| Within WMA/HEMA, do you consider yourself... |
| An Academic/Scholar |
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13% |
[ 9 ] |
| A Martial Practitioner |
|
17% |
[ 12 ] |
| Both Scholar and Practitioner (Only if time/energies fairly evenly distributed) |
|
51% |
[ 35 ] |
| Neither (only if you do not fit either category - i.e. strictly "collector", etc.) |
|
17% |
[ 12 ] |
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| Total Votes : 68 |
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| Author |
Message |
Bennison N
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 Posted: Tue 13 May, 2008 2:32 am Post subject: |
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I learn as much about fighting as possible, so that in a fight I can remember as little about fighting as possible.
And I study as many techniques as I can so that eventually I will use as few techniques as I can.
I practice so often to push my limits, but I match to know what they are.
And I have always liked History. It's just nice now to finally find a specifc facet of History I prefer, and it sure ain't the Industrial Revolution.
I haven't read a work of fiction since 2001. Knowledge is power.
Does any of that make sense?
"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance" - Confucius
अजयखड्गधारी
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Justin B.
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| Posted: Tue 13 May, 2008 5:18 am Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: | | Just to get back to topic: Many may want to also be practitioners but have no close by people or groups to train with. |
For my part, I think I may fall into the "other" category partly for this reason. I've identified one local group, but they meet Wedesday evenings and on the wrong end of town for me, making it rather impractical to attend.
And I certainly can't justify calling myself a scholar: if I've learnt anything since I started following these boards closely, it's that I don't actually know much at all.
"Voracious devourer of knowledge" might be a better term, but I'm still only a neophyte at that, and without sufficient cashflow to justify being a collector, either 
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Gary A. Chelette
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| Posted: Tue 13 May, 2008 7:46 am Post subject: |
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I have been in the SCA and Kendo groups for many years. I fought Pro Karate when I was younger and hunted with everything from a 12GA shotgun double barrel to running the dogs armed with a British 1907 By Wilkinson Bayonet.
Of course I was 12 and the dogs did most of the hunting. A near lifetime of knowledge and sport, I guess I could be a scholar.
But between you and I, I was more concerned with having fun. That is still true today.
In a way, that bayonet I bought for $5 was my sword back then and my dogs my army.
To just be young again. 
Are you scared, Connor?
No, Cousin Dugal. I'm not!
Don't talk nonsense, man. I peed my kilt the first time I went into battle.
Oh, aye. Angus pees his kilt all the time!
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Bill Tsafa
Location: Brooklyn, NY Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 599
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| Posted: Sun 18 May, 2008 7:54 am Post subject: |
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I spend most of time as a practitioner. I very much value scholarly input and instruction as a means of improving my fighting skills but don't do any research from scratch. Any reading I do is mostly based on other people interpretations which is greatly appreciated.
No athlete/youth can fight tenaciously who has never received any blows: he must see his blood flow and hear his teeth crack... then he will be ready for battle.
Roger of Hoveden, 1174-1201
www.poconoshooting.com
www.poconogym.com
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Jared Smith
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| Posted: Sun 18 May, 2008 9:19 am Post subject: |
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I am selecting the "neither.. other category" choice. My long term goal is to become a hobby level (produce gifts for a few friends, an item or two for myself) blade maker. Ideally, I would like to produce some simple but protective armour that is useful for WMA sparring. Other demands on money and time are such that this will proceed slowly. I mostly just collect a few premium mass produced swords, the tools needed, and read what I can find on historical artifact examinations and present day artisans' methods. There is a small pile of suitable material building up, any my goal for this year to to attempt my first homemade blade.
Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
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