SG-4

[scholadays]

At this point in the week wine was bieng consumed in rather larger gulps. I was heading down a path from which I could veer neither left nor right. Undaunted I soldiered on, hoping that events wouldn't unfold as I began to fear they might...

[scholadays]

I'd made a nice long guard. Yes, that was sensible. After all, folk might want to experiment with guard length. Yes, very sensible indeed. But the angle grinder was winking at me. She wanted a piece of the action and all this whittling was beginning to strain my thumbs.

So, a few more glasses of the old vino later and I elected to give the angle grinder her audition...

[scholadays]

There was no stopping me now. I'd stepped over the line. I was no longer making cross guards, I was making art. Unashamed I continued to carve...

[scholadays]

But there is a limit, isn't there? There comes a point when one should stop. One step back and one should take a good look at oneself and see the horror that was unfolding. I barely even remember creating this one. But I did. And I'm sorry.

[scholadays]

And eventually my holiday came to an end and I sobered up. I came round from a week long odyssey of whittling only to discover the true horror of my predicament.

I have turned into Kit Rae



The Kit Rae of wood.

[Fab]

Nice designs. Whta wood you're using ?

[scholadays]

Nice designs. Whta wood you're using ?

Oh, it's a bit of a mix really.

Ash, Beech, that sort of thing.

Basically, anything with a nice straight grain that I couldn't easily scratch with my thumb.

[Fab]

Well for me this one
and

are the most sensible. First one is quite similar to those I make, second one makes sense too (and is close to historical late XVth early XVIth longsword guards anyway)

[Paul]

Nice work Gordon.

I've never thought of using an angle grinder on wood. Interesting thought! What kind of disk did you use?

You do mean something like this, right?

[scholadays]

Nice work Gordon.

I've never thought of using an angle grinder on wood. Interesting thought! What kind of disk did you use?

You do mean something like this, right?

Yup, it works a treat.

[scholadays]

14th November 2006


A smaller turn out this week, but not matter for this gives us lots and lots of room to swing. So, in the first hour recap that folk seem to like I figured I'd get folk good and tired. We cut and cut and cut. We charged up and down the hall swinging like maniacs in an attempt to string the repertoire we have learned over the last few weeks into compound manouvers. We took bleeding fast multiple swipes at one another whilst banging in good solid covers. Rather than making simple direct attacks and counters, we needed to redirect the weapon frequently.

The point of this mayhem was to introduce the difference between fast and hard. In my experience folk often get the two mixed up, thinking that if they heave their weapon at their opponent like it was an axe and they were felling a tree then this will result in their weapon moving quickly to the target.

It may seem counter intuitive, but this is not exactly the case in my opinion. For starters, when folk take a mighty heave at their opponent they tend to put the greatest effort in at the end of their swing. The initial launch of the weapon can be quite slow, with pressure on the weapon progressively increasing until the target is met with a mighty battering.

I want to se the opposite. I want the weapon to be launched with the maximum effort. I want to see it leap from your shoulder at light speed with a snap. To put in the maximum effort into accelerating the weapon in at the very start of its flight. Once the gap betwixt onself and one's target has been traversed in the smallest time possible and the weapon is moving as fast as one can push it, perhaps we can ease off a little and be prepared to redirect the attack should one need to. Here is some footage that provides a good example of what I'm looking for,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzqp9I1HH-w

Got it? Good.

It should be possible to throw the weapon at one's opponent without meeting the target in a resounding crash of blades. I wanted folk to accelerate the weapon out to the target as fast as they could and end in posta longa, to take posession of the centre line and be ready to redirect the weapon should they need to. Heavier blows can sail past the target and leave one wide open for a simple deception and thrust. So, perhaps what I mean by fast is simply banging the weapon out with as much speed as one can muster, but under control.

By the end of the first hour folk seemed good and tired. Everyone had done well to keep the energy of the class up and so we started to encroach upon giocco stretto with some simple crossing and grabbing of the blade.

We then moved onto new repertoire - attacks and covers from the low guards. I started by introducing the low guards then cutting up into the hands. I wanted to first introduce folk to the sottani as simply attacks - attacks to the hand and wrist that demanded that one move off-line to avoid the opponent's attack.

After a bit of this, which resulted in a few whacked fingers, as with the fendente and cover we then moved onto the idea that the path taken by the sottanni can be used as a cover in the execution fo a rabat.

I often find this a rather hard manouver to explain, so we started without footwork. We demonstrated to ourselves that we can indeed cover ourselves from our opponent's fendente by rabatting upwards and deflecting the attack off-line. After a bit of this we then incorporated a traverse offline, and the final counter attacking fendente into the opponent's head and arms.

This all seemed quite enough for one evening, so as is now tradional we finished the evening with a little dagger-play. Nothing complicated, just stabbing and moving. But stabbing twice and moving twice.



Now, as we had fewer numbers which made the evening a little expensive for all, and as the Legion continue to complain about their floor, methinks I may look into finding a new hall. Yes, the bar in the Legion is a nice feature, but I'm getting tired of worrying about the floor. Apparently the Wednesday Salsa class do complain bitterly that the floor is unsuitable after Schola have had their fun.

So, as every British Legion needs a Salsa class, this band of Sword wielding combateers may decide to search for new accomodations.

Watch this space and keep your eye on your email...

[admin]

What about having people train in their socks/bare feet? I know that people with injured ankles need ankle support, but in my experience everyone moves better (in a HEMA sense) without shoes on. Maybe that's not so surprising as the soles of medieval shoes are just a flat piece of leather and modern shoes are quite heavy compared to medieval ones.

The expense of keeping a hall with a small number of students was a problem for SG1 in its early days as well - the thing is that all halls seem to be about the same price. Ultimately the best answer is to get more students. What about a fresh recruitment drive?

[scholadays]

What about having people train in their socks/bare feet?

Well, although I understand the logic behind it, my own experiences make me a little reluctant to have folk sword about without trainers of their choice.

The expense of keeping a hall with a small number of students was a problem for SG1 in its early days as well - the thing is that all halls seem to be about the same price.

Yeah, I anticipated that. Basically their are a good number of folk who are interested, but as one might expect numbers fluctuate up and down. So, some days one just gets unlucky. Essentially I'd perhaps like a hall that would not be potentially such a great hit on my wallet if I find just me there.

Ultimately the best answer is to get more students. What about a fresh recruitment drive?

Yup, I may leaflet Camden town this weekend. Then all these folk might turn up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCKZ8liyM7I

[Fab]

Manowar kills !

How did you know, Gordon ?

[scholadays]

Manowar kills !

How did you know, Gordon ?

A little Python told me.


In his sig.

[T Gallagher]

Is Muswell Hill training still happening on Monday night? What happened last Monday?

Tim

[scholadays]

Is Muswell Hill training still happening on Monday night? What happened last Monday?

Tim

Howdy Tim,

Well, we deicided that the Legion's constant complaints about their floor were getting really rather tiresome, so are in the process of finding new accomodations.

Hmm, I'm sure that I've been mailing everybody about our progress, however a couple seem to have slipped through the net. Sorry about that old chap.

[admin]

Welcome to the forum Tim!

[scholadays]

Is Muswell Hill training still happening on Monday night? What happened last Monday?

Tim

Argh!

Tim, you are indeed not on the mailing list. In fact, I don't have your email address at all. Anywhere. Damn. Sorry about that.

PM me or email scholadays your email address.

Ta.

[scholadays]

Okay, I expect that you'll be wondering what's going on with SG-4. Well, despite being very pleased that I had found a venue with a hall and bar combined, I decided that I was jolly tired of the Legion complaining about its bloody floor. So, I sacked them before they sacked us.

Of course this makes SG-4 completely homeless for a couple of weeks. So I've been working hard to find us new accomodations. Furthermore, much to my delight, so has the rest of SG-4. This pleases me greatly.

So far we have tried everywhere. Sporthalls, community centres, schools, churches, railway arches. You name it, I've visited it. But to no avail.

Until our Lady T approached the Baptist Church for the second time. I'd already emailed them previously, but they unfortunately turned me down. I don't know what she said to the caretaker on our second attempt, but it does indeed look like they might be willing to accomodate us. However, the powers that be are still scrutinising our case.

Fingers crossed, for it's in a nice location bang in the middle of Muswell HIll, it's nearby and it most importantly it looks like this...



Most pretty.