Hey Russ: Dealing with Arm Fatigue

[@xXZaxoflameXx]

at TSR 2024, that was my first time using a rapier. I had to survive that 6 hour rapier workshop that we attended. Somewhere around the 4 hour mark, the rapier stopped being difficult to hold. My fingers and forearm were pretty much numb and not super usable at that point, and would be DEAD the next few days, but paradoxically, the rapier became strangely easier to hold extended. I think because I didn't have another option anymore, my body had to figure out how to hold the rapier in such a way that it made minimal use of the arm. Ever since, it's been noticeably easier for me to hold a rapier extended, and I barely have to think about it anymore when I fence sabre from a guard like high second or similar. pretty neat

[@raymondsosnowski9717]

Great presentation! In the early 1990s, I had an Aikido mentor from Japan repeatedly say, "To improve Aikido, learn T'ai-chi Ch'uan!" Well, I had been doing & teaching T'ai-chi, so I set out to consciously apply those principles to Aikido! It was amazing how my practice changed, becoming effortless & more fluid. Transitioning to Japanese weapons training, I continued the same applications to iaido, kenjutsu, jodo, kyudo & naginata! My current teaching focus is naganata - those T'ai-chi principles are woven into my efforts! Oh, I also did the same when studying Great Sword!

[@S.A.M.S.2017]

My training in Chen Practical Method helped my understanding of Colonel Stephens extension motions and thereby discovered the proper skeletal frame to hold a guard with the frame rather than muscle.

[@kinoru580]

My movement teacher (she doesnt fence but she did a lot of dance and somatic movement) taught me to think about this in the terms of supporting my arms with my lungs, not by taking a big breathe in, but by holding my arm in such a way that its "sitting" on the lungs:)

[@PBoneSteak]

I always learn a lot from these videos; like I need to keep doing enormous cavalry saber cuts. D:

[@Christian75320]

Dear Russell! I remember that at the beginning of the 2000s, when I learned how to carry a saber here in Hungary, our practice for this was that the master placed a school bench crosswise on our outstretched arms, and after a good 10 minutes he said that we could now use a wooden sword for rest. This was a great way to learn to use the supporting effect of the bones because there is no such muscle that can hold a weight of approximately 10 kilograms on the 2 outstretched arms for such a long time. The exercise gave us a bit of a saoline feeling and we thought it was really fucked up, but it was one of the most useful exercises to be able to fight for hours with a saber of any weight.

[@PBoneSteak]

That's really interesting! When I was doing martial arts (Long Fist Kung Fu), this was one of our instructor's favorite ways to condition our arms - he took a very sadistic joy in who he gave the heaviest bench to. I'm not sure that I ever learned the proper way to do it, because my arms were always burning by the end...