I injured my back/neck moving firewood the other day- very painful but on the mend now. It reminded me of something that happened a few years ago. I was attending college and had access to the wilderness that was adjacent to school, so I started practicing with a sling daily. I got really good, but eventually developed my muscles in a lopsided way, resulting in chronic back pain which only stopped when I began a balanced full-body workout my wife developed for me (she's been an athlete, coach and trainer for many years). I could actually feel the unevenness of the pull of several muscles high in my back. I hate to play the role of safety pup, but it really sucks to put your hobby on hold because it is doing damage to you. A regular, balanced workout will develop balanced muscles that are strong enough to do whatever you ask, without injury or disfigurement. This public service message is brought to you by dave's wife.

Agreed! I haven't noticed a problem with slinging, but I have a bit of a Popeye-arm going on since I started with the arming sword. (I find single-handed swords to be oddly more taxing than longswords, due to the stress emphasizing one limb.) Thank God it's still only a subtle difference.

To counter this I'm emphasizing exercises involving my off-hand more. I'm trying to get to the point where I can do single-handed bodyweight exercises: that way I can be sure that one limb isn't cheating the other and such

I also have bad posture and a neglected posterior chain, so I'm weaning myself into bridges/back-bends (Like the first step of a back hand spring), which are the only relatively safe back exercise I know of. (All the others are just beggin' for a good cripplin', like "Good Mornings")

squirrelslinger wrote on Oct 18^th, 2012 at 3:14pm:

For fencing (as in general swordplay), or unarmed martial arts?

squirrelslinger wrote on Oct 18^th, 2012 at 3:18pm:

With two-handed weapons like staves, pollarms, and longswords there's still imbalances involved due to using one hand as a fulcrum, and the other to pull/push and such. When it comes to muscle groups exercised, They're better than a 2 1/2 lb arming sword and 1 lb buckler, but sparring shouldn't replace a proper exercise routine that emphasizes problem areas. Sparring is for fighting better, not building muscle

(I can't say enough about pull-ups to address uneven upper-back development from sports like archery; they work WONDERS)

OR - try and sling with your 'awkward' hand.

I've recently managed to do fig 8 with my left hand.
I am mostly ambidextrous. Some things I do left handed, some right, some - like woodturning- with whichever hand is best at the time.

But slinging I find extremely difficult left handed. However because of the sling free training method I use for fig 8 I've founf it's - for me - the easiest style to start with left handed.
So far the stones haven't gone far - but they've all gone forward

Plus I do whole body workouts about 5 times a week.