Every thursday evening I spend three hours learning medieval european martial arts, mostly the German school of swordsmanship. You're basically taught what you'd be taught in the middle ages. Zwaard en Steen is the Dutch school where I take my courses.
Two weeks ago I did an exam and got the results today: I made the second grade! Things I had to know included: 5 basic stances; lots of theory about positioning yourself; two ways to disarm someone with your sword (that means, you end up with two swords, it doesn't mean that you dis-arm him so that he ends up with a bloody stump). And finally you get to fight the instructor and have to win 2 out of 10.
How's that for a sport :-) Loads of fun and you learn a bit about the more practical side of history.
My name is Reinout van Rees and I work a lot with Python (programming language) and Django (website framework). I live in The Netherlands and I'm happily married to Annie van Rees-Kooiman.
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