HEMA workout at the GHFS

[Ngrepares]

How long are your classes? It seems like nearly half of the class would be spent doing warm-ups and conditioning...

[taffy1975]

@Ngrepares

Hi mate!

Our training is 2 hours long. We do a lot of workout, but we don't do stuff exactly as in this video. For example we use the pad workout more now, and try to do more exercises sword in hand. Still, for the most part we do about 40 minutes workout, 20 minutes technique, 1 hour sparring. But a lot of exercises are both technique and cardio. In any case we generally have very intense training.

[ruebuscm]

@Ngrepares That's no biggie. I used to take muay thai (before my gym closed down, unfortunately) and classes were two hours, with the first hour being warm up and conditioning, and the second hour being more dedicated to technique and fight conditioning, i. e. taking kicks and blows to the body, etc.

[Ngrepares]

How long are your classes? It seems like nearly half of the class would be warm-up/conditioning...

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

I looked at burpees and I see its basic bodyweight movements strung together, so I'm sure thats good for fitness. Still, I dont know if you've really made it an exact science as to what works and what doesnt.

[taffy1975]

Oh, surely not. We have a long way to go and this clip is also over a year old.

Wrist strength is good, but it is just one thing. I have problems with my wrist due to a snowboard accident and I sometimes flip a weight in the hand in order to strengthen the fingers and hand.

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Myself i'd guess the two hand sword is more or less easy to handle, but any heavy object thats one handed would need wrist strength, like a mace or flail. Does your arm get tired while fighting? Actually, what hurts most during fighting is what to work on, so thats where to look.

[taffy1975]

Yes, the one handed sword does get me more tired and is a greater strain on the wrist. I don't get especially tired when fighting with the longsword , partly because I am used to it. Wrestling is the physically most demanding part of fencing, and generally it also demands that you have a good overall physique.

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Wrestling would involve the same conditioning as an MMA fighter I'd think, favoring the strong.

Striking- speed

wrestling- strength and manuevoring

Subs- Thinking and manuevoring What students do the best at HEMA?

[taffy1975]

I think since it is a young sport (besides from being really old that is ;) ) and we are still trying to figure things out, that question is hard to answer. We do a lot of explosive leg work, stability training of the body and explosive arm movements. But today, people with general fitness have an edge. In the future we will see more targeted training, but even in MMA people are still figuring out the best ways to train. Besides it being a largely individual thing at that level.

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Yes, it does seem training switches from person to person in MMA, but it has to do with their weaknesses. What I mean is that a formula is used, its just that that formula switches from person to person. I wonder- does reach make any big differnces? Say we have a 6'5'' person and a 5'8'' person, does the taller guy win? While some examples go against the mold this is very true in striking sports like K-1 and boxing, alone with MMA.

[taffy1975]

The taller person absolutely has an edge in sword fighting. At least up until he can get into grappling distance.

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Any guys worth note in this sport? That there arent many wouldnt surprise me- afterall, the first boxers(rude as it is to say) where wimpy slow pokes and noone of worth came til Joe Luis in the 1930's, well after the sport was made popular by Joe Sullivan.

[taffy1975]

That is also a hard question to answer. There are limited amounts of competitions and a lot of people refuse to attend such events. So there are no names in that sense. There are however people who are regarded as great martial artists, Dave Rawlings of Boarstooth, Piotr and Tomek of Ringschule Wroclaw springs to mind. Researchers such as Matt Galas and Steve Hicks should also be mentioned.

Arma have also published some excellent clips. Here are a few links with impressive fighting:

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Excuse me, but why the ball?

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Some light athletics, but what is to be lost by doing a workout of wanderlei Silva's or some other athlete? After all, basic strength and endurance works within any sport. Of course, HEMA doesnt have a surge of raw talent, but treating it like an actual sport couldnt hurt. Also, I'd like to know what and what doesnt apply to HEMA when it comes to exercise, if something shouldnt be doone and why. I think fitness for fighting would fit perfectly.

[taffy1975]

We play ball sometimes before practise, just for fun.

I don't know what type of exercises that should be excluded. The absolutely best is of course to pick different exercises for different people, based on what they need to work on. But since that isn't an option I would go for exercises that can be done at different levels and that builds the whole body. Burpees being a perfect example of this.

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Just a question- would wrist strength or being able to hold a heavy object in the likeness of a sword help? I understand in medeival times they would hit a post with a sword many times heavyier than a normal one.

[kardentyrell]

football/ruby/army/gymnastics workout XD

[taffy1975]

And your point is?

[kardentyrell]

no point, just an observation ...saw some boxing routines too. Just suprised about its diversity

[taffy1975]

The exercises change from time to time, but the basic workout is based on what I did in bjj and boxing class. We pick exercises that work well for us, or we adapt them to work for us. But in the end, most martial arts have the same needs and uses more or less the same exercises.

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Sword fighting would mainly have to do with endurance me thinks, so hikes would make sense. And I see no problem doing strength training simular to say Marius pudzinowski(hopely I spelled that right). I have a growing enterest in HEMA, so if we could talk shop over fitness for it I'd be delighted. Question: Is it likely I could find a HEMA place nearby, or does it still need growth.

[taffy1975]

I could tell you if I knew where you live ;)

[Ebuverthebicepcurler]

Hawaii

[MattABryant]

I like that a lot.

[rpleasant57]

Very nice physical program!

[taffy1975]

Thanks,

I will try to document our wrestling workout when we have developed it. Most likely a lot of it will be similar to Piotr and Tomek's though, since we only do wrestling for two months a year.

/Anders

[TheBurtonian]

This is really a great idea! We will do alot more physical training than before this year. Non the least to get into shape for Swordfish 2008.

Thanx for sharing!