|
|
WARNING! WARNING!
READ EVERYTHING BEFORE DOING ANYTHING
OR:
BE SMARTER THAN A ROCK
BEGINNING STANCE AND DEFENSE TECHNIQUE
POSTURE
The defensive stance for this exercise is the "horse stance," so called for its' similarity to the position one has while riding horseback. The elbows are held against or near to your sides at all times, the two swords are held, one in each hand, with the blades just outside the outer tips of the shoulders, the blades pointing to the rear and parallel to the ground and the hands comfortably placed 3-4 inches in front of the shoulders. The blades are never held resting on the shoulders, never!
PELL
A simple pell may be had by using a telephone pole, 4x4, dead tree, virtually anything vertical will suffice. Carpet padding of a 4x4 held in a base frame of adequate width will provide protection for rattan weapons, be portable and very adequate. A close friend or loved one may substitute for a pell in slow work (total strangers and/or enemies work too).
SOLO EXERCISE SPACE
The space required for the necessary solo practice is really quite small. The average apartment living room is quite large enough for one person doing pell work. More people being involved means more space required for a practice session.
PHYSICS OF SELF TRAINING
These practices, in the beginning, are never done fast but always very slow. All the blows are delivered to the target/opponent by twisting the whole body, extending the arm toward the specific target and bending the wrist (the "snap"), all in one coordinated motion. Allow 3-4 seconds to full extension of the arm and wrist. Don't forget recovery, all the blows should be returned as directly as possible back to the beginning defensive posture and at the same speed, or faster, than the blow just delivered. It is an important part of this exercise. Avoid looking directly at your opponent or any other specific target, always use your peripheral vision (this cannot be stressed enough). Be sure to move correctly, much like a golfer or a baseball player at bat. If you rotate your shoulders and hips but do not sway or dip (your head is on an axis), you are OK. Think of having a pole through your spine and head that is anchored in the ground and you have to rotate your body around it. When throwing a blow, the weapon shoulder must always come forward, in the targets' direction, and the elbows held as close to the body as possible. This will seem difficult, for most people, at first, but it will be useful later in learning other techniques and/or avoiding arm loss through overexposure to any opponents blow. The blows will all be done with the knuckles leading, palm of the hand up, on the 1, 2 and 3 blows, palm vertical on the 4 blow and palm down on the 5, 6 and 7 blows at this stage.
Be true to yourself, at this stage you will have enough to deal with coordinating body, shoulders, arms, wrist and hands. Don't even consider other alternate ways of delivering any blows. They aren't really necessary. We will get into the fancy stuff later.
Hold your swords by the tips, or choked up somewhat closer to the weight of the basket hilts at first, with the basket hilts on the end opposite your hand. This way you can feel the breakover. If you do not have basket hilts, tie a roll of toilet paper, wet diapers, or other weighty object, to the end of two sticks the same length as your swords and use these for the exercise. About 4-5 pounds at 36 inches from the hand is a reasonable and attainable goal, though 8 pound sledgehammers have been used. The weight is critical in training your muscles and reaction time (to get an appreciation of the effectiveness of this method, try delivering about 10-12 slow blows with the swords reversed and then immediately grasp them normally and do a few blows, you'll be impressed).
Breakover (see definition below): This is important. If you cannot feel this, slow down. When the weight of the sword requires you to stop it from falling, you are doing it right. When you reach the pell or opponent with the sword, make full contact and recover, at the same speed, to the beginning position. Every blow should be thrown perfectly here. This is where we are teaching control of the blow and accuracy (and incidentally, building up our future shield muscles and reflexes). Speed is NOT desired, and should be avoided at all costs. Beyond this point changing the specific target while your sword is in motion becomes exponentially more difficult as the speed of your sword and proximity of your target increase and decrease, respectively. Learn this and recognize it. It is key to all sword blows being delivered safely and powerfully to their destination without causing a stress injury to yourself
If you do not have a pell (post), a piece of string hung from the ceiling will do. Apply tape or paint for a target at the nose, heart and pants pocket positions and practice, practice, practice. An adequate beginning regimen is twenty minutes a day, twice every day. NO DAYS OFF! It may be obvious that more practice is better up to a point, at which further exercises may be limited quite a bit. The initial training is critical in many ways and slowness during practice cannot be overemphasized.
Other stances, moves, weapons and combinations of blow patterns will be examined much later.
I used a term that needs defining: breakover. This is a very important point in the blow travel where the sword tip neither pulls forward or back. It is easily controlled by your hand and wrist's fine motor control up to the point of application of major motive power and speed. This point is where committal happens. Up to this point, changing where the blow will land takes little energy and manipulation (try doing the "Twist" holding a Broads sword in each hand....Fast....or slow and with isometric tension....now combine these basic techniques with your cute little mundane 60's dance routine thrown in for show).
PRACTICE SYSTEM
Stand comfortably and balanced using two matched swords and practice upon a target (an opponent or a pell) the following sword blows:
With the your right hand:
Another good drill, for coordinating both hands/weapons, is R1, L1, R2, L2, R3, L3, R4, L4, R5, L5, R6, L7, R7, L7, and backwards to be beginning. A third drill is R1, L7, R2, L6, R3, L5, R4, L4, R5, L3, R6, L2, R1, L7, and backwards to the beginning. Other drills can be had for the dreaming and should be developed independently by each student. This will result in special and different variations in technique from one student to another. Be as creative as you wish.
Practice should be done with and without opponents. This should be done every instructional period to early identify and correct improper technique and habits. The instructor and/or observer is very crucial here.
PLAYING FIELD
Draw two concentric circles upon the ground, the smaller being 2 feet in radius, the larger being 1 1/2 sword width beyond and containing the smaller circle. This is best done on a wooden floor, but chalk or paint on the ground will suffice.
SCENARIOS
The opponents both use two matched swords (erroneously called Florentine) for this exercise at first. Later other weapons techniques and/or styles may be developed and/or used in the same space. The objective in this type of sparring is to learn to recognize and control the space around oneself. One foot of each student must stay within the inner of the two concentric circles, while the other must stay within the outer. Alternatively, at least one foot must be kept within the outer circle only, the other may be anywhere in or out of the circles, thus allowing for more maneuvering possibilities. This may be done at slow work speeds to facilitate learning or at full speed for full combat conditioning. If you have trouble doing this at full speed, slow down until you feel you have it right, then try it again at increasingly faster speeds. Work up to it gradually, strive for perfection in all things at all times. All movement must be made keeping the feet within their proper venue. Again, an instructor or observer is needful here.
All tactics taught in the SCA are usable in the previously described circles, just that the availability of space may be at a premium, and the opponent is always in range for practice purposes. This makes for intensive and thought provoking sessions. This method may also be expanded to the size necessary for maneuvering units of any size.
STUDENT EMPHASIS
All opponents will use a comfortable stance, swords beside the shoulder and parallel to the ground, not resting on the shoulder. This allows the sword to pull on the muscles of the forearm, shoulder and chest, causing a rubber band like effect in the muscles when throwing all blows and preventing "telegraphing" of those blows. Students should exchange their offensive/defensive positions often, to allow each of them maximum opportunity for the learning of all aspects afforded by these drills and practice sessions.
BLOCKING TECHNIQUES using weapons
Power Blocking with your weapon(s) is based on the view that all blows originate from the shoulder and can be blocked by imagining a cone emanating from that point outwards and towards you. If the cone is cut properly, any blow can be stopped. The closer to the point of the cone the block is placed, the more area is covered by each block. Thus, blocking can be theoretically achieved by putting your fingertip at the inside of the point of the cone to prevent all motion toward you. By following two vertical planes on either side of the opponents body, most lateral blows can be blocked (blows r1, r2, r3, etc., l1, l2, l3, etc.) and by sweeping across and above the opponents head, all overhead shots can be blocked (blow 4). The planes are described as vertical and include your defending shoulder and a point a few inches outside your opponents' shoulder. The motion is accomplished with a vigorous wrist snap and a slight downward motion of the forearm, a slight stiffening of the whole body helps. (This is also called active blocking.) One advantage is that the impact of blocks of this type on the opponents' weapon tire the opponents' arms and wrists. Another is that it makes their recovery and further action more difficult. The previously described weight training is very important in developing the proper muscle strength and endurance for power blocking with your weapons.
Passive Blocking was popularized after the introduction of basket hilts to protect the hands. This method simply places the blade or basket hilt in the way of the opponent's blow and stops or deflects it. The main advantage is speed. Most above the belt shots can be easily deflected with a minimum of movement, hence short duration blocking. This method is also more forgiving of slow reflexes by the defender. Unfortunately the legs tend to be open targets when this method is used.
Other types of blocking moves are possible, but better taught at a much later point, and each is only useful in very specific instances.
PHASE I
First, without armor, always doing slow work, they practice standing still. Their heels should be on the smaller circle, and they should be near to each other. One student will attack slowly (the blows should take 2-3 seconds to be fully extended) while the other either stands still, acting as a pell and observing and commenting where appropriate, or uses full speed power blocking of random, but not all of the opponents blows. This is where one student learns defensive cutting of the cone of offense and the other gets used to being interrupted in various patterns without loosing concentration and track of what blows he has planned next. It is very important that the "pell" student be struck fairly at all times, to condition him to being hit without flinching. Movement of the feet can be implemented when the instructor and/or students feel comfortable practicing while standing still. All foot movement is done utilizing the circles in order to gain experience controlling the space around the student.
The two sword technique will teach use of both arms, preparing for the possible future loss of the use of ones' arm. (It may be noted here that some students have opted to fight using their "weak arm" normally, saving the best for last. They have found that they can also change hands from one combat to another to reduce exhaustion in a long days fighting).
PHASE II
Now, when confidence in the students beginning skills has advanced to a reasonable consistency in properly delivering all the basic blows, armor is added. Minimal armor (a helm) is usually desired for slightly faster activities. Accuracy of attack and defense are to be worked on here, not armor.
The use of the concentric circles is encouraged. We are teaching close quarter fighting and ground control, anyone can run away. Now speed up the sword blows to 1/2 speed (1-2 seconds to full extension). At this speed the target (pell) students should still be randomly blocking some of the blows and moving within the circles to avoid others. This is to teach the student to move in close quarters and move in a restricted list, as in a close melee. The instructor should keep close control of the students, and ensure the circle rules are kept while controlling the sword speed of the practice bouts. This is important; we are still teaching control. It will get frustrating for the student to do this for a week or two, but the benefits are amazing. As time goes on, speed should be increased until full speed is maintained. This must be controlled by the instructor and students rigorously at all times to achieve good flow of motion and safety.
Beyond this point changing the target while in motion becomes exponentially more difficult as the speed of your blow and the proximity of your target increase and decrease, respectively. Learn this and recognize it. It is key to all sword blows being delivered safely and powerfully to their destination without causing a stress injury to yourself.
PHASE III
The circles are more strongly urged to be used. Full speed is permitted by both students. Full armor is still not suggested (helms are required for the student acting as pell, not suggested), but is permitted, each student being the best judge of his comfort and safety. The former "pell," the recipient, is now to not only block more of the blows but he may throw occasional (counted?) blows also. It is now that the payoffs of the training will be seen. Ensure that all phases of the training are implemented at this stage, close and far variations of all tactics are practiced independently within the circles.
Full speed sparring may be implemented at this point for all students feeling comfortable in so doing. However, there is absolutely no reason to do so, unless you count masochism as a reason.
This stage does not address shield utilization. We are trying to teach the students to move their bodies properly to deliver and block blows safely and effectively with their weapons.
This is an expandable system of blow description and ordering, a thumb leading blow (such as a right handed head wrap, or thumb leading blow) is the same number appended with an "a" (R3a). If a blow is aimed at say the opponent's right shoulder, not the heart, as a primary target, it would be an R2 1/2. This allows us to describe any sequence completely and briefly. It must be further noted that the limitation to seven possible blows with each hand is made here for simplicities sake. Any odd number of blows will suffice, the targets remaining the same. (The previously unmentioned, even numbered (8), blow is very nasty and not recommended or allowed in SCA fighting).
WHOLE BODY FOCUS
Whole body focus of the opponent(s). Teaching that is not difficult, just sneaky. Look at any other thing in the room and always use your peripheral vision in aiming for targets. Later in your fighting career, you can deal with multiple opponents much more easily. This is easy, and before you realize what is happening, you are using whole body focus, body of the opponent, no matter the number. This is forced by your looking so much for the specifics with peripheral vision that you achieve the whole. One can then talk about whole body focus and the listener(s) will then understand what the speaker is saying.
Whole body focus of your self and environment. Whenever you practice or fight, first relax, never looking directly at any target. Concentrate on your whole body, but reach out further. Feel yourself, your opponent, the ground/floor under your feet, the extent of the list field, the placement of the marshals, the tree fifty-five feet away. Know all of these things, and try not to attack, just defend, but not with conscious thought. Think of anything else, think of white if you need something. Move in reaction to your opponent, but think of white. Let your autonomous responses take over, let your subconscious defend you while your conscious is free. Later this will allow you to think, plan, and strategize while attacking, defending and resting during combat. To achieve this you must be in good physical conditioning, not wheezing like a bellows. The training of the subconscious is the hard part, but once it understands what you want, it is much faster and more accurate than anything you can imagine.
STANCE AND THE SHIELD
The earlier stressed weight practice will prepare the proper muscle for shield utilization. The shield is carried in a plane between your shield shoulder and your opponents' weapon shoulder, elbow out from the body a bit and with the hand at slightly below your shoulder. This gives excellent freedom of movement, good head, body and leg protection, and for the Lordly Belly, protection for the broadsword belly landing pad. If you use the heater shield, the upper corner should be visible and slightly to the weapons' side of your opponent's head. The round topped shields are much the same, just no clear corner to see. Other shields may vary, but not significantly. However, each different shield shape and size offers different advantages or disadvantages which must be dealt with independently. The techniques here may be used with almost all of them.
The preferred defense in single combat is with the power, or punch, block. To achieve this block the lower 1/3 of the opponents sword with the back of your hand, using a relatively short jabbing motion toward the target area, the opponents' hand. This will not hit his hand in practice, rather, his weapon may sometimes be knocked from his grasp. This may be done with a 4" buckler against any weapons style with great effect, larger shields are almost superfluous in single combat. Again, accuracy is more important than speed.
In melee situations, the shield is held in much the same position, but a little more closed on ones' weapon side. The sword being used passively and primarily to protect the head. If one is holding a position in a shield wall, the main objective should be to stay alive, protecting those behind the shield wall with spears, polearms and such and allow them to do the killing.
It must be mentioned here that the grips and/or straps on any shield may fail at any time. If good, tightly cinched leather straps are used for both hand and arm, the failure of one will still allow the shield to be used effectively. "Barn door" handles, unless a center grip is used, are not in this category except for the very strong individual
BLOW ACCEPTANCE
If ever there is any question regarding the validity of a blow, by which you have just been struck, accept the blow. If you err in accepting a blow that is too light, your opponent will usually correct your perception of the blow by requesting a continuation of the bout. Do the same at all times for your opponent, if you strike a blow that is weak or the blade is not in proper alignment to the blow, inform your opponent and/or the marshal on the field as soon as possible. A cheap win is not honorable to anyone.
All of the above will augment any existing style currently in use. There are other defensive styles, such as open style, high form, low form, iron chicken, etc. Your mileage may vary, but see an expert (easily identified by the conspicuous white belt) about these styles, when you have learned this basic system, if you wish to learn more, and remember, Don't drink and fight. The hangover can kill you.