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Thank you sir! I appreciate it!

Thank you! It's been great lifting at home. I've very much enjoyed the flexibility of having a home gym. I agree it's an investment in overall health.

Thank you!

Thank you! It was a great comp!

Thank you

Thank you! It's been a harder one for me to practice. But a lot of repetitions of it are in my future now.

Thank you for watching! I'm happy to share my progression into the sport!

Thank you Kurt!

Thank you. This was a PR for me today!

Thanks! It's a lot different at home than it is in competition haha looking forward to practicing that one more

I adopted a bit wider stance at that point when I was beginning to move toward competition chopping. My regular chopping stance is a bit more upright and relaxed if I'm gonna be chopping for longer periods. But stancing out will gain you some stability. My swing has evolved quite a bit from then until now. I'm sure your swing will as you find what is more comfortable for your body and what is more effective for you.

Yeah, it was super helpful to have some coaching before starting it and during it.

Thanks! I did beat my year end goal of less than 20 seconds on my single buck. Next benchmark is less than 15 seconds in 18" pine. But I need some more technical work. I am very happy with my performance that day. PR's/PB's in all of my events I signed up for. Lookin forward to setting and beating some new goals.

It's been real nice to not chop in the cold haha

Thanks Wille!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Mine were too! Haha there's a bit of a mental/confidence difference with the 2nd board vs working off the first board.

Otherwise, if you have another platform that lends itself better to messaging. I can reach out that way.

@@Jzelenko27 probably inst a would be easiest for myself. It's my yt name

@@Jzelenko27 my comments never go through when I use the social that starts with i. Can you give me a look up on that platform?

You're correct, I've learned quite a bit since that day. But slowing down to get it right was definitely needed.

Accuracy is key. Focused a lot on that since this video and it helped a lot.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah, I do have some more room.. Enough to shift over comfortably I think. But, I'll try putting my foot right at my stand center or at least a bit closer and see how that feels. I've noticed stancing out to the right with my backfoot a bit was helpful, I'll try being more intentional about a front foot shift though. Thanks for the advice!

Thank you! And yeah.. I think it is, it came off a friend's brush pile with some varied oak species and cottonwood lengths.. But this stuff cuts well even if a bit dry, if I can get more, I'll peel some and try one of my thinner ground axes in it I think.

This was a mystery log from a friend's brush pile. It was/is getting fairly dried out now. But still was pretty soft, amd fairly light, that's why I think it was the basswood. Could be a smaller cottonwood I suppose too. I do need to do something about those dogs though, the grooves and the strap are a good idea.

Thank you!

I am using a Tuatahi Racing Axe. Type of grind it has is a supergrind.

Haha no worries! And yeah, I'd like to run a 6.5 ft saw I think. I have a fairly long wingspan and I've been told 6ft is a bit short for my stroke. BUT it's what I've got at the present haha and yeah, I've oft heard that rule of thumb, I've found the smaller one man saws can get clogged up a bit on bigger stock. The gullets can't clear the material. So I'm thinking that saying is correct for the most part.

6 ft on the tui M tooth. And yeah, the old cresent ground and taper ground saws are nice, they have less binding overall, especially for a felling cut they can be nice.

It's not too bad once you get used to it lol doing it more and more I'm starting to feel fairly stable up there. But more practice is needed!

It is a Tuatahi brand Racing axe.

I bought mine through MailleTec via the internet. They are a good pair of maille socks. You will have to provide your own cordage or bands to keep it up on your leg however.

Always a little bit of me that is aware of that. But I also wear chain mail socks. So, an impact would hurt, but I at least keep the part I hit.

Thank you!

Thank you! I've been really working since this video and my swing had improved some. I was club handing a lot before, but have since switched to a slide hand technique as I finally found some guys in my area that are competitors. That is good to know the ~3/4 rule of thumb. I still have some issues with glances on my upswings. I have been working more stance and axe trajectory, but haven't focused on when/where the meeting of the hands occurs. I'll see if I can get that sorted!.. always something to work on haha

@@Jzelenko27 your welcome mate, yes stance is also important, I didn't mention that as your positioning isn't too bad , I'll be honest with you the main reason I commented on your video was because of the way your swinging that axe, you mentioned glancing with an up blow .. it's the down blows that are the main concern, when you scoop with a down blow the axe has nowhere to go but into your back shin, I've seen it happen more than once

Yeah, I have a buddy that happened to, luckily he was wearing his chainmaille though. I'm always wearing mine now if I've got the axe out. But it's good information you gave me and something I can actively work on to get better and safer as I progress. I appreciate any feedback I can get with this sport!

@@Jzelenko27 your mate got lucky, mine drove the entire face of a 7 3/4 inch axe straight through his shin bone (not pretty)🤔 my suggestion is to study videos on here of some of the best axemen in the world and how they're laying the axe in the wood, here are people recommend, Laurence O'Toole, Brad Delosa, Brayden Myers, Cody Steers, yes they're all Australian axeman, and yeah I'm probably slightly biast 🙂. But if you know anything about the the art of wood chopping you'll know Australia produces the best axemen in the world.

Yikes.. that sounds terrible.. hopefully, he recovered alright... but I'm somewhat familiar with you guys over there, and you're typically trouncing everyone else in the world haha you guys produce the best axemen around. We have some good guys in the states, but you guys over there in New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania are something else! I've been trying to watch more video footage lately now that it's freezing out, a lot have been Australian shows. And now that I'm learning more technique wise, I'm starting to get more from the videos.. Stihl used to have some decent training videos on here, but I think they removed them. It's fairly hard to get started here unless you're pretty driven to search people out or travel. At least where I am located in the US.

I use 6 inch timber screws and use an impact drill to take them in/out. Just secure through the bottom of the log and into the stump stand. Works quite well with about 6-8 of them, depending on the size of the log.

@@Jzelenko27 Thank you very much !

@@anhtieuphubungbu.9253 no worries

Thank you!

Thank you!

Look at council tool. The 5lbs splitting axe or the FE-6 axes they produce both work very well and are fairly affordable as workhorse splitters. Adler, ochsenkopf, and older vintage heads is where I'd look next. Tuatahi makes a great axe and you could modify a China head for splitting, or get the work axe. But splitting only, I'll go with council tool all day usually.

I fully concur, especially on the Council Tool 5#, and the Forced Entry 6#. Also DO NOT overlook the Council 4# Dayton…The “Urban LumberJack” YT channel does an EXCELLENT presentation on the 4# Dayton and how to fine tune it! Good luck!

@shawnmann9491 4# daytons are a fine choice as well. I love my old 4#'s! Also, the Urbanlumberjack channel is great for axe reviews, he presents a good argument in favor of council tool and the 4# Dayton (and their other patterns) they produce being one of, if not THE best value on the current axe market for quality and affordability.

Fair question, from my understanding timbersports originates from traditional logging methods. The loggers eventually started competing with each other and those competitions evolved into what we have today. The spring board was originally utilized to get higher on the tree above the roots to a more consistent piece of the trunk. There they would chop/saw the tree to fell it. Today's competitions replicate different portions of the traditional logging processes essentially. Also it is fun, and something for me to train for. Australia has been competing for quite long time with this and the U.S. has been for a bit less time, but still for a while. Hope this clears it up a bit.

I can see that, I will work on the rotation. I'm gonna switch out my shoes and add in a small ledge at the end of the board to index along with some grip tape. I couldn't really tell where I was on the board and was nervous about stepping off. But I can see how contracted short in my swings I am up there. It's quite a fun event though, looking forward to working on it!

Thanks Kurt! I didn't come up with it. I just bought it off the fellow who I'm learning from. And I love the keech! I will say I never want to reprofile it ever again though... the steel is super hard... but I may try to get some more, I like using them lol

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks Kurt! It does mean quite a bit coming from an aussie axeman lol and The gym has been paying dividends, this winter will be mass and strength and then spring/summer will be primarily gym maintenance with focus on timbersports skill work. And yeah, I've been working on getting more body into my swings, I have been arm swinging more than I should and was fatiguing in the shoulders a lot.. But the underhand is starting click a little more for me now... it's tough getting back into it when you've been away for a bit, looking forward to seeing some more of your videos man. Always appreciate the scenery you have there and I'd say you have a good rhythm/flow to your chopping anyhow, seems you can chop forever man. But there is always something else to work on once you get one thing ironed out, part of what I love with chopping and timbersports.

Thank you! I've been liking your cordwood style bucking videos. Tons of notches, tons of practice, and its showing in your chopping! Timbersports practice is getting my attention these days, but I still love using the vintage axes in the woods!

@Jzelenko27 thank you...I'm trying to compliment you...

@Brian2bears I thank you for the compliment! I do appreciate the recognition of the work put in. I often find it awkward receiving compliments to be honest, but I'm working on it, my typical response is a compliment and recognition in turn if I'm at least familiar with the person's work, etc. But it did not go unnoticed.

@Jzelenko27 yes sir...I learn a great deal from competitive choppers' footage and practice methodologies...

Thank you!

Thank you!

We're actually not having a much snow right now, some light snow fall but its been hit or miss. It was in the low 40 degree F or upper 30's the past weekend. We got some snow the next day, but i think we're due to have a more mild winter this year. But who knows? It was this past weekend while visiting some relatives. And thank you!, I've been trying to work on my power with the axe in good presentation, it's not the best, but I feel like it's starting to come along lol

I'm thinking it is, there are a few different mixed in the piles out there.. But size wise it was most likely the box elder/Manitoba maple lol the box elder I've cut in the past had a weird odor to it, but this stuff was old and it was windy. So didn't get that. But it had the red striping in the wood, and I haven't seen that vibrant red in other things really.