SG-7 Hull

[The Guardsman]

I think 4 plays need a bit of a redo (we missed 3 by mistake and one needs sorting) and some more spiel by neil about principles maybe and then it would be finished. That about right Neil?

Yep thats about right mate, we forgot to record the 3 we missed . I also want to do a variation for 3rd master 1st play. The 3rd master 8th play is actually correct but needs to be shown in a more natural movement, but as it stands it shows a good breakdown in steps to reach the required result, even down to the weird looking bend in the arm near the defenders wrist. Hand positioning and all that malarkey is fine.

I might re-do a few things later (1st Master 8th play being one of them), but on the whole I'm happy with the result. Given we only had an hour and a half, and it was thrown together last minute. I think Colin and I did a decent whistle stop tour of the the first 3 masters of dagger. I'm actually surprised my brain didn't melt.

The video shows some movements which people may not be familiar with or agree with, and I have some different thoughts on certain fundamental principles. As it stands I'm happy for Colin to put the vid on for people to see. Just bear in mind it isn't fully 'complete' as I don't have matting and am unable to throw and follow through with some footwork, also I didn't want to break Colin more than I already had to

I don't show many strikes, but please do bear in mind that at all times, you can palm strike, slap, gouge, kidney punch and de-masculate as you see fit. The only rule I would give to you is that a strike of any sort must be given in a continuation of the direction your body is moving at that time, e.g. If you block with your left hand/arm follow up with a palm strike to their face(Central), or slap to their left cheek with your right hand.

I really do want to add to this video in terms of a more in depth talk about my ideas and just polish it up a little. At the moment you have a decent first draught. I have a full written word doc with pics that show direction of movement etc that accompanies the vid. Soon to be released.

[The Guardsman]

Oh and we really need to set up at least 3 cameras for the next one to get a 360 coverage.

One of the biggest downfalls in videoing stuff is that with one cam you still end up with a fairly 2d result. It can limit you to what you can show the viewer.

Next time I'd like full protective gear, like mats etc, 3 cams and lots of room to move about.

I'd love to show all the plays or as many as possible in a real time sparring context with full flow movements.

[Colin F.]

Here is the WORK IN PROGRESS (just so that is clear) video of Neil's interpretation of Fiore's dagger. So far we have videoed (almost all of) the 1st master, 2nd master and 3rd master. There are a few things that need reviewing and reshooting, but it gives a good impression of what Neil's interpretation is like. At the end of the 3rd master vid he gives a little over view of his use of Masters 1-3.

1st Master of Dagger

2nd Master of Dagger

3rd Master of Dagger

[Motley]

I didn't see this thread before I comment on the other one. Some of it makes a bit more sense now

[Colin F.]

I'll copy and paste these comments over to the other thread.

[The Guardsman]

Small class last night but it was good to really focus on some individual points.

Wrist and arm strength drills, standing as if blocked gioco largo with a frontale cover(Left) then switching to block a volta cut(Right) and repeating 50 times. Switch feet so right is forward, left is back and start with a frontale block to the right the switch left and back etc etc.

We looked at good finishing positions for cuts, played around with posta di donna pulsivata, did more work on moving off the centerline and looking for openings and finished off with some good coached sparring and free sparring.

[The Guardsman]

I had to cancel this weeks class due to to many students not being able to make it to class.

Next week the 11th of March will also be off as I cannot make it in that evening.

Classes will resume Thursday 18th of March 7pm.

If anybody is free during the day on a monday or tuesday, I will gladly do some free lessons in one of the parks now the weather is a little better.

[Matt T]

Sorry I couldn't make on Thursday.

Will be there on the 18th.

Matt

[The Guardsman]

Sorry I couldn't make on Thursday.

Will be there on the 18th.

Matt

No worries, see you then Matt.

[Andy O]

Will see you on the 18th then, I have let Scott and Ash know.

[The Guardsman]

Cheers Andy!

[The Guardsman]

Back to training after two weeks off.

Forced sparring.

Based on learning through repetition of a forced environment.

3x1 min rounds of body tag, locks and holds, 3x1 min rounds of gioco largo

break for a couple of mins then the sword sparring swapped with the wrestling

3x2 min rounds of dagger, 3x2 mins of gioco stretto

Break for breath and water then the sword sparring swapped with the dagger

Finished with a good 15 min chat about what was figured out, stregnths, weaknesses, etc

It was very, very physically demanding. There was some blood, alot of sweat and probably some tears afterwards!

Next week we will reign back of the cardio/endurance side of things and do some practical paried drilling with dagger with less by the numbers technique and more flowing with what works best. Plus some longsword training.

[Matt T]

It was very, very physically demanding. There was some blood, alot of sweat and probably some tears afterwards!

Not to mention several broken shinai's!

Matt

[The Guardsman]

Ah yes! Two broken shinai, I'd forgotton about that. Well done chaps!

I think everyone learned abit more about their own personal attributes on Thursday evening with regards to how they apply themselves in a fight.

[admin]

I recommend getting people drilling with steel swords and fencing masks when possible - it makes shinai last longer in sparring as people realise that they don't need to (and should not) smash them into each other quite so hard.

[The Guardsman]

I recommend getting people drilling with steel swords and fencing masks when possible - it makes shinai last longer in sparring as people realise that they don't need to (and should not) smash them into each other quite so hard.

Yes, something I am going to remedy this week! Steel does cost a bit more than shinai though.

[The Guardsman]

No Training 1st of April as the church hall is in use by the Rev and his flock. Training will resume on the 8th of April

[The Guardsman]

Thursdays session was exceptionally constructive.

After the warm up we went straight into progressive dagger attacks using underhand strikes. Limited to commited attacks at first then introducing feints and grabs and building up speed until it was just full on attacking.

Realistically you sometimes need the option, as a defender, to smack your attacker upside the head or body to have a better chance of surviving the initial attack and turning the situation around so you can 'win'.

Relying on pure technique in the text book sense is pretty unrealistic, and especially with novices can be a big confidence downer if you percieve yourself to be failing. So we plug the gaps with a quick slap here and there and 'hey presto' things work a bit easier for the defender.

Also Andy Ostler had a major breakthrough in his technique. A couple of weeks ago I saw him darting about like a spider monkey on amphetamines with a dagger in hand poking holes in his opponent. So we carefully applied this method to longsword and found that Mr.Ostler has the eye of the Lynx when it comes to stop thrusts and hand snipes.

Matt and Rob also did extremely well and show excellent intuition and adaptability in sparring when faced with different personal fighting styles.

In the next session(in two weeks time)we will drill speed, power, judging distance and moving. We can back off technique for a bit now that everyone isn't a week 1 day 1 beginner anymore and start to apply what we haver learned in a more constructive manner. This will be more fun for you guys as things will be less 'by the numbers' drilling and more sparring/coached sparring.

[The Guardsman]

Training is on this week!!!!

[Andy O]

Training is on this week!!!!

damn wasn't expecting it to be on , After what you said last thursday. So I've made other plans for thursday. So i doubt i will be there. I have told scott.