The Armour Archive

RenJunkie wrote:

Koredono wrote:

Adriano wrote:I've found that even getting a little lighter helps. When I get down to my goal weight, it'll be like I've taken off a fanny pack with 60 pounds of lead ingots in it, and I think I'll be a lot less likely to injure a knee or ankle.

From my personal experience (I dropped from ~275 to ~195 over 8 months, ending 1.5 years ago and have kept it off, +/- 5 lbs), you'll really feel the difference, especially in the knees - I used to (more than) occasionally creak or have issues with kneeling / squatting, and now I feel much more lithe and limber.

Good luck to you!

Dude, how did you do that?

And how much did the change in eating habits cost dallr-wise? And for how many of you?

Christopher

As I responded in a private message on this earlier, in a pretty straightforward and "old school" fashion - I gave up eating all junk-y foods (chips, candy, desserts, &c), all sweetened drinks (new studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can cause weight gain too), snacking between meals rarely (and only healthy stuff like nuts or veggies when I did) and making meals from scratch (which both reduced the amount of 'bad stuff' in the meal, as well as did portion control at the same time).

As for the economic impact of my change in eating habits, it was actually significantly cheaper - just in the difference between pre-packaged meals and ones made from scratch, the difference in price is significant, and then when you reduce the amount of food eaten, and the relatively expensive junk foods and desserts, it really adds up quickly. As an example, a package of, say, rice-a-roni type stuff runs ~$1 for a 12 oz box; but you can get a 5 lb bag of rice, several pounds of frozen veggies, and some buillion cubes, for about half the price for same amount, and it's probably way better for you, and you have better control of the amount you're cooking (and thus, eating)

I didn't do any *more* exercise, but I was always fighting 2 - 4 times a week (2 local practices a week in winter, 3 in summer, plus probably 30+ fighting events a year). I found with my weight loss I had a greatly increased stamina, such that I was now always one of the last guys oh the field (except in cases of injuries or other time commitments).

Also, I didn't decrease the amount of alcohol I drank, but given that my normal intake is*maybe* as high as 3 beers a week, plus parties w/ alcohol maybe once every 6 - 8 weeks, that wasn't a major issue for me.


Something else I did *not* do was calorie-count, or use any 'point' system, or anything like that - I just cut out the bad stuff, until I got to the weight my body was happy with (which I haven't weighed for more than 20 - 25 years, since I was a freshman, probably), and then I would occasionally indulge, but even then, in moderation. I think the first time I had ice cream again was more than a full year after I went on the diet, and even then, it was only an ice cream sandwich at an interstate rest stop en route to an event.


So, there's no "trick", or easy way, it's just finding the will to stick to it, over an extended period of time.

If you're interested in my progress over time, I made a web page - http://donald.luby.googlepages.com/don% ... osshistory - because I was so thrilled with my progress and results.

I have had
1. A crushed fingertip (fantastically painful)
2. A cracked thumb
3. A stretched wrist
4. A cracked rib
over 20 years of fighting.

1, 2 and 4 I have down to crappy armour. 3 was through stepping into a rabbit-hole, and, yes, being lighter and better trained would have helped.

Tourneys are the safest. Most injuries occur in training or in wars. Woods battles are especially dangerous, but they're worth it! Of my four injuries, 1 & 2 was in practise, 3 in a pick-up and 4 in a war.

A specific issue is that we tend to be more lax in practise sessions (who does armour-inspections at your home fighter-practise?), where actually many of the dangers are.

Hartmann wrote:A cracked rib

I've bruised my ribs more times than I care to remember, usually from some random jackass during a melee with a shot that would have taken my head clean off. My first fighter practice after being out for several years was a few weeks back, and sure enough my ribs were bruised again - damn things *still* hurt

And before someone asks if I'm wearing just a kidney belt or whatever, my upper body is a padded gambeson, a stainless cherbourg from Ice Falcon and a largish mantle all on a decent-sized frame (SCA medium? ).

e: I should probably mention I've never hurt my fingers, wrists, knees or elbows, which puts me in the minority on a lot of this stuff.

Y'all,

Having seen Koredono's change before & after, I can tell you it was mind-boggling amounts of amazing. I almost didn't recognize him 'after'. I haven't had the honor of fighting him yet (must fixt that) - I was already nervous about it; now I'm downright dreading it (for all the best reasons)!

Anybody who follows his example will be doing right.

Something I've noticed take down a lot of fighters:
Insufficient recovery time from an injury.

I dont know how many fighters Ive met whose time on the sidelines is far more then it should be (or are fighting so ineffectively the might as well be on the sidelines) because they fail to take the proper time off and rehab themselves correctly. Who knows how many fighting careers have been hindered, limited or ended because someones enthusiasm whupped up common sense. Id rather miss a couple practices and a tourney or two then wind up with some nagging injury that somehow prevents me from reaching my full potential.
IIf im hurt, Im still fighting, If im injured, I stop. The tricky part is recognizing the difference. Its a fine, fine line.

I have had only 4 injuries.
1. A dislocated shoulder - the PT said that the musclature was uneven around the joint and simple exercises could fix that and it did.
2. Cracked ribs - right before I left for boot camp I went to a small local war where I got clobbered in the rib cage by a gigantic warhammer that was absolutely huge. I thought it sucked at the time but it was SOOO much worse at boot camp. I think this was from unsafe usage of the polearm in question. I have been told that polearm hits like a ton of bricks which I have nothing against but with that much head weight the user should keep that in mind when swinging it like a sledge hammer.
3. Concussion - Bad armour and a really pissed off opponent. After a few months the headache went away.
4. Dislocated windpipe - Got piked to the side of the throat in a war by a prince from An Tir (he was behnd my shoulder and I had no idea he was there) during the West/An Tir war. Realized there was a problem when it hurt like hell and I couldn't breathe well. I very quickly ran off the field (it was a rez battle) and at the rez point pulled off my gorget and popped the windpipeback where it was supposed to be. Once I could breathe again I put the gorget back on went back out on the field.
Most of the stuff could have been prevented by phsyical training and better armour and/or training on my part and the part of my opponents.

My most common injury is my right shoulder.


I tore the rotator cuff and a couple deltoids death gripping the steering wheel of a brand new crown vic interceptor model when i avoided a Mustang and a bob tailed simi then hit a telephone pole spun and hit a house.

If i throw wraps a certain way it hurts, sometimes alot. Takes me out of the game for a while. Sometimes it's ok in a few minutes sometimes it's a week depending on how bad.


Heavier swords make it worse, throwing harder makes it worse. In large melee i pretty much fight Spear or polearm, esp res battles. Just to save the shoulder. Espically wheni have to fight often and for several days like Pennsic or Gulfwars.

Next most common is twisted ankles. BUT since i quit wearing biker boots and or East geraman jack boots i find that this is much reduced.

Messed up knees and jammed joints.


Followed by back pain. When getting knocked down hard or often, my back seriously dislikes me. Back was sore for 3 days after the 30 last year. Got slung through the air recently landed on the concrete, it was funny, but my back hurt for days.


But like the man said "spare not thy wreched flesh"

I get greedy from time to time and over extend my shot, and.... "whifffffff"
ow. goes the wrist. (not a wrap)

I stop the shot too late,...knowing its going to miss,...but the tip of my sword continues to travel,...over rotating at the wrist. I haven't torn anything, yet. If I do it just right,... it takes a two months to heal. Because I still continue to fight and don't allow the injury to rest.
Putting ice and all that just takes care of the immediate pain. I still have to allow the injury to heal, before playing again. But, yeah..right,...like I'm gonna do that.

I've gotten stepped on, run over, bounced between shields, and taken a bad bounce off the ground with my helmet,...but that's what armour is for.

Amaris