Dave's Discourse: a little time off!

Here lately, especially the last year or so, it seems I have become ovewhelmed by work. I'm 19! My duty at this age is to work to establish some sort of profession or trade. Over time, this will become a source of income capable of supporting a family. Some people would go and apply for a job under a boss, choosing a trade of their own that best suites them. Some people would go to college for speciality training in a certain field.

So anyway, as many of you know, blacksmithing is my profession and trade. Custom metal working and artistic iron work. There are a couple of ways that I can pursue this as a profession. I could work for someone else, I could go for a bachelor degree in fine arts, or I could start my own business and build it from the ground up. Well, I chose the latter. I work constantly either making items in the studio, working on the studio to improve it, taking classes to improve my ability, researching new shows that might prove a better outlet for my work, finding stores through which to sell my work, designing and building custom work for clients....etc, etc. everything down to printing cards a lables.

I often get a bit tense especially when I have deadlines to meet or I am having difficulty with a certain technique or project. Well anyway, I decided to take some time out the other day and help my two little brothers make some new wooden swords with steel hand gaurds.

Around here, martial exercise and activity is a great favorite. Five or six years ago, when my dad pastored, we had about ten or twelve young boys in the church. There was an empty apartment building around back and we made some wooden swords and shields. The apartment building was our fortress, and we fought many brave battles there. Since then, I have always enjoyed swords and sword fighting. My two brothers, Titus and Philip, have caught onto this interest.

So anyway, I took some time off from working, and spent yesterday afternoon helping my two brothers make some new swords. This afternoon we got to try them out. We did a little freestyle fighting for a bit, then switched to choreographed fighting. We didn't have much time, so we just did a short choreographed fight. However short, it was still much fun.

I have a little bit of armour that we have made over the past couple of years. Titus got to wear my black leather dublet, and I wore chain-mail shoulder/chest armour, along with leather vembraces, (large cuffs.) Philip chose to go without armour.

Here are a few pictures of us practicing our choreographed sword fight!

Planning it all out!