and a bit queasy.

Make the pasty skinned geek comments if you like, but it’s a problem I’ve had since I was a kid. I’m just usually outside enough to have my body used to it. It’s simply that the weather was crappy during the winter (which only seems to have recently ended here) so I didn’t go out too much during the day.

On the upside, I have decided that I really like the new sword. Yes, I bought myself a new sword. If you trained with them since you were a kid, you’d occasionally buy yourself one too.

Truth be told, while I was at it, I picked up an equally well made parrying dagger to go with it.

After all, this blog is titled “Code Poet, Swordsman, Eternal Wanderer” for a reason. With basically any of my blades, my well-worn black suede jacket (which has seen many many miles over the years) and my black messenger bag, I even look the part of the wandering swordsman.

This particular blade is a slim backsword (think of a saber and now straighten the blade) modeled after the 1840 US issue NCO sword which was, in turn, based off of a French model (just like the US cavalry swords of the era were).

It’s hand forged, wonderfully tempered, and handles like a dream. At a waspish 1.5-2lbs including its solid brass hilt, it is definitely a blade made for finesse instead of force.

No frills, no fancy scrolling or etching on the blade, just a solid, simple, well made sword that, in its plainness, even manages to look a bit dressy.

I can safely say that the people I taught in college fencing would have envied it.

I can also say that, despite the sun poisoning, I really needed the day of meditation. I feel a little better for it, though I admit that I wish I could have taken up my old friend on her offer of running away to California to be with her for a while.

Current mood: tired
Current music: Dirty Vegas – A Million Ways

Weapons and Extreme Fighting

Let me just preface this entry with a little history about myself.

I grew up training martially (primarily kung fu with cross training in Japanese and European sword arts as well as a bit of muay thai). I got my first sword at the age of ten, but I was training before that point.

Suffice it to say that I know a little bit about martial arts and weaponry. It’s not something I go out of my way to point out, and I don’t show off. It’s just a part of my life and has been for a long time.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the two related topics for the evening.

For the last several years, extreme fighting has been all the rage. People seem to be really enthralled by the whole thing and try to bill it as some kind of knock down, drag out, no holds barred affair.

I’ve met several people who participate in matches. Most of the ones I’ve known are loud mouthed and more ego than skill. They’re very cocky and like to throw their weight around.

I found out that this isn’t just limited to the area ones that I’ve met. Flipping through the channels a few days ago, I came across one of their televised fights. I could only bring myself to watch about a minute of the first round.

No holds barred my foot. It basically boiled down to Americanized kickboxing with a bit of grappling and a little bit of submission based moves. In the first minute, I counted at least three times for each fighter when his opponent could have easily broken the person’s arm or leg due to the absolutely sloppy attacks. There were also several opportunities for faceplanting one of the two on the mat.

The kicks were too high, the punches were too slow and lacked power, and almost all of the attacks looked like they’d been performed by someone who had only been training martially for a month or two.

If this is “extreme” fighting, what the heck was I doing as a kid while training with my sifu?

Here’s the truth about fighting – most real fights between two people don’t tend to last much more than a minute or so if even that long. If they last longer than that, one of three things is usually the cause:

1) Neither party involved is very good.
2) Both parties are either really good or evenly matched.
3) The person who actually knows how to fight is trying not to hurt the other person.

The reason that these matches last so long (and why they have weight classes) is because there are so many rules concerning what you aren’t allowed to do. This, by its very nature, throws the “no holds barred” thing that a lot of people talk about out the window.

In an actual fight it doesn’t really matter who is bigger if you actually know what you are doing (in fact, little people can have certain advantages), and there are no rules preventing you from doing things like grabbing your opponent’s hand when he throws a clumsy punch and, using a grip on his thumb while applying the properly directed force, turning it so that it locks his wrist, then his elbow, in turn his shoulder, and then continuing the motion until one of those joints breaks like a matchstick (usually his elbow – it’s just the way that the leverage tends to work out).

I’m not advising that you do this. I’m only saying that it can be done and is a whole lot simpler than a lot of people seem to think. It is completely possible (and generally advisable) to stop at locking his shoulder or elbow because you’ve basically got him incapacitated at that point; especially if you can force him into a wall, or put him face first on a table in that situation. A little bit of pain can do great things like turning people who would otherwise want to knock your head off of your shoulders into your best friend who doesn’t want to hurt you anymore (at least until you let go).

Trust me. I know. On the whole, I don’t like to fight and I don’t really like to hurt people, but I like people trying to hurt me even less. I’d rather we all be civil and enjoy our lives, but I figure a little temporary pain on their part is okay if it can prevent lasting pain on my part.

I’m weird like that.

The point is that the people who do these sorts of matches have to take way too many things for granted (oh no, my opponent won’t hit me there). While this may not seem like a big deal, it turns into a real disadvantage in real-life situations. It causes your body to become accustomed to certain movements or not having to worry about certain defenses. This means that, in a real fight, not only do you not take advantage of a lot of openings that you’re presented with because you’ve trained your body not to, but you also leave yourself wide open for someone who doesn’t fight “fair” and isn’t above exploiting your muscle memory.

They’re really not as extreme as they try to bill themselves.

------

Okay, now it’s time for part two – weaponry (hey, I made the point about training with a sword for a reason)

While surfing the web last night, I ran across a site where people were talking about their armories.

Don’t look at me like that. Chances are that, if you train in a martial art that involves weapons, after a while, you start to amass a collection of your own. Besides that, a lot of people just like to collect them because they think that they look impressive, or because they love the history behind them, or whatever other reason they may have.

The thing that got me about this site was that these people, many of whom claim to actually use theirs for training, were discussing the quality of their various pieces. This in itself is not weird. What was weird was the way they were assessing the quality.

Their main points were how the weapon felt (which is important), and how it looked – specifically how the furniture (guard, pommel, etc) looked. Almost none of them commented on the quality of the blades themselves at all.

I’m sorry, people, but I will tolerate a guard which isn’t perfectly shiny or which has a small cosmetic imperfection a looooong time before I will tolerate a poorly made blade or one which has a bad temper. A lot of my swords are now far from shiny in the furniture department because I actually train with them (to the point that the grips of some of them are polished smooth from use).

I can tell you that, if that blade snaps, you and everyone around you are at risk for getting hurt.

One of the really great ones that I saw on there was one person who claimed that the last time he bought a weapon from one of the places that I prefer to get my blades from, it was total and utter crap. The catch is that the last time he got one from there was 15 years ago (by his own admission) and that he started hearing that they were improving, so he decided to get another piece from there to see for himself.

He had complaints about the cosmetics of the furniture, and that the grip wasn’t perfectly symmetrical (grips very rarely are unless they are either cast, done by computer or perfectly round). Another of his complaints was that the scabbard was not perfectly snug, so the sword might occasionally rattle when sheathed (scabbards should not be perfectly snug. If they’re too tight, it takes too long to draw the blade and you can damage the blade by trying to force it into a scabbard that is too bloody tight). These were big deals to him.

This is the sign that you’re dealing with someone looking for something pretty and not something to actually use. The truth is that this company makes very good blades for the price and that they stand up to actual use. In fact, one of the period style axes that they made has become a favorite of mine to take camping because it works wonderfully (throws well too).

He then went on to say that he tried to use it for a while, and the pommel shifted. Folks, if the pommel screws on, it’s going to shift a little with use. All you do is move it back into a proper position. It’s part of the typical repairs which you make.

His solution? He used loctite to hold it in place.

Let me say that in a different way – he used a permanent or semi-permanent adhesive (which is a pain to break free and gums up the threads. Yes, even the blue stuff) to stop a part that is made to be occasionally moved from moving.

The reason the pommel was threaded onto the tang was so that the sword could be worked on a bit easier (and this company doesn’t just weld a piece of all-thread onto the end of the blade. It’s all one piece, they just thread the end). Trust me, if you ever break a grip, you’ll be glad that you can replace it easily (well, as easily as carving a replacement can be, anyway).

The people on there also went on about how superior custom made blades were compared to the ones that you can just buy. In some respects that’s true. However, there comes a point where the expense isn’t worth it.

All swords break after they’ve been used for so long. It doesn’t matter if it’s a well made $250 sword or if it’s a $5000 custom job. If you use them, there will be a point in time that they will break. You take care of them, and make sure to not abuse them, but they will eventually break, and then you will have at least two pieces of metal.

Sorry, I’m not into status contests over who paid more or which is shinier. I buy mine to use. For me, the blade quality and temper, balance, weight, and functional quality of furniture are important. Shiny doesn’t matter because, while I keep the blades oiled and well cared for, they do eventually darken a bit.

Considering that most of the people there were just looking for pretty things, somehow I’m not surprised that most of them thought that really expensive and shiny was better.

Current mood: my head hurts
Current music: Kim Ferron – Nothing but you