Get the point

I am not an expert in HEMA (historical European martial arts). I'm a student just trying to keep my body healthy and build community. And I thought it would be neat to take my hobby (sword fighting) and reframe life challenges through that lens.

Last week, one lesson was on force.

Sure, you can use all your bodyweight, swing the sword like a baseball bat, and try to absolutely chop your opponent in half. However:

1. You could miss and be put in a very bad position.

2. That takes a lot of energy, and a light "boop" will still get you the point.

Calculating the force necessary to swing the blade takes practice. With too much force, if your opponent simply takes a step back (requiring minimal effort on their part), suddenly, your blade is all the way to the side, leaving your body exposed. Your recovery time is greatly extended, giving your opponent more than enough opportunity to hit you back.

But more importantly, you will get tired. Putting all your energy into something unnecessarily isn't logical. The fight takes longer than one hit. The hits still take coordination, effort, and skill, just not an excessive amount of force.

I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person, except when it comes to longsword. I need to know everything about something before I begin, I must master it, failure is not an option... except in longsword. Why is that?

I honestly don't know. And that's what I hope this blog will be about. How do I get the point without forcing it?

My vision for this blog is as follows:

• Super short posts

• Equal parts action and recovery

• Fun & meaningful conversation

My HEMA community is extremely welcoming and supportive, and I hope to extend that via this blog. Longsword gave me strength in the last year. I'm talking physical and mental strength. And as someone who didn't grow up doing sports of any kind, this is a novel experience for me.

I am not an expert in HEMA. I am a student. And I'm excited to learn.