Question for heavy fighters

The husband was curious. He played football in High School and was wondering if people who were attracted to one might be attracted to the other.

He just really likes figuring out demographics and patterns in tendencies. Frankly, so do I. He asked me last night if there were a lot of ex football guys among the heavy fighters, and I honestly didn't know, so I said I'd ask.

Thought it might provoke an interesting discussion. :-)

It was a household spring practice. Limited frontal engagement type of thing, guy was on a walkway and basically if he moved a step sideways in either direction he was dead. He was fighting spear, I was on sword and board.

Well, seeing as he was the best fighter we had in the house at the time, eliminating him from the field would have been a really good thing for my side. So, I charged him. (As stated, it seemed like a good idea at the time.)

Looking back on it now, I made a serious of mistakes - the first being that I charged him (though people who know of the group I was in, and know the group would say the first mistake I made was listening to Tyr tell me to charge.) My second mistake was hitting the guy high, up in the chest with my shield when we made contact (that was the BIG mistake.)

Now, I should take a moment to mention that I stand about 6'3". The guy I was charging is close to 7' (maybe a little over, maybe a little under) and built like, well, a mobile watch tower. (He also could run faster backwards then most of us could run forwards.)

Naturally, since he was fighting spear, the defensive posture on facing a charging shieldman is to use that spear across the body to block and deflect. My target did this. At his upper chest level where I had centered my hit on. (Afterwards he even said had I hit him around hip level he might have had to take a step to keep balance.) So, I hit his spear and he pushed back to deflect me off.

Now, this is where doing the right thing worked against me. I had braced my leg as I drove in, for the leverage. WHen I went backwards from being deflected, the leg stayed planted. I am told that the first break in the middle of tibia and fiba could be heard over 100 ft away, OVER the sound of the rest of the melee. It could even be heard on the video recording that was being taken at the time.) Now, thankfully, that first break saved some other complication when the spiral fracture started from the ankle and moved upwards, that fracturing stopped at the first break (which is good because if it has gone all the way up, there would have been MAJOR reconstruction to not only the whole of the lower leg, but also most of the lower part of the knee socket.)

To shorten the story, by the time I hit the ground and got my leg out in front of me, there were upwards of 17 different breaks between knee and ankle. Some major surgery, nine months off work, and another couple months of still using a cane to walk with after returning to work on light duty, and I was getting better. I can now give metal detectors fits though, since the rod is about as big around as my pinky and goes from knee to ankle, along with the five 'wood screws' (allen head, I asked only because if someone told me to go screw myself, I could pull out the proper tool to do so.)

That is the short version, makes an entertaining story when sitting around a fire swapping fighting tales. I have been back in armor since then, though not in any event tourney or melee fighting, only shire and private practices. The leg does give me some concern, but mostly the lack of armoring up has been due to a pretty messed up work schedule and other projects taking precedent over getting to 'play.'

:( well that is sad... though we are..... or at least I am trying to emulate a brotherhood… of noble behavior, the romantic view of knighthood. Though I often fall short of what I think a knight should be, I continue to strive for that lofty goal. A quote if you will from THE MAN William the Marshal

“What is it then to bear arms? Does one employ them as one might a harrow, a winnowing-fan, an axe?
No, it is a far more arduous labor. What then is Chivalry? So strong a thing, and of such hardihood,
and so costly in the learning, that a wicked man or low dare not undertake it... Whoso would enjoy high honor
first must display that he has been well schooled to such arts.”

No I never played in organized sports in High school. Simply not coordinated enough. Bicycled and skateboarded all over town though with my friends who were all also misfits.

We all did play D&D but I didn't care for it and didn't play much. Few of my friends really progressed into LARPing.

I fight becuase I can (though not well) but also to support my friends who do.

I also belong to a fraternity (NOT COLLEGE) and I see the point made about SOME fighters acting like Frat (college) boys. Sadly they are the ones that need the wake up call and will never see it.

When I said frat boys, I was talking about drinking, gambling being loud, pissing in bushes and staying up all night and having a hangover the next morning on the field. None of the bad stuff that happens with frat boys like rape, car jacking, gang beating of "nerds" or wearing trendy cloths and having popped collars.

I'm stll addicted to rock em sock em robots.