New edge on sword play
Joseph Starkloff
Arthur Nordstrom, a computer science network administration major, has dedicated his Monday and Wednesday afternoons to teaching the art of the blade outside the BP building from 2 – 6 p.m.He has procured the use of bamboo swords called shinais, as opposed to padded swords known as boffers, in these weekly meetings.
“They’re a bit more realistic. Our fighting is done on an honor system. With boffers, they’re padded, so sometimes you don’t feel them, but you always feel the sting if you get hit with a shinai,” Nordstrom said.
He stressed he would like to keep the group non-affiliated with the school and have it designed as a fighter practice. If he did make the group an official school club, he would have to abide by the school regulations and wear padding during the matches, which would limit the techniques and methods he could teach participants.
He branded the fighting as physically intensive.
“This is the most exercise I get all week. This is probably some of the best exercise you can get,” Nordstrom said.
Ben Corbo-Selvy, a participant and MCC student, agreed with Nordstrom’s assessment.
“It’s very much a workout. Gets your legs moving and keeps you on your toes,” he said.
He said the most common injuries were hand blows and the rare hit to the head, but they had no effect on his enjoyment.
“Besides the sometimes face shots, there’s nothing I don’t like about it,” Corbo-Selvy said.
Most individuals who’ve enjoyed the activity so far have been fans of the fantasy role-playing game “Dungeon and Dragons.”
“A lot of people that enjoy video games and role playing games would like this. A lot of geeks and nerds actually,” Nordstrom said.
Corbo-Selvy developed an interest in sword fighting during childhood.
“(I’ve enjoyed activities like this) since I was little. I wasn’t able to finish off my martial arts classes because my parents couldn’t afford it,” he said.
Nordstrom gained his abilities from six years of a medieval recreation club, but quit due to its developing lack of physicality.
“It got to be too much politics and not enough blood on the field,” he said.
