Everyday Systems: shovelglove: message 71 of 649

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Friday's shovelglove workout was "preparing the
defenses." Yesterday's was "defending the walls." Only
made sense since we spent the day before preparing for
an attack <grin.> 

Note: the 4 lb. sledge is really just a large hammer
but it seems to fit my 11 year old easily enough. A 6
lb would be more ideal but we couldn't find one.

First, we manned the walls with bow and arrow. We
"shot the bow" 10x each side. This was done by
simulating shooting a bow at an extremely high arc,
with the hand pulling the bowstring holding the
shovelglove. I had to hold it very near the head as
even 10 lber became extremely heavy after only a
couple repetitions. 

Then, as the enemy drew closer to the walls, we "shot
the bow point blank," 10x each side. This was done by
lowering the bow from a high 45* angle to a 90* angle,
held directly in front of you as though you were, you
guessed it, shooting an arrow point blank. 

The enemy then mounted ladders and attempted to scale
the walls. We defeated them by.. well I couldn't come
up with a name for it, but what we did was use the
"stoke the fire," or "spear thrust," movement to knock
the enemy off the wall. We completed the movement by
drawing the shovelglove back, lifting the front foot,
and thrusting the sledge forward with a stamp of the
foot. We did this one 10x each side. 

The walls were breached so we had to take it hand to
hand. First, we did 20x "smite the orcs," better
known as "chopping the tree," with each side. Then, we
did a similar movement but brought the shovelglove
from directly overhead, instead of diagonally as in
the 'chopping tree' movement. This we did 10x, changed
grip and did another 10. This will really burn your
triceps quick. 

We were getting overrun and our lines had crumbled, so
it was everyman for himself. I kept the enemy at bay
using the "whirling berserker" movement. Imagine Babe
Ruth at a home run derby - I just swung the
shovelglove directly in front of me side to side, with
a lot of power. WARNING - DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SWING HARD
AND HALT THE MOVEMENT OF THE SHOVELGLOVE. You will
injure your joints and tendons in no time flat. If you
use this move, just follow through as though you are
swinging a heavy baseball bat. 

I had initially performed this movement just like a
bat, dropping my hands closer together doing the
movement and even finishing the move with one hand.
But I personally felt best just keeping both hands on
the shovelglove and rotating the hands as the swing
passes in front of you mid-point. This is a very
natural movement (at least I thought so) and didn't
require a lot of thought once I just let my body
handle the details. 

I did 20x, then switched grip and did another 20x. I
counted one swing and back as one repetition.

Whew! We finally repelled the enemy and now had to
scour the battlefield for survivors. (The squeamish
among you may prefer to skip this part.) We did
"finish him" 20x, using a movement akin to 'churning
butter' or 'tamping the dirt,' only with the
shovelglove held closer to the ground. You bring it up
vigorously overhead and thrust it down vigorously, as
though you were, well, trying to finish of the bad
guy. Since we workout outside we actually thumped the
shovelglove onto the ground, but indoors just raise
and lower the shovelglove in a more controlled
movement. 

Total time was about 14-15 minutes, but we were moving
at a quick pace. And all the celebrating and saluting
movements from Friday's workout? Well, add them if you
can but I could barely raise my arms when we were
done, lol! I imagined the king was still hiding in his
bunker anyway.

So there you have it, our second 'scenario based
shovelglove' workout. I haven't thought of what I'll
do next, any ideas please let me know!

- Allan 




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