COVID and getting back into Sport

pjgh

Forum GOD!
I'm sure many of us partake in some kind of sporting activity ...

I have golfing friends who are starting to get back to their pottering, I see football starting to retrain, running has naturally become a good sport but I wonder how many of us will be getting back to our favourite sports anytime soon.

Me? It's judo ... which will be a no-no for some time to come and fencing, which ironically is the perfect COVID sport:



... but not coming back any time soon, I wouldn't think; not 'til some occasional close contact sports return like football tackles.
 

Boycie83

Space Cadet
I'm sure many of us partake in some kind of sporting activity ...

I have golfing friends who are starting to get back to their pottering, I see football starting to retrain, running has naturally become a good sport but I wonder how many of us will be getting back to our favourite sports anytime soon.

Me? It's judo ... which will be a no-no for some time to come and fencing, which ironically is the perfect COVID sport:



... but not coming back any time soon, I wouldn't think; not 'til some occasional close contact sports return like football tackles.
Forgive the fact question but I genuinely don't know - does it hurt when the sword 'stabs' you?
 

pjgh

Forum GOD!
Generally, no ...

Sabre (the slashy rather than stabby weapon), you can get the occasional whip in the wrong place which hurts (think whipping with an old-school car aerial). Legs, elbows, ungloved off hand can really hurt. Foil, the floppy/whippy sword, not often but the odd prod in "the wrong place" can leave you breatheless. Epee, yes. Both myself and a friend have had broken ribs from epee fencing, and it's usual to have a permanent set of yellow dots (fading bruises) on your chest and up your arms as an epee fencer.

Naturally, if the end of the blades were sharp rather than flat and you weren't wearing ballistic nylon clothing (800 Newton rated) ... it would hurt a LOT more. But what about when blades snap? There's a lot of technology in fencing to minimise the damage when accidents happen and literally every accident is pored over and often results in material changes to equipment. When a blade snaps, the blade itself is engineered to snap cleanly and the clothing rated highly enough to prevent a shard penetrating (think: stab material). Moreover, we wear a half jacket (a plastron) underneath which has seams that don't follow the outer clothing so if the outer seam was somehow penetrated, the under-plastron would physically stop the blade going into the skin/body.

Usually, it's just pride that gets hurt. Not me, as I don't have any. I have a nasty sneer!
 
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p.b

Forum GOD!
Forgive the fact question but I genuinely don't know - does it hurt when the sword 'stabs' you?
I got a hit on my left nipple by a foil once. I still cry thinking about it now - at the time I think I stopped breathing for 30 seconds or so due to the pain. It hurt more than the one wack to the nuts I've received, which, worryingly, didn't hurt didn't hurt anywhere near as much as I thought is should - must've been lucky that time.
 

p.b

Forum GOD!
My running club is still not meeting as a group.
The fencing is in the same boat as you, Paul. We fence in a school hall so can't see us back until September.
As for Yoga, (which I want to get back into having not done any for about 4 years) who knows.
 

pjgh

Forum GOD!
Pierced nips.

Our club (that I'm Chair of) fences at a Sports Centre, so I guess it's down to when they'll re-open. I also go to a custom/purpose fencing centre over in Oldham which is closed until they get the go-ahead to officially reopen. I'm sure British Fencing (and the FIE) will have some pretty clear guidance for when that happens. It may not be popular, but it will no doubt get us back fencing. Whether it's compatible with clubs continuing beginner sessions is yet to be seen and it's more the equipment sharing that's an issue for clubs. How we'd guarentee safety when sharing masks between sessions as a prime example.

We had the unique problem in fencing that hand-shaking is an actual rule that can be penalised (quite severely for top flight fencers) for not undertaking. That rule was indeed amended early doors.

It's the mechanics of sports that is going to take some defining ...

Some sports have a lot of close quarter contact - BJJ, Judo, Rugby, three-legged running ... some slightly better distance, say, Fencing, TKD, Karate but with frequent close quarters, some much better distance but again with close-quarters, football being the obvious, then we get to better distance with no required contact, like tennis, badminton and onto say, golf. It's going to be really tough to define. I still can't see an Olympics going ahead even next year.
 
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