The Fireman

Here you'll find a discussion thread for each of the canonical and major non-canonical shovelglove moves. If you have questions or comments about any of these moves, just update the existing discussion for it. If you have a new move, add a new discussion (preferably with the name of your new move in the title). Ideally there will be just one discussion thread per move that everyone adds to, but it's no tragedy if a little bit of redundancy creeps in.
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reinhard
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The Fireman

Post by reinhard » Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:46 pm

Post any questions/comments/concerns you have about this move here.

Official movement description at:

http://shovelglove.com/movements/fireman/

sgtrock
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Post by sgtrock » Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:06 am

Reinhard, I've been wondering: what exactly is the difference between the "chop the tree" and "fireman" moves? I just checked both videos and paused them as the movement comes forward from the shoulder, and the only difference appears to be that the fireman move is almost vertical while chop the tree is more at a slightly sideways angle. But the difference is not great.

Do you see much of a difference in the muscles being worked in these two moves? I never made much distinction between the two but perhaps I'm missing something subtle...
"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." -- Confucius, an early Everyday Systems pioneer

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:57 pm

sgtrock,

There's not a huge amount of difference, though there is some.

As you point out, the main difference is that chop the tree is horizontal, the fireman is (mostly) vertical.

I think (very unscientifically) that the significance of this difference is that chop the tree works the abs and forearms a little more intensively, while the fireman works the upper body more intensively.

Is it physiologically important to do both? Probably not, especially if one or the other doesn't really appeal to you. But I like both mental images and find both moves fun. Doing lots of slightly different moves, even if it doesn't buy you anything much in terms of brawn, is both more interesting and probably safer that focusing on just a few, since you're not hammering exactly the same muscles in exactly the same way. It's also a hedge against ignorance -- maybe there really are some muscles that are getting worked out much more effectively. The more moves you do, the less certain you need to be about the particular advantages of each one.

Reinhard

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phayze
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Post by phayze » Wed May 06, 2009 4:38 am

Just an interesting observation that recently made (though others may well have thought of it first):

If you emphasize the "back" hand (the one nearest the butt of the grip), and only use the "foreward" (that being the one nearest the head) to control the direction of the swing and to stop the motion you get something that feels a little bit similar to an over-the-shoulder throw in aikido/judo. Naturally, this requires some extra hip involvement, and can be a bit tricky to get the feel for, but I think it's worth playing around with (don't sue me if you hurt something in the attempt, though).

For added fun, try doing the motion with the back hand only, with the front hand ready to catch the swing, but not really touching the handle until it has to. :twisted:
1 Picture = 1,000 words
0:01s Video = 30 pictures
therefore, 0:01s Video = 30,000 words

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