What Hema has done for me.

There is something strange about HEMA- it's a bit academic compared to how you would expect a martial art to be. This is an unfortunate side effect of us no longer carrying swords and challenging people to duels for farting in our general direction. We have a bastardised, sporting version of swordplay and.. well it's bastardised, fair and generally sporting.

Without blowing my own trumpet- I am an intelligent chap and having an extra bit that's a touch cerebral helps engage me a bit more. I was surprised at how easy I found 16th century printed English was to read (the handwriting's a bugger, but then it's always been like that). So HEMA has given me something to do with my brain when I would usually be idle. I quite like this aspect, but I can understand that others will find this a touch intimidating. There is no need, people are willing to teach and you can keep clear of the books if you really feel that you must. I urge otherwise, but that's for no other reason than because I find it fascinating.

My kinesthetic sense has been fine tuned. I'm now more aware about where I am and what I'm doing without being conscious of it- I have a much better internal map of where I am in the world. This leads into improved muscle memory, even unrelated things like touch typing have improved because of this internal map. I've not gone back to any old sports, but I'm fairly sure I will have a slight improvement because of this.

My balance has improved and so has my general, low level fitness. I judge distances/widths better. I'm a lot more alert without showing it- although my threat perception isn't top notch, I can feel a more self assured posture and an aura of "you don't want to mess with me" starting to develop.

My dancing has got a little more varied. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to tweak guard positions and drills into something that doesn't look out of place on the dancefloor. Silver's True Guard is fairly close the archetypical "Woe is me" hand stapled to forehead pose.

I am, generally, more relaxed. The general exercise does all sorts of lovely things to the brain that makes it a better place to be. Of course, when people at work start getting to me, a serene smile crosses my face as I mentally list the ways I could get them to STFU and RTFM. So that helps a little as well.

And, I'm insured against accidentally dismembering people. Which still hasn't ceased to make me smile.