Big Friendly Vegan

It still exists. In a time when we are all meant to be non-sexist, there still exists a fundamental sexism that I am afraid will never go away. It has nothing to do with discrimination, rather the difference between men and women.

We had a tree planting at the school for National Tree Day - a very, very good idea in my humble opinion. The school did a good job getting all of the kids ready and involved and the parent volunteers helped the teachers get a few hundred plants in the ground. I was pleased to assist in this and lent my bulk to a lot of digging.

The sexism came after all of the main work was done when the organiser of the day (a volunteer parent) came up to me and asked if I could help in the removal of a large tree stump. The stump had been there for years with repeated "executive decisions" made to not remove it - purely because it was too hard for the gardening volunteers, all mums. In walks big male father type (i.e. me) and all of a sudden the executive decisions are reversed and the stump has to come out.

I felt used and violated. The only reason I was doing the job was because I was a man and it was men's work. How degrading!

Of course, I got the stump out with the help of my wife and a former student (and sister of a current student). I did the heavy hitting while they cleared away the dirt for me to get my mattock in. We broke a shovel (snapped the metal) and I almost had a heart attack straining against the damn thing, but it is out, and god help me, I felt good about it.

To carry on the theme from my recent Code Brown post, my two eldest daughters have recently taken to scatography - writing with shit. I don't think they have gotten far in their studies yet, but they are definately doing something interesting.

My eldest had her first publication when she shat in the potty and declared, when she rose, that her turd looked like the number 6. It did! Well done. I thought nothing more of it until a few weeks ago when she came running into the garage to tell me that my middle daughter had taken a dump on the potty and it was a number 7. When I went to wipe her, lo and behold, a number 7.

Are my daughters doing maths in their colon? Are they delivering an important message to humanity? Is it the Da Vinci Code?

So far we have had the aformentioned 6 and 7. There have been several number 1s (which is a bit obvious), a 2, an 11 and a 12 and even an exclamation mark. I'll let you know when they get to letters.

I got my copy of Steve Hand's new book English Swordsmanship (Volume 1) three nights ago and have been reading with interest since. While I have by no means read it all, I have examined it enough that I thought I would give a short review of the book for those who are interested, and for those who aren't but should be. By way of disclosure I need to point out that I began my sword career under Steve Hand at Stoccata Sydney and was taught by him until he moved to Tasmania. I am still a student at Stoccata Sydney.

I have to admit that I have been looking forward to Steve's book for quite a while. I like the way that he writes about swordplay (he has written many, many articles and a book or two) and I know him to be a thorough teacher of a subject. I was also looking forward to having a comprehensive record of what I had been taught over the past five years of studying Silver. I am glad to say that I haven't been disappointed.

It is obvious from first glance at this book that it contains a very detailed description of Silver's techniques and ideas. There is a huge amount of text and the number of pictures is astounding. From a usability point of view, the text is easy to read and the pictures are fairly clear.

After reading several sections in depth, the main feature of this book, and the reason I would recommend it to everyone, is Steve's inclusion of fifteen years worth experience. By this I don't mean that he simply writes with authority (which he does), rather I mean that he has included every mistake, blind alley and false idea he has had regarding this system. If you look at the way the work is presented, you will see that not only are you shown a technique, you are also shown logical variations that won't work (and why), what the limitations of the technique are and how it has been or might be defeated. The honest presentation of these dalliances will save modern practitioners of the system enormous amounts of time. (I remember countless times in classes where the light bulb would go on above Steve's head as he was explaining a technique, or when someone accidentally defeated a technique that was thought to be correct. Being taught be Steve is to see the evolution of his ideas on Silver's system. All of this evolution is in the book.)

In addition to the practical aspects of Silver, there is a significant amount of time and effort dedicated to Silver's tactical theory. Over the years at Stoccata I have seen time and time again how Silver's theory of time and place are applicable to all fighting systems (and not just weapon systems). As such, English Swordsmanship is suitable for both beginner and advanced sword students. Beginners will find numerous practical exercises that can be used to learn Silver's techniques and ideas. Advanced practitioners will find interest in topics such as attacking in false and broken times.

I have enjoyed looking at Steve's work and I will continue to use this in my ongoing exploration of Silver (which forms the core of teaching at Stoccata Sydney). This book contains material that complements, but doesn't overlap other books on Silver or English swordsmanship. The works of George Silver are an important piece of the practical and theoretical historical fencing puzzle. English Swordsmanship deserves a place on every martial arts bookshelf.