Hmm...which way do I go?

[fireheart]

So I'm currently tossing up between two new hobbies. One is dancing. The other is archery.

There's an archery club near where I'll be moving to, but there's also a couple of dance schools nearby. My self-confidence has taken a MASSIVE hit of late and is set to take an even further hit when I move interstate, as the only person I'll know is my partner. At the same time though, I'm thinking of this as a form of social exercise, where I can meet people and not feel isolated and awkward.

So that begs the question: what would be good for exercise?

[Jester]

While archery is great fun, dancing would be a better choice for many reasons. First, it's far more social. Second, as a form of exercise, it is far superior to archery, and would give you a workout. Archery would not. When was the last time you saw a sweaty archer? Third, it is the one more likely to help with your self-confidence.

To me this is a no-brainer. I would only suggest archery to someone who was looking to avoid people or social interaction.

[Sapphire Silk]

Sorry, Jester. I have to disagree that archers don't sweat. They do.

Sure, if you're using a compound bow, the design greatly reduces the pull strength and amount of effort needed. But you still need effort to get the correct stance and use the correct technique. Good competitive archers need to stay physically fit and have a strong core. So they add other activities to maintain that. And it's a tight knit community, so the social aspect is there.

Dancing is high impact, so the effect on the joints can be pretty intense; too intense for some people. It's aerobic primarily, a bit of strength training. endurance training depends on the type of dancing you're doing. It will vary.

Archery requires lots of strength training, some endurance training, and not much aerobic training.

YMMV, and which to choose depends on what the OP thinks she can do the best.

But my questions is . . . why not do both?

[Kal]

I'll quickly point out that dancing is probably safer - given you said that you cut your finger with tongs, I'm not sure that being around arrows is a wise decision for you.

[Kittish]

I'll quickly point out that dancing is probably safer - given you said that you cut your finger with tongs, I'm not sure that being around arrows is a wise decision for you.

Eh, pretty much every target and practice arrow I've ever seen is blunt at the end. Fireheart might, conceivably, manage to puncture someone with a poorly aimed shot, but I doubt she'd manage to cut herself.

I'm of the try both camp, too. If schedules conflict, flip a coin to pick which one to start with, then alternate weeks with them. This should make practice frequent enough that you don't lose newly learned skills between sessions.

[MoonCat]

I would only suggest archery to someone who was looking to avoid people or social interaction.

Depends on your definition of social interaction.

Archery is way cooler. No, don't hit me, dancing is great, too! Can you do both?

[fireheart]

It does boil down to cost overall.

Here's a breakdown of the costs for each WITHOUT equipment.

Archery: $250 per year, but that includes access to the facilities and unlimited access to things like competitions and whatnot. I would also need to do a beginners course, which is $150 (not affiliated with the club, but they share facilities). Not sure if they charge a fee for casual shoots, I am about to find this out.
Bellydancing: $150 per term.
Flamenco dancing: $60 per 2-hour lesson.

Then you get the cost of items. Archery seems to have the highest overall cost for items, while bellydancing is the cheapest (kinda).

Archery: A standard bow is around $140. Chest guard is $20, finger tabs are around $10. Arrows can be up to $100/dozen (my partner and I are planning on possibly splitting this depending on how many arrows are needed per round), a quiver is around $30, a case for my gear is $80 (and would be a requirement since I'm travelling by train to get there)....basically it adds up. Some of this stuff we may potentially be able to get secondhand, although the bow will likely be a brand new purchase.

Flamenco dancing: It would be shoes and skirt in particular. There's one website that is apparently "required" by the dance instructor and both skirt and shoes are $100 EACH.

Bellydancing: Mostly the startup cost would be a hip scarf and maybe a few shorter or tighter tops.

So yeah, archery has the cheapest fees with the highest equipment cost, dancing kinda goes in between.

[Gizmo]

Archery rebuilt my back from being skeletal to being near damn muscley. In a couple of months of 20 mins every other day.

It works the whole body - I had a pull in my leg muscles one day and it effected my archery far more than I realized it would.

Also helps to teach focus, and a number of other good skills.

[Kittish]

Belly dance is TERRIFIC for workouts, and building core strength. It'll also teach you how to isolate muscle groups, and improve balance and flexibility. I took belly dance classes for several years back when I was married, and loved it. You won't need a hip scarf right away, but they're pretty cool to have just on their own. When I was taking classes we wore harem pants and choli tops in class most of the time. We also had veils most of the time, but those don't cost much (and if you sew, they're really easy to make). Full costumes can run anywhere from about $50 to a couple of thousand, depending on how fancy you want to get. The only downside to belly dance classes (at least from my point of view) is that every class I attended the instructor pressured us to perform in her troupe, and I have ZERO interest in performing publicly.

[Seshat]

Whereas I had a bellydance instructor whose primary interest was in sharing her art and helping people discover how wonderful their bodies were, regardless of the body shape.

Bellydance is a low impact exercise, and suitable for almost anyone (check with your doctor, especially if you have injuries or disabilities).

My teacher just asked us to wear comfortable bras, and clothes we could move freely in. Tshirts and track pants or yoga pants were pretty common, some of us wore skirts. Pants let you see more clearly what your legs are doing, though.


ETA: I'm uncomfortable with your flamenco teacher wanting you to use a website to buy dance shoes. Dance shoes must fit very well, or you'll slide in the shoes if they're loose, and if they're tight, end up with blisters (or worse). It's much better to buy from a knowledgeable dance store.

[EricKei]

Just a caveat on the Archery - as you said you'd be travelling by train, check with them first to see what their policy is regarding having (potentially) sharp pointy things like arrows on-board (even though they will be secured). I realize that the ones you'd be using will likely be blunted, but they may have issues with them anyway.

[fireheart]

Just a caveat on the Archery - as you said you'd be travelling by train, check with them first to see what their policy is regarding having (potentially) sharp pointy things like arrows on-board (even though they will be secured). I realize that the ones you'd be using will likely be blunted, but they may have issues with them anyway.

Ooh good point.

I've just emailed them to find out what the rule is.

[BroSCFischer]

I do know something that will potentially mitigate the costs of archery. You would probably only need to replace the arrows occasionally as they can be reused.

At least that was how it was when I was in school. My gym teacher had an archery unit, and most of the equipment was a few years old, including the arrows.

SC

[fireheart]

I do know something that will potentially mitigate the costs of archery. You would probably only need to replace the arrows occasionally as they can be reused.

At least that was how it was when I was in school. My gym teacher had an archery unit, and most of the equipment was a few years old, including the arrows.

SC

I've gotta check how many arrows are needed per individual per round (I do believe it's 6), but the plan is that my partner and I will likely get a set of 12 premade arrows and split them between us. If the parts can be replaced in the arrows, one of us will replace the nocks.

[Gizmo]

I've gotta check how many arrows are needed per individual per round (I do believe it's 6), but the plan is that my partner and I will likely get a set of 12 pre made arrows and split them between us. If the parts can be replaced in the arrows, one of us will replace the nocks.

Depends on what arrows you buy. I have both wooden bodkins and field points and plastic hunters and blunts.

The plastic blunts a friend has had have lasted years. The hunters aren't doing so bad but the shafts have sometimes splintered. In the last year of heavy use we've had 2 break and thats all - out of about 30 or so.

The wood ones are fine and can usually be renocked by hand (carving the split in) and re-headed if the heads do snap. They've only really suffered damage when they've gone off target - say into the back fence due to a misfire or at an event we were shooting in a closed alley and one hit the concrete due to wind.