Any Bushcrafting Martial Artists here?

[Argus]

So, it occurred to me...

I love Bushcraft for much of the same reason that I love martial arts. And, I bet I'm not the only one.

I frequently go on camping trips with very minimal kit and practice my skills in shelter building, minimalist cooking, tool making, primitive fire making, and whatever else strikes my fancy. And, I really enjoy using ancient equipment -- an old wool blanket, a plash palatka or two, etc. Or, equipment that I've made myself.

I really love this sort of challenge, and the opportunity to strip everything down and really focus on core skills, and learning to improvise. It's an approach that I think is universally useful when approaching any complex subject.

And, it's rewarding in much the same way as Martial Arts. When you internalize a skill, like making a fire with two sticks, it's both very rewarding, and also eye-opening as you gain an understanding of the nature of something that you didn't know before.

How many of you also enjoy this, or similar skills?

 

[isshinryuronin]

When much younger I was into outdoor survival skills (had a few classes) and camping. This is similar to martial arts and self-defense in that being aware of your environment is crucial - the dangers as well as opportunities such as tool materials and edibles.

To survive a challenging outdoor environment you must see things that most untrained people would not notice or know how to use to their advantage. Much like self-defense. Like a combat situation, you cannot afford to be complacent as there are many ways in the "wilds" to suffer injury. Survival is always serious business. Overcoming such challenges is very rewarding on a basic, instinctual, level.

 

[drop bear]

I muck around with the concept.

 

[dvcochran]

So, it occurred to me...

I love Bushcraft for much of the same reason that I love martial arts. And, I bet I'm not the only one.

I frequently go on camping trips with very minimal kit and practice my skills in shelter building, minimalist cooking, tool making, primitive fire making, and whatever else strikes my fancy. And, I really enjoy using ancient equipment -- an old wool blanket, a plash palatka or two, etc. Or, equipment that I've made myself.

I really love this sort of challenge, and the opportunity to strip everything down and really focus on core skills, and learning to improvise. It's an approach that I think is universally useful when approaching any complex subject.

And, it's rewarding in much the same way as Martial Arts. When you internalize a skill, like making a fire with two sticks, it's both very rewarding, and also eye-opening as you gain an understanding of the nature of something that you didn't know before.

How many of you also enjoy this, or similar skills?

We had never even heard of the term bush crafting but like others, it was largely a way to have fun growing up. Especially in the summer me and my best friend would go out for as long as a week at a time. "Out" is a relative term since we were seldom farther than a few miles from one of our houses but no one knew exactly where we were so for a couple of teenagers it added to the excitement of it. Our normal thing was to go out with only a shotgun or string and hook. Nothing else.
As long as I have a piece of flint I am confident in starting a fire. I have done it with sticking spinning but it is definitely an acquired skill.
Could I go into the cold alone and survive with no resources? Honestly, I doubt it. Like most people now a days we even have some pretty comfortable enclosures when hunting.