Wednesday, January 11, 2017

As Real Men Fought

As Real Men Fought

I thought I'd revisit a photo I took in the summer of 2006. It was a hot day at Pennsic War, and annual event in Western PA. Two heavy knights are sparring using as authentic of armour kits as can be made these days. Their weapons are made from rattan and thick, heavy rubber like you'd find on the bumper of cars. It's full contact martial arts, so this hilt to the face hit had to have rung the guy on the left's bell. Pardon the pun... #pennsic #pennsicwar #knight #knights #armour #armoured #armor #plate #mail #tourney #tournament #combat #armoredcombat #sca #scadians #societyofcreativeanachronism #arms #platearmour #middleages #medieval #Æthelmearc #aethelmearc #history #livinghistory

Fancy Footwork

Fancy Footwork

It was a totally "footwork" training sort of day. After getting the family off to their own days I found myself in an almost perpetual state of motion. After busting through my morning chores and setting things up for my day I hit Infusion MMA. There we worked on Muay Thai "walking." It felt good to slow down and learn how to connect to something so basic. Transition home, more chores, business stuff and then hit the gym. I'm keeping my routine as trim as possible, but I did get chatty with the staff at the end. Then more chores. Last night's weather really left a lot of THICK patches of ice on our sidewalk. I took this spear-like, heavy scraper thing, put on my gym music, cleats and got to chopping. I'd go in an ark, one arm at a time, going back and forth. I used my chore to drive the spear down, over & over & over... I bet I drove my neighbors nuts! Sorry! The good thing is that I paced myself all day long. With the kid coming home soon I even managed to make my way into the nearby Stewart Lake. I'm really lucky to live so close to it. While I didn't spot wildlife, I did notice this nice little, natural "pattern" of sorts. #wisconsin #wisconsinlife #midwest #travelwi #travelwisconsin #midwestliving #midwestmoment #themidwestival #discoverwisconsin #conquer_wi #mounthoreb #madisonwi #midwestisbest #danecounty #onwisconsin #norse #norwegian #nordic #viking #vikings #north #northmen #stewartlake #stewartcountypark #danecountyparks #danecountyparks&rec