Fundamentals of swordsmanship

[Jake Norwood]

Looks pretty good, Mike.

Now...when do we start debating what each of these actually mean?

Jake

[Matt Anderson]

Here's the first draft of the model we've worked out. This represents the first three months or so of training for a new scholar.

Phase 1: Basics (3 Months)

• Anatomy of the Sword - blade, edges, flat, tip, center of percussion, center of balance, strong, middle, weak, cross, shield, hilt, handle, haft, pommel. (Also flanges.)
• The three times; Vorschlag v Nachschlag
• The three ranges (free, at the sword, at the arms)
• The three phases (the approach, the battle, the withdrawal)
• Middle Stance (Mittelwaage); if the other two come up, they still won't be emphasized.
• Basic Footwork - Step, Pass, Pivot, Turn; stepping around the Segno
• Five Basic Wards - Ochs, Pflug, Alber, Tag, Kron
• Proper Technique for Cutting - dropping weight into the cut (full cuts only during phase 1)
• Proper Technique for Thrusting - twisting the hips, etc.
• Proper Technique for Raking - pushing and controlling with the sword, not just dragging the edge
• Basic Cutting - cutting the Segno, beginning with the four basic strikes
• Basic Thrusting - the five thrusts (four hangers plus long point)
• The Four Openings - finding an opponent's openings in real time
• Fighting from the guards
• Covering and beating (double-time counters, although explaining stesso tempo and dui tempo waits for phase 2)
• Basic grappling technique

Really good list, but that seems like a lot to learn in 3 months. I would expect it to take much longer and lots of repetition to become proficient in all these concepts. Of course, maybe I'm reading more into some of these than you intended. "Fighting from the guards" for instance is pretty broad in my mind but maybe you have a more specific meaning in yours. Likewise, "basic grappling" is a little ambiguous. Are you refering to wrestling at the sowrd or unarmed grappling? Anyway, I do like the list, it's definately a good syllabus for "swordfighting 101".

[Michael Chidester]

A lot of these are conceptual things, and some of them are topics of interest that would never be tested. The overall structure of this module looks like: grappling drills to begin developing good balance and footwork, a solo form or two to practice proper striking (and covering) technique together with motion, and partner drills to begin learning to see and exploit openings with all three strikes of the sword. Fighting from the guards simply means learning which strikes are most ready from each of the five primary wards, as well as how to employ the guards as effective defensive positions (covering). I can think of a dozen simple drills off the top of my head that would be great for this stuff, and I'm eagerly collecting more at the moment.

A 1st-degree Scholar who comes consistently (under our current training schedule--we'll be adding more classes as we can) can get up to 4 hours of class time a week, which over three months adds up to 48 hours of quality training. Subtract 15 minutes from Tuesday and Wednesday practice for warmup and cooldown, and that's still about 30 hours of training. If they practice their forms at home and (possibly) find a pell to hit or a practice partner, that's plenty of time to achieve a basic integration of these skills. Then in months 4-6 we cover the specifics of fighting in Zufechten and Abzug (primarily focused on the mastercuts)--while continuing grappling development--and ideally test them for their 2nd degree at or around 6 months.

(Also, Jake, I added you to the Wave where this is being developed by accident, and there doesn't look to be a way to remove people, so if you want to see how this fits into a bigger picture, feel free.)

[Michael Chidester]

Looks pretty good, Mike.

Now...when do we start debating what each of these actually mean?

Jake

Heh, bring it on.