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Wahad's HEMA journey [Part AMA/Part general thread]
#1
Wahad
Wahad
So, hi. Haven't posted here in a while. Life happens, and stuff. But, as part of life, I have now almost a year of HEMA under my belt, and I'm having a blast. So I thought I'd write about it and make a thread, see if we have any other likeminded folks and maybe answer questions people might have about HEMA.
Flashback to about a year ago. I was doing my usual nothing much interesting, and decided I wanted to start doing something to exercise again. With the Covid pandemic (and lack of motivation before that) I hadn't done any serious exercise in about six years, so it was time for a change. I have a history of doing athletics, mostly during high school and a little bit after, but I just could not bring the motivation to consistently do running by myself. So I went looking for something that was new and exciting and in a club-/team-related environment, so that I could have external motivation to do stuff. However, ball sports don't really attract me that much, and so I quickly went looking at other sports.
I've always kind of enjoyed martial arts from a distance, but I wasn't really sure what sort of martial arts would really fit me. So as I went looking for things that were offered around me, I found some wing chun, karate, judo, the usual suspects - and two HEMA clubs. My only contact up until this point with HEMA was 1 workshop doing longsword - which was alright, but didn't really appeal to me, and some basic clips on youtube. One of the HEMA clubs focused exclusively on longsword and seemed to be a bit strict from the website, so instead, I contacted the other club, which does rapier fencing.
Three trial lessons later and I was absolutely sold. For those not in the know, this is a rapier:
It is a one-handed sword, made for thrusting more than cutting. Think the Three Musketeers, or Zorro, or Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride.
Flash forward almost exactly a year to the date later, and I've fully immersed in the club, attending lessons (almost) every week, and generally swinging a sword around looking like I know what I'm doing. While it's not doing wonders for my stamina just yet - having lessons only once a week doesn't exactly give me much progress in that area - I'm having fun nonetheless, and a little bit of exercise is better than none.
So there you have it! Come join me in talking about HEMA and/or ask me questions if you like. And have some more pictures of me in action (and the black-and-red pants) while I'm at it (just exercises, not in a full spar):
Flashback to about a year ago. I was doing my usual nothing much interesting, and decided I wanted to start doing something to exercise again. With the Covid pandemic (and lack of motivation before that) I hadn't done any serious exercise in about six years, so it was time for a change. I have a history of doing athletics, mostly during high school and a little bit after, but I just could not bring the motivation to consistently do running by myself. So I went looking for something that was new and exciting and in a club-/team-related environment, so that I could have external motivation to do stuff. However, ball sports don't really attract me that much, and so I quickly went looking at other sports.
I've always kind of enjoyed martial arts from a distance, but I wasn't really sure what sort of martial arts would really fit me. So as I went looking for things that were offered around me, I found some wing chun, karate, judo, the usual suspects - and two HEMA clubs. My only contact up until this point with HEMA was 1 workshop doing longsword - which was alright, but didn't really appeal to me, and some basic clips on youtube. One of the HEMA clubs focused exclusively on longsword and seemed to be a bit strict from the website, so instead, I contacted the other club, which does rapier fencing.
Three trial lessons later and I was absolutely sold. For those not in the know, this is a rapier:
It is a one-handed sword, made for thrusting more than cutting. Think the Three Musketeers, or Zorro, or Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride.
Flash forward almost exactly a year to the date later, and I've fully immersed in the club, attending lessons (almost) every week, and generally swinging a sword around looking like I know what I'm doing. While it's not doing wonders for my stamina just yet - having lessons only once a week doesn't exactly give me much progress in that area - I'm having fun nonetheless, and a little bit of exercise is better than none.
So there you have it! Come join me in talking about HEMA and/or ask me questions if you like. And have some more pictures of me in action (and the black-and-red pants) while I'm at it (just exercises, not in a full spar):
#2
PatrThom
PatrThom