Fighting Fit: The Science of swordplay

» Learn Swordplay at Blood & Iron

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

friend of mine

ecommended Blood &
Iron to me a while back, and
l assumed it was a similar
operation to Academie Duello.
For that reason, I never gave it
a second thought until recently.
After attending a class, I freely
admit that my assumption
was sorely mistaken. Blood
& Iron is home to extremely
qualified instructors with
extensive knowledge of the
body mechanics behind the
techniques they teach and
decades of proven tournament
experience.

When I asked the instructor
if he felt B&I had a tournament
focus, he replied, “We have a
fighting focus.” To paraphrase

: his philosophy, all techniques

: should be practiced with the

: intent to incapacitate so you can
: be absolutely sure they will not
: fail you in a tournament. You

: can always ease off a technique
: to make sure an overzealous

: application won't net you a

: penalty. On the other hand,

: you can’t suddenly beef up

:; something you haven't practiced.

That said, B&I has a

: reputation as a force of nature
: in both local and national :
: tournaments. Their students and :
: instructors often win many years :
: in a row, so their method clearly
: works. They are less concerned

: with medieval re-enactment and
: convention promotions than

: Academie Duello is, but even

: casual conversation with the

: instructors will reveal the extent
: of their involvement with the

: martial community at large.

Another difference between

B&I and Duello is the facility.

: Where Duello has an extensive

: showcase of merchandise for

: sale, B&I has an extra room for

: grappling practice. Every square
: foot of the space is dedicated

: either to practice or storage. It =:
: doesn’t have as elaborate a layout :

 

I’m the type of student who

: asks a lot of questions. So, when
: Tam corrected in practice, I like
: to know why. I love the martial
: arts, but there are only so many
: times I can hear “just because”

before I ask for something

? more specific or walk out.

: My instructor at B&I studies

: biokinetics, so he was always

: ready to discuss the physical

: processes that make a technique
: work or fail as he demonstrates

: it. Thanks to the conversational
: tone of the class, I never felt the
: material was dry or boring.

If youre interested in
learning the medieval and
renaissance methods of

: German swordplay, you won't
: go wrong with the highly

: qualified instructors at B&I.

: or storefront, but I find that this :
reflects their all-business focus.

Blood & Iron offers training in

: longsword, dussack (German

: cleaver), hatchet, buckler

: shield, rapier and dagger

: combo, and contemporary

: knife fighting. They are located

: at 739 Carnarvon Street New

: Westminster—only a block from
: Douglas College.

 

The connection between mental health and concussions

» Long-term effects of head injuries

Devon Momy-Gamache
The Sputnik

A someone who devotes
countless hours to sports of
all kinds, I know that injuries
are inevitable. I have torn the
same muscle in my arm twice,
sprained my medial collateral
ligament (MCL), hyperextended
my knee, and sprained my ankles
and fingers an innumerable
amount of times. I am probably
forgetting a couple more that

I do not remember. That’s
because remembering has been
difficult ever since I suffered
three concussions consecutively
in three weeks. Yes, three
concussions in three weeks.

I’ve learned that ifa doctor
advises you to take it easy by
avoiding physical activities or
things that will cause too much
strain on your brain, listen. It is
not as easy as it seems to follow,
especially if you are an athlete.
All of my concussions were mild,
but regardless, it was a difficult
time. I experienced common
symptoms of concussions such
as dizziness, blurry vision,
nausea, memory problems, and
the worst of all, headaches. The
headaches caused me the most
trouble by far, because whenever
I tried to focus it put too much
strain on my brain, and in turn,
a persistent headache ensued. To
say the least, the following two
months were not the greatest for
me.

As tough as my experience
was, it is not even close to
what others with more serious
concussions have endured.
Possibly the two most infamous
cases of concussions are Marc

: Savard in the NHL and Junior

: Seau in the NFL. Savard suffered
: a grade 2 concussion on March

: 7, 2010, limiting his season to 41

: games. He returned in time for

: the playoffs, but the damage was
: done. January 23, 2011 would be

: Savard’s judgement day: the day
: of his last game played in the :
: NHL. Due to suffering his second :
= concussion inio months, Savard:
: was shut down for the rest of

: the season, cutting his season

: short to 25 games. Recurring

: symptoms of post-concussion

: syndrome soon followed, and it

: has been over four years since

: Savard last played in the NHL.

: When Savard was asked about

: his quality of life in an interview
: with TSN 10509, he said, “I’m

: doing good. Things are getting

: better for me. I still have some

: issues, but I can’t complain; life’s
: pretty good...”

The issues that the former

: Bruin refers to are migraines and
: seeing “dots” in hot weather. The
: concussions I suffered had no

: such lasting effects as Savard’s

: had caused for him; however,

: the same cannot be said for

: Seau, who was only 43 years

: old at his time of death. Unlike

: Savard, Seau’s judgment day

: on May 2, 2012 would serve to

: be the last day of his life, as he

: committed suicide by shooting

: himself in the chest at his home.
: The death of such a beloved

: figure caused the 2011 suicide of

: former NFL player Dave Duerson
: to be recalled, as the way in

: which Seau committed suicide

: was eerily similar. Duerson,

: requesting his brain be studied

: for brain trauma, left a suicide

: note. Although Seau had no prior :

 

: reported history of concussions,
: his ex-wife stated that he did

: in fact sustain concussions

: during his playing career.

: Reportedly, Seau had suffered

: from insomnia for the last seven
: years of his life, and was taking

: a prescription drug commonly

: prescribed for sleep disorders

: called Zolpidem (brand name

: Ambien). Seau was speculated

: to have suffered from chronic :
: traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), :
: a degenerative brain disease that :
: dozens of deceased former NFL

: players have been found to have

: had. The National Institutes of

: Health (NIH) discovered that

: Seau did in fact show definitive

: signs of CTE.

The death of Seau served

: as a wake-up call for the league
: and its players when it came to
: concussions and their connection :
: to mental health. Compared to

: 10 years ago, players are now

: much more aware of concussions

: and their short- and long-term

: effects. Due to this, a drove of

: NFL players retired in the 2015

: offseason. Patrick Willis, who

: was one of the best linebackers
: of his generation and a future

: Hall of Famer, was the first to

: retire, doing so at the young age
: of 30. While 30 may not seem too :
: young, rising stars such as the

: linebackers Chris Borland and

: Jason Worilds soon followed suit

and respectively retired at the

playing the sport, it is surprising

: that more players haven't retired
: already. With that outstanding
: mark being as high as it is, it is

Image via www.masslive.com

: shocking that football is the most
: popular sport in America, and by
: a wide margin.

The world as a whole is

: becoming more knowledgeable
: about mental health problems,
: as the information has never
: been more available then it is

now. Because I knew about these

: aforementioned players and the

: issues they have faced in regards
: to concussions and future mental
: health problems, I knew that I

: ages of 24 and 27. A fear of future :
: mental health problems was the
: prime reason for retiring, and I

: do not blame them. American

: football has the highest chance
: out of all sports to suffer a

: concussion at 75 per cent.

: Although it is suspected that

: more and more players will retire :
: in the future due to the risks of

would have to be more careful. In

: order to live the life I wanted, I
: would have to take caution, both
: now and in the future. Having
: already had three concussions in
: my young life, the risk of having
: future concussions and mental
: health problems is higher than

I want it to be. Take it from

: someone who has experienced

: this firsthand; even if you are not
: an athlete, educate yourself on

: the issue of mental health. It’s

: better to be safe than sorry.