Apparently it is an older version of saying fitness coach or personal trainer. The word Shapesmith appears in Dr. Johnson's English dictionary, which was published in 1755. He defined the shapesmith as “one who undertakes to improve the form of the body".
But that could also mean someone who is an athlete too, couldn't it? So to some extent it represents someone who is both an athlete and/or a fitness coach.
I see myself as more of a sports trainer, seeing as my goal is to get people "in shape" by encouraging them to get better at various sports like archery, boxing, swimming, ice skating and others.
I find that motivation is an important part of exercising - and getting into the practice, rhythm and habit of exercising - and that if you can make exercising fun via sports then it is far easier for people to get motivated and stay motivated.
Furthermore a person doesn't necessarily need a personal trainer (or fitness coach or shapesmith) in order to do sports, but when it comes to certain sports like archery, swimming, ice skating and boxing then it definitely helps to have someone who can coach you on how to do it properly.
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For reference, I learned the word shapesmith by watching an episode of QI (season J, episode 4), which you can watch below thanks to YouTube:
Clout Archery is a sport in which archers compete at shooting a "clout of arrows" as close to a target flag pole as possible, often at really long distances such as 140 or 180 yards away.
For people new to clout archery (or when the field is shorter than desirable) you may want to use shorter distances such as 60, 70, 80 yards, etc. Or if you have a really large field available, you could even try shooting longer distances like 200 yards or more.
The image below shows the results of 1 round of shooting with one of my archery students recently on June 4th 2022, shooting at a distance of 60 yards (180 feet). She got two clusters near the flag pole as you can see, nearly hitting the flag pole despite windy conditions that day.
Which brings me to the topic of what makes Clout Archery something that is useful to learn:
#1. Clout Archery is really good for archers learning how to adjust for wind conditions.
#2. Clout Archery is very good at teaching people how to shoot long distances accurately, with the distances often being more than that used by Olympic archers (70 meters).
#3. Because shooting long distances magnifies any mistakes the archer makes it forces the archer to be more of a perfectionist than shooting short distances in comparison.
BONUS THOUGHTS
Shooting such long distances can also be quite fun as there is a level of joy in watching an arrow fly so far and yet manage to land near the flag pole (or on rare occasions, even hit the flag pole).
For extra fun you can also use whistling arrowheads.
To make it easier to find your arrows (depending on the distance) you can also use wingnuts behind your screwed on field points so that when they hit the ground they dig in like an anchor and are easier to find. Alternatively, you can also use large (flu flu) fletching on your arrows.
Clout Archery Lessons?
Anyone wanting to learn archery (and specifically Clout Archery) can sign up for archery lessons in Toronto and mention that you want to learn Clout Archery.
As time goes by eventually your archery targets will get holey (or fall down) in which case you either need to replace the material or repair it in some manner.
Repairing Natural Tentest Targets
In the case of Natural Tentest targets, like those at the Toronto Archery Range located at E. T. Seton Park shown above, one way to repair the big gaping holes is to wait until one of the target butts collapses and falls down - often due to heavy rain and/or wind - and then you can use the broken fallen pieces of Natural Tentest to stuff the holes in the other targets.
And for fun, you can also add a large water container to the target butt which collapsed so that people can still potentially shoot at something until that target's tentest is replaced.
Repairing 3D Targets
In the case of 3D targets (deer, raccoons, etc) that are popular with hunters one of the best ways to repair them is with foam, like in the video below. What brand or style of foam you use doesn't really matter, what is really important is that you don't overfill the holes you are repairing because otherwise excess material will leak out (as demonstrated in the video below). A "less is better" approach is best for that scenario.
Repairing DIY Cardboard Targets
The beauty of cardboard targets is that they're super easy to repair and cost effective. Just make a habit of saving any large pieces of cardboard from your home and/or workplace and you can easily just rip out any damaged pieces of cardboard from your DIY targets and replace with new cardboard.
Best of all, the old cardboard is still recyclable so it has simply been reused before eventually reaching the recycling bin.
Your cardboard archery target doesn't need to be fancy either (like the one in the image below). It simply could be a cardboard box which is filled with cardboard. Having a wooden frame is really unnecessary for most people's purposes. But once you have a cardboard target they're very easy to repair.
My wife, myself and my eldest son would like to announce the birth of our new boy Arthur. So if you see me in person do feel free to congratulate me on the birth of the newest member of our family.
I look forward to him learning archery, swimming, ice skating, etc in the years to come.
During a 150 year period of bare knuckle boxing there were only ever 2
recorded deaths, thanks to boxers avoiding punching their opponents in
the face (because it hurt their hands). After the introduction of boxing
gloves the number of deaths in boxing rings skyrocketed.
While the data for that time period is probably incomplete due to a lack of record keeping by newspapers and the media of the day, it is pretty clear that deaths from boxing were pretty rare at the time.
Fast forward to the present.
In the
USA alone approximately 4 boxers die per year due to injuries sustained
in the ring. Usually the result of head or neck injuries because boxing
gloves paradoxically increased the number of deaths in the ring by
allowing boxers to focus more on punches to the head without fear of
injuring their hands. In other words a device meant to make boxing "safer" by protecting the hands of boxers actually causes far more deaths by causing more head/neck injuries.
Modern boxing gloves also play an important role in many boxers suffering brain injuries and eye injuries.
This makes in my opinion a good argument for why we should go back to bare knuckle boxing... In which case we would have more hand injuries, but less deaths.
The way boxing was conducted during the bare knuckle boxing period was also significantly different from modern professional boxing. There was a lot more punches to the upper torso, but boxers habitually avoided the face. Today it is practically the opposite.
After the introduction of padded boxing gloves when the Marquis of Queensbury Rules were drafted in 1865, and later officially adopted in 1892, they evolved over time. Originally they were nearly skin tight and weighed a mere 2 ounces.
Over time they have become heavier and more padded, with 8 ounce gloves becoming banned by AIBA in 1994, after which only 10 ounce or 12 ounce gloves were allowed (depending upon weight class and gender).
The very first padded boxing gloves were invented in 1743, but were only used for sparring and training, and not allowed in actual boxing matches.
Prior to that period "boxing gloves" technically did exist, but they were often fitted with blades or spikes, making them more like weapons of war than they were for boxing matches. The Ancient Greeks for example used leather wraps called Caestus.
There are also many different types of boxing gloves these days, produced by over 30 makers of professional boxing gloves:
Bag Gloves
Bag Mitts
Sparring Gloves
Competition Gloves
Lace Up Gloves
Weighted Training Gloves
Illegally Modified Boxing Gloves (see the Carlos "Panama" Lewis case for an example)
MMA Grappling Gloves (technically not boxing gloves, but listed here for reference)
As a boxing instructor I would say that I enjoy boxing as a form of exercise and I appreciate it as a sport, but I would never compete as a boxer because I like my eye balls and my brain in their current condition.
There is nothing wrong in my opinion in learning how to throw a proper punch. It can be very useful for self defense, and hopefully that never happens to the majority of people, but for the people who just want to exercise and learn an useful skill then boxing is certainly an option.
And wearing boxing gloves while you are training is definitely a necessity, even if they are more likely to cause deaths in the ring.
For now the genie is out of the bottle, the cat is out of the bag, and there's no getting boxing gloves out of boxing. It is too much a part of the sport these days. What I could foresee eventually happening is the banning of head punches, for the same reason why neck punches aren't allowed.
Looking to sign up for archery lessons, boxing lessons, swimming lessons, ice skating lessons or personal training sessions? Start by emailing cardiotrek@gmail.com and lets talk fitness!
