I am a serial hobbyist. That is one of the ways my ADHD manifests itself into my every day. I get into things, generally get fairly good at them, and then get bored and move on. Some I stick with in a lower intensity way for longer periods. Some I leave and come back to later. Bicycling has been my longest and also most episodic love. I started on a VERY bad Huffy 10 speed during high school in 1985. I got strong enough that I ended up breaking the frame climbing a very steep hill in West Seattle. I raced in high school and college and then dropped it for 20 years and got back into it in my early 50s and used it to lose 40 pounds and rode the Seattle to Portland in one day in 2018.
Anyway, I am always looking for something to be a challenge. A few years ago I found a fencing club in Bellingham, WA and gave it a shot. I liked it very much. My schedule changed and I had to drop it for a while. Fast forward a few years and my wife finds this cool sword\yoga thing called WeaponUp. It combines chinese sword play techniques and yoga. She got really into it. It perked up my interest in fencing again so I started thinking about it more and more.
In the meantime I had injured my wrist so I have trouble with the Epee. The way I have to grip it causes issues. But then, a few weeks later, I saw HEMA longsword. Two-Handed Fencing!
I went to an intro class and was HOOKED. Two hands was great for my injury. Also, while it does require agility and quick moves, it is a little less 'linear' then traditional 'sport fencing.' It also allows for more contact and since I am a pretty large guy, my strength is more useful than it was in sport fencing.
This is how I arrived at this place. I hope this blog can be a chronicle of a journey of self-discovery, self-improvement, and just plain fun.