Warrior Fitness
Once you’ve completed Warrior Fundamentals, you can join SwordFit, a 90-minute vigorous workout of strength and cardio training for the whole body. The class also features straight-forward swordplay techniques that scale with your level to your ability, designed to work your core, shoulders, back, arms, and legs. Along with the medieval weapons, SwordFit employs modern training equipment such as medicine balls, free weights, and pull-up bars to help develop core strength and balance the body.
Class Content
Technical Coaching
Each week at SwordFit focuses on a different weapon and skill-set. This keeps the workout mentally interesting and exercises the body in diverse ways, ideal for even and ongoing physical development. The technical coaching portion will introduce you to the authentic medieval techniques and exercises you will be using for the rest of the session and will ensure that you are applying them properly and safely. For those who are passionate about the strength and diversity of swordplay, this section is ideal for immersing yourself in the technical side of what it means to train as a European warrior.
The Circuit
The core of SwordFit is the training circuit. Each day employs a set of 5 different stations designed to give a balanced and engaging workout. Each station is visited for 3 minutes with a 30 second break in-between. Activities include pairs swordplay exercises, striking targets and sword bags, vigorous combat movement, weight training, and resistance training. The SwordFit coaches provide a helpful, motivating environment and assist you to perform exercises correctly and at the right level to challenge you at your personal fitness level whether you are a beginner or a hardcore athlete.
A Sample Circuit:
- Exchanging Blows: Facing a partner with a mask, protective equipment, and a sword, you strike to your partner, block their blow, and strike again. This exercise combines the strength training of swinging the sword, with resistance training, cardio fitness, and agility training.
- Medicine Ball: 50 throws sitting with the legs extended and raised, 50 throws from the belly, and 100 rotation-passes of the 8-12 lb. medicine ball. This exercise works the core to build stability and strength.
- Attack and Defence: One partner is the defender one is the attacker. Both sides employ techniques from the technical portion of class to test the other and condition themselves both mentally and physically. Works your shoulders, back, abs, legs, and thighs.
- The Pell: This swordplay target has been employed for thousands of years. Strike the target rapidly and forcefully to develop endurance, explosive strength, and speed.
- The Pin: On all fours, use wrestling skill to prevent your partner from standing. This exercise is physically demanding for the pinned and the pinner.
Assessments
Once every 7 weeks, Swordfit devotes a class entirely to an assessment of students’ athletic abilities. Students will participate in various timed exercises attempting to perform to the best of their ability, such as:
- The maximum number of push-ups in a minute
- The length of time stood on a single leg without faltering
- The highest distance jumped, measured against a wall
After performing these exercises, students record their performance. The purpose of this is to help a student see progress between this assessment and the next. Assessments are not intended to be competitions between Swordfit students, so there is no need to worry about performing enough to do better than anyone but yourself!