Fit February, and then some...

So, I am making the commitment to Fir February with CamiKaos and friends. Seeing as how I am making a commitment to myself to fight seriously, and be a part of the 14th century persona I portray, I think I am going to take it a step further. I don't want to start a waterfall trend or anything, or try to be better than anyone else making their FF goals. I am making myself take another step for many reasons, only a few of which I will list here.

What is this step I am taking starting first thing in the morning you ask? For the month of February, I am giving up all alcohol. **GASP!** Yes, that is correct, no beer, no honey wine, no whiskey. Things which I partake in far too often. Tonight I am fighting at a small tournament called Crapaud (VIVA LA CRAPAUD!) and will toast with the other fighters, as is tradition at Crapaud, then I will be done for the next 29 days. **Edited to add, that since next month's Crapaud is on the 28th I will go to the next toast, instead of going one extra day.**

I have been reading Geoffroi DeCharny's A Knight's Own Book Of Chivalry recently and came across a section that I have let take hold in my heart as part of my training as a fighter. Deeds of arms are serious business, and to take it seriously I have to live parts of it, not just fight one night a week. Yeah, I am getting in to this whole 14th century thing a bit, but the romantic values of chivalry are good guidelines to live by, no? If I can become a better man, I may be able to teach my son to be a better man.

"In addition, the above mentioned good men-at-arms teach that those who want to achieve this honor should not set their mind on pleasures of the palate, neither on very good wine nor on delicious food, for these delights are very out of place at a time when they are not to be had nor to be found at will, as is usually the case for those who want to seek such honor; and desire for such things makes it more difficult for them to endure, and their hearts and bodies find it less easy to bear the lean fare in food and drink which the quest for such honor requires. A man will be reluctant to risk death who has not learned this, and also a man is reluctant to abstain from such pleasures of eating and drinking who has become accustomed to them."

-Geoffroi DeCharny, A Knight's Own Book Of Chivalry
section 19, lines 43-53


So, cheers this evening, and I will see you on the other side of the month!