Armoured Combat, Rapier and Solomon Kane.

Been a long while since I posted. Not much to report. Not much to say. I haven't fought heavy since before November sometime. I injured my left elbow, and have been in physio since December. I am now at a point that my physio wants me to give heavy a try and ease back into it. So we shall give that a shot. In other news. I fought rapier last night instead. Sitting and watching practice was boring and I could be using my time more productively. Although I have done some training of my guys and a few others it is few and far between and.... did I mention I haven't fought in several months? So this combined with a new interest in RPGs and such I was on a facebook group where someone was discussing the merits or lack there of, of the new gunslinger class. "How do guns fit into high fantasy!?" Followed by, "Have you not read the Dark Tower trilogy" I personally have not read it, but I wanted to contribute a little, and so I went looking.... If you know me, you know I am a fan of Conan, and love the '82 film. As of recent years I have read more and learned more about Robert E Howard, the creator of Conan as well as other heroes. Heroes like......

Solomon Kane. Wikipedia says this, "Howard described him as a tall, sombre and gloomy man of pale skin, gaunt face and cold eyes, all of it shadowed by a slouch hat. He is dressed entirely in black and his weaponry usually consists of a rapier, a dirk, and a brace of flintlock pistols. During one of his later adventures his friend N'Longa, an African shaman, gave him a juju staff that served as a protection against evil but could easily be wielded as a weapon. It is revealed in another story, "The Footfalls Within", that this is the mythical Staff of Solomon, a talisman older than the Earth and unimaginably powerful, much more so than even N'Longa knew. In the same adventure with N'Longa, Kane is seen using a musket as well." Why is this on my fighting/SCA blog? Some days I am tired and I find the SCA to be too serious. I feel burned out just being in a supporting role along the edges. Rapier is something different, maybe it can be fun? Maybe a change is needed? If a change is needed a new persona is probably needed. I had always assumed I would continue with the Mongol theme in some way. Stay on the Eastern edges of Europe.

Solomon Kane is of course a work of fiction and the character is out of SCA period by about 100 years. So how does this help? Kane is a Puritan. That movement does start within the pre-17th century doctrine of the society. So maybe I look to explore a persona from England. 1599. And? In style and combat? Perhaps I let the hand of Howard guide me somewhat? As I continue along this path, if I do, I will try and update the blog. Right now my list looks like. Research: I know nothing about England. A rapier: SK's main weapon A dirk: SK has a dagger as well 2 pistols: He also has a brace of pistols A staff: and a staff....a magic staff..... :D Clothes: Not sure here. His clothing is of course depicted as late 17th century. A hat: He has a signature hat. Will need something similar from Period. A cloak: Also drawn with a cloak.

Progress: Weekend

I ate too much on Saturday and Sunday.  My average calorie intake was about 2158 (Mon-Sun).


I readjusted my target calories for losing weight and I believe my target is about 2000, so not horrible, but I really do need to clean up my weekends.  Less pizza/ more intelligent pizza buying options.  Or both.




Weekend otherwise was good.  Friday and Saturday were rest days and Sunday was a lifting day: Squats, Bench Press, OHP, Tricep accessory lifts.




I built a simple weight and equipment storage shelf for the garage gym over the weekend and was in general productive. 

General me wise I started learning leather tooling and began working on my new arrows as well.




Also decided I need to do some serious thought about myself and certain behaviors.  In short I wish to be a better person and I wish to have a more positive impact on those around me.

Progress Report: Weekdays recap.

This is an end of workweek recap.

Calories have been pretty much right at 1700, which is my current goal.  Some days a little over, some a little under.  Veggie intake remains up.  Social nights have included food, but in general better choices with available daily calories.  Beer intake has been down.  I will probably have 3 this whole week vs the 6 or 7 I would normally have.

The week looked like this:

Food:
Mon: 1345
Tue: 1934
Wed: 1617
Thu: 1777
4 day avg: 1668

Weights:
Sun: Squat, Close grip Bench, Bench, Overhead press.
Mon: Deadlift, Curl, Rows.
Wed: Squat, Close grip Bench, Bench, Overhead press.
Thur: Deadlift, Curl, Rows.

Practice:
Tue: Archery - New high on our Royal Round
Thur: Fighter practice - one set of passes with Sword and Shield and Two sets with the Zhanmadao.
Friday: Archery - Still to come.

Progress Report

Today is Wednesday.  It has been a couple of days since I laid out a few goals.

As of right now I am on target for my goals, food intake is down, vegetable intake is up, beer intake is down. Sleep is sitting at around 6 1/2 to 7 hours with a good breakfast to start the day.

Sunday and Monday were lifting days, Tuesday was an rest/archery day.  Today is a squat/push day and Tomorrow is deadlift/pull day.

Things are on schedule and we shall continue to move forward and excel at these goals.

Martial Pursuits.

I often complain about people who do not take the fighting aspect of what we do seriously enough.  They can't consistently make practice and they don't make it a priority.  They want to be better, but they do not but in the requisite work.

I do the same thing as this when it comes to my life.  I see myself a certain way, a way that I am often far short of, but I do not do what is required to move in the proper direction.  I want to be in better shape, I want to be more creative and I want to be better in my martial pursuits.

I've been in the SCA since I was 18 years old and I started fighting at 19.


I've taken some breaks here and there, the largest being for school, which was close to 2 years.  Other than that, the majority of the time I have fought between 1 - 2 times a week.

These the Barony hosts a single heavy practice a week, which I make a priority to attend even if I am not fighting.  Last year I took up archery and began target shooting.  I shoot twice a week.  Right now I am shooting or fighting three nights a week.


Unfortunately besides that I have had little physical activity and eat far too much.  These things negatively affect my mental head space and cause a downward spiral.

I see myself as strong, as someone who has been Knighted and as someone who has been Prince.  I know in the past I have physically and largely emotionally turned my life around.  There are days I may look down on myself, but these are typically the result of letting myself down.

Best way to tackle the current life is to identify some of the causes.

• Not enough exercise
• Too much food
• Not enough sleep

Not Enough Exercise
I used to lift fairly regularly.  I do not now.  Going to the gym for 5:30am is too much and I am not very good at it.  I know when I do manage to do it, it makes a physical difference in how I feel.
Solution: Picked up a 300# Olympic set, bench and power rack.  I set them up in the garage so I can workout when it is convenient for me.
Measureable goals:  Lift weights at least 3x a week




Too Much Food
I eat out far too much.  Too many onion rings, too many cheeseburgers.  I do it more often than I would like to admit, and this is compounded by the crap eating I often do at work.  COMBINE all of this with socializing after training and I am consuming even more calories.
Solution: I can fix a lot by eating well during the day and include more vegetables.  Today started with 2 eggs and turkey sausage for breakfast, Oatmeal for a snack, a frozen lunch and sausage and cheese for an afternoon snack.  Total Calories for that is about 830.  I also have about a cup of chopped misc. vegetables to eat.  I will leave work easily under 1000 calories.  Leaving me approximately 1000 calories for dinner and such.
Another thing I mentioned was socializing, which includes pub food and beer.
Solution: Drink beer less often, opt for diet pop.  Eat pub food less often.
Measurable goals:  Remove beer from one of the social nights, remove food from one of the social nights.


Not Enough Sleep
I struggle with sleep as well.  Stay up late, get up too early.
Solution: I need to be up by 6, so in bed by 10 is ideal for eight hours.  Ideally I will be up more like 5:30, which will still give me 7 1/2 hours of sleep.  The latest I should be hitting the sack is 10:30, giving me 7 hours of sleep for my 5:30am wakeup.
Measurable goals: Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.

Practice March 26, 2015

Made it to practice, but I was pretty tired and not feeling it for the most part.  Worked the first 1/3 of my practice with the group doing a bear pit and fighting pretty constantly for most of it, but lacked any real direction.

Next 1/3 I spent filming other people and didn't fight at all.

Final 1/3 I did a few pick-ups against some of the more advanced fighters, thought I did ok considering my get up and go had got up and left.

Feeling a little under the weather this week.  Would like to fight, but might end up just doing slow work today + filming.

Outside of practice I hit the gym a few times as well as a minor bought of pell work.  Thinking of incorporating my pell into a backyard circuit.  Swings (Might require a 20kg bell though), Snatches, Jump rope, mace and pell maybe?

On going thoughts about fighting

Haven't been practicing as much as I would like and I also missed out a stellar oppotunity for a lot of good pick-ups at the last war due to slightly excessive partying the night before.

My armor fits horribly as well.  I am in a word, fat.  I need to lose weight and I need to make new armor for Crown as well.

My last entry was February 19th.

February 26th - No real recollection of this practice.  Assume I fought.
March 5th - Excellent practice.  The gym seems like a positive influence (Shocking)
March 12th - Work interfered and I couldn't make it to practice
March 19th - Filmed a little.  Didn't fight.  Lazy.
March 26th - Tomorrow.  Lets do this.

Goals:
New armor
Clean garage out, set up pel.
Still half considering setting up a bench, but as weather improves I think I will just see about adding what I have to the pel area and seeing if I can actually make time when I am at home to work on me.  Training at home is something I typically have an issue with.