Becoming an athlete

You have to be an athlete in the sport of Bohurt/Armored Combat/Steel Fighting/Deeds of Arms

ath·lete

ˈaTHˌlēt/

noun

noun: athlete; plural noun: athletes

1. a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.
2. 
   
3. 
   

   
   

If you cannot watch the video, here is the audio:


Having been in the martial arts my whole life, competing in full contact kickboxing, and your normal tournament style martial arts, one thing rings true. The better the athlete, the better the practitioner of the martial art. 

Considering complex movements, strikes, speed, techniques, patterns, being able to close distances are all something someone can learn. Being a better athlete is simply makes all of these things easier. Not that an athlete will master every nuance of a particular art right from the beginning, they will however have a distinct advantage over those of equal background but have lessor athleticism.

As an older fighter (about to turn 42 this month), no matter how much I 'know', or how many rank certificates on the wall, there comes a point that without better athleticism, I will be overrun by much younger and less experienced fighters. Sure, for the most part, I can away on top. But these much younger athletes I train with, with just a modicum of technique, can challenge me. 

So the future of this sport of Bohurt, relies on developing athletes and developing the art. Our typical team practice always starts with a warmup and crossfit style workout. We use it as a measure of how our physical conditioning is improving. Then we follow with our standard practices of skills, drills, and sparring. 

Unlike most Eastern martial arts, the sport of Bohurt completely different. The strikes, the way you block, the way you move is all different. It doesn't translate one to one. Sure, punches, angle and direction can be translated over. Take downs, are similar to Judo, Jujitsu. The big difference is  

the harness you wear to fight in and the ability to maneuver and fight with fifty to ninety pounds of armor hanging off your body.

There truly is an art to fighting in harness. You can practice striking on a pell, doing foam sword and shield fighting, but until you strap on the armor, you will never understand how difficult it is to perform. This is why you will hear people say, spend more time fighting in harness (armor). The more you do, the better you will understand how your body moves and strikes.

This isn't to say every practice needs to be in armor. For one that is impractical because you will always be fixing armor as with normal wear and tear of fighting in this sport. I will say the more often you do, on top of your regular training, the better off you will be. 

This is a difficult sport. One must raise to the occasion and be physically fit, obtain martial arts skills that are pretty foreign to most folks, and learn to move and do all the things to win in this sport while wearing the kit. 

Well, I hope you enjoy the video, audio, and blog. Post comments below on what you would like to know more about, or topics that should be covered.

Fight Hard, Stay Strong, Be Badass Everyday!