Unleashing your inner Aragon

[nodachi]

Here is a fun little video I found...

Apparently someone is making a fortune off of the foundation built by LARPers. Although maybe it is good to have places like this around. When we have people who aren't interested in what kendo has to offer, maybe this is more their cup of tea so we can filter out the real kendoka from the people who want to just bash each other over with swords.

http://www.explorenewengland.com/travel?article=/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/19/swordfighting_unleash_your_inner_aragorn/

[bullet08]

i guess everyone has their idea of what realistic sword fight is..

pete

[Omnis]

Wow. How stupid. The instructor basically said the opposite of what was being demonstrated.

I love how the clueless Boston press guy says "new sport for kids," or something along that line.

[Halcyon]

Chill. Just people having fun.

[Newbie]

God I wish they weren't called LARPers. I mean, they are but I do a very different type of larping. Makes me sad. Like I need to 'unleash my inner Aragorn'. It's not hard, he's my brother and lives in Melbourne (my parents were fans).


other programs made would-be swordsmen wait months before they handled a weapon

Yeah? Like which programmes? SCA let you 'have at thee' with the rattan (sp?) swords as far as I know. My first fencing lesson when I was six I used a foil. Kendo the first thing we did was choose a shinai.

Wow. That article was so full of it.

[Kapplow]

I dont know man I think I would rather do LARP than that. At least with LARP you can ran around in the woods a have huge braveheart-like battles.

And BTW their armor is actually motocross armor used to protect you from roost.

[Newbie]

At least with LARP you can ran around in the woods

Are you serious? One of my favourite SCA events is chasing some poor bugger dressed up like a bunny through the woods, hunting him with my bow. One year I got the bunny a beauty - temple shot at forty yards with a 28 pound bow :)

And I do LARP, it's just a very, very different type of larping - it's roleplaying but acting your character instead of sitting at the table. Blah. I'm crap at explaining it.

[lemi]

And I do LARP, it's just a very, very different type of larping - it's roleplaying but acting your character instead of sitting at the table.

Hmmm... and I always thought that if you are not sitting at the table and you are acting your character, then you are playing LARP :) So just from curiosity - what's the difference between standard LARP and the LARP you've mentioned?

thanks,

[mark]

The owner of the studio sounds quite reasonable. It is a shame they do not also do kendo. As for hitting each other with a foam sword, as long as it is safe why not?

[Ignatz]

My sentiments entirely. Why does it bother people that other people do whatever they do? Face facts, kendo just isn't that popular for a number of reasons; no instant gratification, it is hard, it is expensive, most people have no idea what it etc., is but aren't we really better off that the nice people that couldn't cut it in kendo have someplace to go? Cutting down their thing, whatever it is, does nothing to validate what you do.
Get over it and make sure you go to class as often as you can because 20 years from now you will be looking at a nice $1,500 cherry blossom do to go with your new $2,000 men and kote while their foam sword and motocross stuff will be in a box somewhere owned by the person who bought it at the yard sale some other guy had 20 years earlier.

[Omnis]

Hmmm... and I always thought that if you are not sitting at the table and you are acting your character, then you are playing LARP :) So just from curiosity - what's the difference between standard LARP and the LARP you've mentioned?

thanks,

"his" LARPing is just LARPing. What he describes as "standard" LARPing is just RPGing.

Role-Playing Gaming =/= Live-Action Role-Playing.

[Alison2805]

Shooting a guy with a bow? Did he volenteer to be the bunny? That could perhaps be improved by putting motorcross gear on the bunny and giving him a foam covered sword.. (my imagination is hopping away with me..)