Between bruises and spears @bruisesandspears-blog - Tumblr Blog

Week 6, Saturday 12:00-13:00

Remember when I said that the techniques from the last training would be userful? Nevermind that, moving those over from the dagger to the spears proved to be harder than expected. The first problem was the obvious length of the spear itself. Second was the quickness and strength. Before, while we trained the basic techniques, it was easier, as we then trained how to do the techniques themselves, but not how to do them in proper, improvised combat. Using a technique in as part of a pattern is not hard, improvising them, not so easy.

I thank whatever diety there is above which created gauntlets, as I rather not have any broken bones in my hands.

Week 4, Sunday 11:00-12:00

Finally, I can train again! Well, I certainly shouldn't sound so happy about it all, as I have gotten rather lazy during the weeks between the training. We began with some ”light” fitness training (lies, I say!) to get me warmed up, and by this time I was already somewhat exhausted, so we proceeed to go through what we did the last training session. True enough, I had forgotten most of the things we did, and we more or less had teach me the techniques agan, and after that the rest of the training went relatively smoothly. This will certainly be useful later on...

Week 52, Wednesday 12:00-14:00

This training was unusual in many ways. For once, we trained indoors, secondly we trained with wooden replicas of daggers, and trained a few grappling techniques, loosely based upon the Talhoffer(15th century) and Wallerstein(16th century) codexes. It was fun, though I'm afraid I barely remember anything now, only a week after. Perhaps it might be because of my memory, but it is probably due to the rather complex techniques which I've never used before.

Reflection: Sadly enough, my shoulders and the weather have limited my ability to train properly this winter. Even so, we have managed to train, in a way which exhausts me, but on the same time we have managed to minimalize the damages during the training. I know quite well that I am certainly not in any proper condition to fight, as I tend to get exhausted rather quickly, something I will have to train up. I will just have to hope that the weather will get better next year so I can train proprely again.

Week 47, Saturday 11:00-14:00

You got no idea how tired I am right now. 3 hours of training is enough to put me off for a week, but I managed to survive either way. We took out the swords this time, they are heavy, they hurt, and they certainly do not keep people at a good distance away from me. In the end, I prefer spears, but I digress. I think I found three bruises on my legs after this. Thankfully enough, we spent the last half an hour marching around the yard (while trying not to fall over.)

Week 45, Sunday 12:00-14:00

The weather have gotten worse, and I do admit that I have not visited the doctor yet, so my shoulder is certainly not feeling any better during the training. Either way, we continue on, and while we cannot march properly, nor fight properly, we can at least train techniques.

Training techniques with the spear is rather interesting, as it requires me to think more about what I am supposed to do, and less swinging spear around just to attack and block. I nearly got a gauntlet in the face (again), but he stopped right before he hit me, luckily enough.

Week 43, Sunday 11:00-13:00

Seems like my shoulders are getting worse, as they hurt something incedibly during the training. Overall though, it's all going well. It's rather snowy and wet now, so fighting have gotten harder, we keep on slipping everywhere.

We have opted to use the spears for the rest of the winter, along with the gauntlets and gambesons, as we want to make sure that as little armour as possible got wet and rusty.

Overall, it was mainly a training about how to fight during the winter, in the somewhat more slippery situations. We began with some light running around and the yard, followed with the training itself. Thankfully enough, I've managed to avoid any sort of damage today. It was rather exhausting, since we aren't sure about how long we will be able to train like this for the rest of this year, and we ended it with him teaching me how to march and the different commands used.

Week 42, Sunday, 14:30-15:30

Let me express my hate towards chain mail. It's heavy. When you move one way, it feels like as if it wants to move the other way, there's no way to walk quietly with it on, and the only relieving thing about this is the feel of removing it at the end of the training, then you realize that hey, I can jump.

However, it is admittedly a great way of training. It puts a lot of strain on the body and you realize that you have to push harder during the training. My movement was limited, and everything hurt after the training, but it was certainly worth it. The training was a normal one, I got to use the spears as usual. The only change was the use of chainmail, to train up my back and my stamina. During the breaks, we discussed military tactics, what to do if we know that the enemy is trying to storm us from a bridge, and how to keep watch. I also got hit by a spear in the face, my nose still hurts and yes, I am still a tad bitter about it.

Reflection

The main thing I'd first take up is that I've noticed that my left shoulder hurts when strained. After checking it, we noticed that it gets warmed than the other shoulder, and more swollen. It might be an infection, so I need to check it up. I have had the problem for months at least, I suppose I've put it off for long enough now.

Another thing to learn: Do not put off problems, injuries or not, for a longer time, as everything might get worse if that is done.

I now know that my need to train more, and once more I bring up the issue with my back and arms. These are the weakest parts of me, I know that and I realize that I might need to wear the chainmail several more times. The training I will get from just wearing that will be good to me, and maybe in the future I might not have as much backache (Admittedly, majority of my back problems is due to my bad sitting posture, something I need to learn as well.)

Week 41 Tuesday, 14:00-15:00

Ah yes, another wonderful and great training session!

... Actually, strike the wonderful part. Don't get me wrong, I rather enjoy the training, however, I found myself certainly pushed to my limits this time, which was refreshing. And it's good to be trained in a small group where I know that I won't be pushed too far.

This training session was more "harsh" than the last one, with more training of my defense and arm strength. By having to stand on one spot and not being allowed to move my left foot, I had to rely only on defense as I was attacked, which proved to be hard since one usually relies on quickly fending the other off before retreating further back to a safer position. My arms were trained by using the sword (Oh excuse me Daniel, I mean knife) and wearing the armoured gloves, which together were... heavy, putting it lightly. At the end of that, we trained how to march and then ran two lapses around the garden.

Reflection Do you remember that I said that I might just as well replace my arms with noodles during the last training. This time, it was worse. Even if I used the spears, the gloves were so heavy that I was slowed down something incredibly. Added to that, I wore a double layer of clothes armour to make sure that the breastplate was kept in place for once. While I know that my defense is getting better, albeit the progress is slow, we have also noticed that I might have gotten better stamina. I'm happy over my slow progress either way and I look forward to be strong enough to handle the sword and spear without problems while wearing the armoured gloves.

Daniel, that is my glove.

Well, technically, it's your girlfriends, but--

OI COME BACK HERE.

Week 40, Saturday (16:00-17:00) and Sunday (14:00-15:00)

Double training time!

Saturday: We were at Kronoberg Castle Ruin to LARP for three University Students movie project. While it mainly was acting during the time, we ended it all with some some training/dueling. Fighting in a dress was surprisingly easy.

Sunday: I was, for some reason, once more in Norrahammar. Considering how often I'm down there, moving there seems rather tempting right now. Either way, we had a proper training session and this time I was allowed to use a breastplate (churburg late 14th century), which weighted me down a lot. However, it was quite good training. As I had problems with the helmet during the first training, the breastplate was a much easier was a much easier way to strengthen my back without giving me any pain.

During this training, I went through more of a physical training, less theory. I got to use both the Spear and the Langmesser. This time, it was far more stressful, as we also trained my defence. ... Having your teacher jabbing with a spear at you hurts quite a bit, especially when when you have to defend yourself for 15 seconds straight, pause, then repeat several times until you're burnt out.. 15 seconds is a surprisingly long time when trying to fend up an attacking enemy. Added to that, I wasn't allowed to drop the spear or accidentally put the tip against the ground, then I'd have to do 5 squats and 3 pushups. In armour. Well, at least I'm certainly taught how to handle the spear better. Along with this all, I was taught how to handle the sword in a better, which appeared to be surprisingly difficult due to the heavy weight, and I was taught how to march with the spears.

Reflection: I really, really need to train up my stamina and strength. I felt myself being out of breath and beginning to get tired after 30 minutes, and once I began to use the sword, I could just as well replace my arms with noodles. However, I'm beginning to get better at handling the spears. I've also noticed that I'm beginning to enter close combat more often, which ends up with me being pushed away, having my spear stolen (and in one case, my glove), much to my dismay. I will simply need to learn what to in that situation, such as punching him in the face before he punches me. Aside from the different mishaps, like getting a spear in the face, everything have went well. My handling of the spear have gotten better, and I'm learning to use my speed to compensate for my lack of strength. Overall, the progress is going well and the amount of bruises is increasing.

#Week 40 #CAS

Week 37 sunday 1400-1500

This one is late up, sorry.

As planned, we've focused on reviewing what we trained last week, but also put a lot of effort in strengthening my back, to reduce the risk for injuries and to make sure that I can improve the time and pace of the coming sessions.

The strengthening part mas done by having me jab at my trainer a LOT with a spear, which puts your back and arms under a lot of work. My trainer also introduced me to the Langmesser, a really long, sword like knife, which i had the honor to swing around for ten minutes or so against him, whilst he used his spear against me, and the superior range of it to poke me hard, several times. My thigh does not like him, at all!

Reflection: It has only been two trainings, but already my speed has improved, well, mostly with the spear as i have mostly wielded those. Mostly that comes out of the fact that i now know that he does know what he is doing and his highest goal is life is not to kill me. Jokes aside, i have found a pattern in it and that has made it possibly to improve quickly in a few small, but crucial areas. For example, jabbing like your life depended on it doesn't matter if your feet are glued to the grass. You’ll get hit. Move, AIM then Jab. Good lesson taught. Also, this time, i trained without helmet on, as my trainer thought that the extra weight last time slowed me down. So for a while I’ll be training without, as my neck is not up for it yet. So for now my head protection is composed of a padded "baby hat". Charming. But effective indeed. Speaking of charming, Bruises so far from this training session seems to be restricted to a nice stab bruise on my right upper arm and a similar on my inner right thigh. Could be interesting to see during the coming months if the bruises help me learn to keep my guard up.

Pictures and notes from the first week.

Goal during this training: To begin with and get a taste of how it is to use the different weapons.

Reflections: Weapons hurt. Well, getting hit in general hurts. However, I now do know that I will have a rather interesting future, however it might be too early to reflect on anything.

Week plans

Week planning for Action!

Olivia Carlstein.

W.36(week1) An introduction to steel spears and how to safely wield and fight with them. Beginning with basic techniques, concerning thrusting, feet movement and target zones on the human body.

W.37 Repeating last weeks basic training, this week 50/50 emphasis on techniques and physical training. To be able to fight with steel weapons for a longer duration and not wear the body down, special training will be put to strengthen the lower and upper back, as well as the neck. Some stamina training will also be included.

W.38 Target Zone practice is this trainings emphasis to minimize the risk of unnecessary damage. Target zone is the chest and abdominal area as well as the upper and lower and arms, and the thighs.

W.39 This training will be pure endurance training to make sure that the trainee has the necessary stamina to endure the long training passes and to make sure that mistakes are kept at minimum. A tired person makes more mistakes.

W.40 This training will be heavily influenced by so called “improvised” and “dirty” fighting. The trainee will have to learn not only to rely on the length and pointy end of her weapon, but also on the shaft as another medium to use in a fight. Quarterstaff inspired blocking techniques will be explored at the end of the training.

#weekplans #cas

What is this?

This is the blog where moi (Olivia Carlstein) will keep track on my weekly progress during my Action for CAS (Creativity, Action, Service). Here one will find my week plans.

I was stupid smart enough to tell my friend that I needed something for Action, and he told me "I got just the thing for you!" Above statement is a lie, I actually asked him.

I will be trained in using blunted steel weapons and boffer/LARP (foam/latex) weapons. Which means that I will ever so often have new bruises on my body, I'll be in pain and I'll be sore.

This blog will probably have pictures and videos of my trainer's and my partner's my defeat, which will probably leave me very bitter and my readers very amused.

Now, "What is CAS?" someone might ask me. Creativity, Action, Service. Three things we IB students need to do, spending one hour on each part each week. Taken from IB's page: "

Creativity is interpreted broadly to include a wide range of arts activities as well as the creativity students demonstrate in designing and implementing service projects.

Action can include not only participation in individual and team sports but also taking part in expeditions and in local or international projects.

Service encompasses a host of community and social service activities. Some examples include helping children with special needs, visiting hospitals and working with refugees or homeless people."

#what is this?#cas

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