"I could beat you up because..."

[Chanlin]

Tried fencing but I found it too restricted whereas with kendo I had some freedom. Only thing I didn't like about kendo is that being hit by bamboo hurts like hell.

I am tall, somewhat lanky, and light weight 5'11 and only 157 pounds (1.8 Meters and 71.2 Kilograms for those who use metric system) I figure fencing is better for me

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Fencing would suit you (yes, I'm working on it, I'm out of town right now with the inlaws, waiting for answers to various emails. ). A tall guy has an edge because he will have long reach. A lanky guy presents a smaller target, and also has less weight to drag around...hence more speed. It's all about speed, reach, and not getting hit.

SCA fencing in different from Collegiate fencing. It's less restrictive. You can fence in the round, the entire body is a target, you don't have to worry about right-of-way, you can use your off hand, and it's not unheard of to use a loaf of bread or a mug of beer for an off hand parrying device.

And the clothes are MUCH better.

[ArenaBoy]

I am tall, somewhat lanky, and light weight 5'11 and only 157 pounds (1.8 Meters and 71.2 Kilograms for those who use metric system) I figure fencing is better for me

To each their own. I'm 6'2 and I prefer kendo. Plus the armor is too cool.

Geek King:It's supposed to hurt. It encourages you not to get hit.

No duh. But either way, being hit by bamboo is painful. My instructor used to hit our legs with kendo sticks if we weren't doing a stance properly. Occasionally we fought with no armor too, that was fun.

MystyGlyttyr:Do martial arts schools hire tackling dummies?

Wouldn't be surprised but they'd be refferred to as students. I was the dojo's training dummy from the day I started to the day my Sensei disappeared. 5 years of being thrown, punched, joint locked, head locked, kicked, twisted, and held will instill a lot of determination and a very high pain threshold.

Story time: When I was 13, I helped out at a grading. One of the students was a weapons stylist and a pressure point genius. She was having a hard time remembering where one pressure point was (Under the ears, it smarts) and she was on the verge of tears. Now for some strange reason, I found something not even related to the situation at all funny. It was one of those moments where your mind wanders and it sees something funny and you laugh in a bad situation. This was one of them for me.

My Sensei sees me laughing and says, "Look at Arena, he's laughing! I'll make him stop." Next thing I know I'm being lifted off the ground by my ears. Parents everywhere including my mom and dad were laughing.