Modul 6: Oral Exams B2/C1: Part 2 Set 1. Topics 1-8

Describe an interesting hobby. You should say:

What it is;
What kind of people do it;
How it is done;
And explain why you think it is interesting.

01
Historical European martial arts is a collection of many European fighting systems as they survive through things like manuals and textbooks and as passed down by very rare lineages of masters and students.

survive¹: to continue to live or exist | Max survived in the jungle for three weeks by drinking rain water from a leaf and by eating coconuts.

manual²: a book that tells you how to do or operate something, especially one that comes with a machine, etc. when you buy it | Hans is skimming through (= reading through fast) the manual of his new deep fryer to figure out how to use it.

textbook³: a book that teaches a particular subject and that is used especially in schools and colleges | Tara forgot her textbooks on the kitchen table because she was a desperate hurry to get to school in time.

pass down: to give or teach something to your children or people younger than you | The older sister passed down her jumpers to her younger sibling.

lineage: ​the series of families that somebody comes from originally | Dan was an Englishman with royal lineage.

02
It comprises many different types of systems from many different time periods. Among them are, for example, rapier fencing, saber fencing, longsword fencing, halberd fighting, pike fighting, dagger and things like that; even, wrestling and boxing. All sorts of different systems.

comprise: to have somebody/something as parts or members; consists of | It was a set of books comprising the first three books in the Harry Potter series.

rapier fencing⁴: the first truly “civilian” system of fencing, maximized for single combat and meant to be used without either any secondary arms or protective armour | Sarah is practicing rapier fencing in the vicinity of a historical castle.

saber⁵ (BrE: sabre): a light sword with a thin blade used in the sport of fencing | These fencers are crossing their sabres.

longsword⁶: a European sword with a long, straight double-edged blade | This knight is sitting on a rock in the forest with a longsword in his hand.

halberd⁷: a weapon used in the past that is a combination of a spear and an axe | This is a beautifully crafted halberd.

pike⁸: a weapon with a sharp blade (= metal cutting edge) on a long wooden handle, used in the past by soldiers on foot | These pikes are properly sharpened.

dagger⁹: a short pointed knife that is used as a weapon | Daggers are commonly used props in theatre plays, especially in tragedies.

wrestling¹⁰: a sport in which two people fight by holding each other and trying to throw or force their opponent to the ground | Max and Steve are wrestling in the gym.

03
It’s done by a lot of different kinds of people: it’s done by history enthusiasts, people who like history and are interested in it, and it’s done by people who are in it for the physicality for sports (the sport versions ) or for exercise (getting strong), all different things like that.

enthusiast: a person who is very interested in something and spends a lot of time doing it | There were a bunch of football enthusiasts in the bar watching the match on TV.

physicality: the quality of being physical rather than emotional or spiritual | Wrestlers usually has a strong physicality.

04
There are different forms of it. For example, you could join a HEMA club. A HEMA club (HEMA is Historical European Martial Arts) is a club of people who get together, usually they have a master or someone who is more experienced in it, who can who can teach people who don’t know that much, and they get together, and they study from the manuscripts from what surviving ones we have – usually if there’s a manuscript, it’s a more recent form. They usually put on a lot of protective gear, and they actually spar with each other. That’s the more academic version.

get together¹¹: to meet with somebody socially or in order to discuss something | The top management of the company got together to discuss the future of the company.

manuscript¹²: a very old book or document that was written by hand before printing was invented | These are some old manuscripts spread out messily on the table.

protective gear¹³: protective clothing, helmets (to cover the head), goggles (to cover the eyes), or other garments (to cover the body) or equipment designed to protect the wearer’s body from injury or infection | This professional chemical worker is wearing protective gear.

spar¹⁴: to make the movements used in boxing, either in training or to test the speed of your opponent’s reaction | These two boxers are sparring with their protective gear on.

academic: involving a lot of reading and studying rather than practical or technical skills | Maxine has academic qualifications in chemistry but has little experience with doing experiments (= tests).

05
There’s also the SCA. The SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism. They do arts and sciences and things like that. They’ve got different things other than just HEMA. The SCA is a big group with a lot of people in it, so they’re more common if you want to get into it.

anachronism: a person, a custom or an idea that seems old-fashioned and does not belong to the present | The British monarchy seems like an anachronism to some today.

art¹⁵: the use of the imagination to express ideas or feelings, particularly in painting, drawing or sculpture | Louisa loves to create art in her spare time and does so every time she has the opportunity o do so.

science¹⁶: knowledge about the structure and behaviour of the natural and physical world, based on facts that you can prove | Steven is a biologist who tries to advance modern science through creating biological experiments (= tests) with newly discovered plants. 

common : happening often; existing in large numbers or in many places | It is common for drivers to have car insurance and quite uncommon for drivers not to have it.

06
They do cut-and-thrust fencing, which is more modern stuff, and they also do another form of HEMA in which they put on heavy armor, usually historical armor not modern fencing gear. They put on heavy armor, and they have events where they spar with each other, (usually) often in groups even, sometimes with thousands of people on each side, and they use wooden weapons and shields and all sorts of stuff.

thrust¹⁷: to push something/somebody suddenly or violently in a particular direction; to move quickly and suddenly in a particular direction | Lisa is thrusting the toy sword towards her imaginary enemy.

armor¹⁸ ( BrE: armour): special metal clothing that soldiers wore in the past to protect their bodies while fighting; special clothing that soldiers or police officers wear to protect their bodies | This knight has his armour on him and his sword in his hand; he is ready for the battle.

event: a planned public or social occasion | The annual fund raising party will be held in my mansion (= large, impressive house) this year.

even: used to emphasize something unexpected or surprising | Mark did not even open the door when they knocked on it.

weapon¹⁹: an object such as a knife, gun, bomb, etc. that is used for fighting or attacking somebody | There is a collection of weapons on the wall.

shield²⁰: a large piece of metal or leather carried by soldiers in the past to protect the body when fighting | These soldiers are hiding behind their shields because they are expecting their enemy’s attack.

07
That is a particularly good form of HEMA to get into if you want to get strong because the armor weighs a lot. It weighs a lot, so if you can wear it and fight in it, you’re going to get very strong and good at doing things outside of it.

particularly: especially; more than usual or more than others | I enjoyed the concert; I particularly liked the way the guitarist played his solo.

weigh²¹: to have a particular weight | Susan weighs 47.7 kilograms.

08
Of course, you can also get into it by yourself, though that’s harder because once you get to a certain level in it, you need to practise with someone else, but you can still learn a great deal by studying it directly from manuscripts and textbooks, from whenever these martial arts were from, and you can also combine that with either watching videos of people do it or watching them actually do it, and that can give you a very good idea of how to do these things.

once: as soon as | Once I got to school, I stopped running.

level: a standard or quality | Stella consistently performed in competitions at the highest level; she was a professional.

a certain level: a particular standard or quality | Once you manage to perform at a certain level, you receive a black belt in the martial art.

practise²²: doing an activity or training regularly so that you can improve your skill; the time you spend doing this | Lisa regularly practises playing the guitar with his father, even though he is far away.

a great deal: much; a lot | Lisa went to the shopping centre and spent a great deal of her pocket money.

whenever: every time when | Whenever we get the chance, my wife and I go to the cinema to watch a film, just the two of us, no kids.

actually: in fact or really | I am not sure what actually happened to the rock band members after they stopped playing together.

09
Some people get into it to compete as there are sports versions of a lot of these. One famous one is called buhurt. In buhurt, you put on heavy, heavy armor, and you use steel weapons, and it’s a sport in which 2 teams of people basically just whack each other with steel weapons until all of one side is on the ground.

compete²³: to take part in a contest or game | 105 runners competed against each other in the marathon.

buhurt²⁴: a modern-day full-contact combat sport which involves fighters using blunt steel weapons and armour characteristic of medieval times | These people are competing in a buhurt to prove that they are the best at it.

steel²⁵: a strong, hard metal that is made of a mixture of iron and carbon | These are steel coils.

whack²⁶: to hit somebody/something very hard | Steve is whacking the toys in the machine.

10
Injury is not inherent in the sport. Usually, you just get tired and fall down, but if you aren’t careful, you could get hurt, but there’s heavy protection so that’s uncommon.

injury²⁷: harm done to a person’s or an animal’s body, for example in an accident | Phil has suffered a head injury, so he is now at the doctor’s.

inherent: existing as a natural or basic part of something | There is an inherent weakness in the design of a smart watch, so it can crack relatively easily.

uncommon: not existing in large numbers or in many places; rare | It is uncommon to see someone having a tiger as a pet.

11
There’s also Olympic fencing which is only inspired by actual historical fencing, but it’s close enough that it counts, and there are even competitions – International ones, too – for things like knife fighting and sabre fencing and things like that.

inspired: resulting from inspiration (= from someone or something that gives you ideas for doing something) | Frank has some inspired ideas about how to live life.

knife fighting²⁸: a combat with knives | These people are practising knife fighting.

12
I think it’s interesting for a number of reasons. One reason is it’s a slice of history you can experience, often quite painfully, if you are doing it too rough, and I think that’s quite interesting. It’s also very good exercise. It’s very physical stuff, and if you do it the way that I do it, which is generally, I don’t have a lot of protection. (In) most versions of HEMA, you wear gloves, you wear helmets, you wear big suits; you are armoured to protect yourself. I don’t have any of that; instead, we basically just try to hit each other more softly. If you’re doing it like I do it, you get to tolerate pain quite well.

experience: things that happen to you or affects you in a special way. Experience is also what you feel or learn from things that occur in your life. | Jim Lovell had the opportunity to experience what it is like to take steps on the moon.

painfully²⁹: in a way that causes you physical or emotional pain | Frank fell down and hit his knee painfully against the playground floor.

rough: not gentle or careful; violent | Maggie complained that the police officer was too rough when he grabbed her arm to take her to the police station.

instead: in the place of somebody/something | Danny could not attend the football match so Larry had to be the goalkeeper instead.

tolerate³⁰: to accept somebody/something that is annoying, unpleasant, etc. without complaining | Kathy is tolerating the loud noise coming from the construction machines, but she needs to put a pillow over her ears to be able to rest.

13
Also, many versions of it, such as SCA and buhurt, they’re very good weight training. If you want to be able to run faster and longer, if you want endurance, those can help you with it. You have to have a very strong heart and strong lungs to be able to do that. I remember I used to be in the SCA, and when I was, it was hot and tiring. Fifteen minutes in one of those suits felt like 2 hours. Very good stuff if you want to build endurance. In addition, because when you do it, you often join a club, you can meet a lot of interesting people that way and make new friends and things like that.

weight training³¹: the activity of lifting weights as a form of exercise | Bill enjoys weight training early in the morning.

endurance³²: the ability to continue doing something painful or difficult for a long period of time without giving up | These marathon runners need to have a lot of physical endurance to successfully finish the race.

lung³³: either of the two organs in the chest that you use for breathing | Max has pain in his lungs.

in addition: used when you want to mention another person or thing after something else | Frank fell down in the park and, in addition, he had broken his phone that day.