Updates and updating blog — Progress Card

Much has happened over the last 2 years.

New focus:
Narrowed from a generic Bolognese approach, to focus on using Manciolino as a base and keeping as pure as possible, to avoid ‘frog-DNA’ and ‘cross-contamination’ as much as possible.

New equipment:
Steel Regenyei sidesword + steel Bydand small buckler

Much training:
Solo drills, structured freeplay.
Working semi-frequently with a training partner at the club, who shares much the same approach.

Sparring externally:
Informally and competitively vs members of other clubs, at comparable or higher levels of skill/training, learning from success.
Ready to gain from sparring more highly skilled opponents, learning from defeats.
Soon may even be ready to spar newbies (!)
(why.. learning by teaching, learning by thinking in-situ with slower tempos and bigger tells)

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Updating plan
Update the fundamentals to reflect new focus

Only delete non-informative posts without content.
Archive and retire redundant posts, do NOT delete.

Formulate
. a categorising system
. . for content and material,
. with the tagging system
. . to track progress in terms of
. . . evidence
. . . . (source reference vs speculative);
. . . confidence
. . . [etc]
. . [etc]
. . or to track/link concepts pan-category

Centralise?
Either way, upload/transfer notes from elsewhere
. offline/
. Google keep/
. doc files/
. emails
. from tiddlywiki? Or keep as parallel (private, and feeding through to blog public)?

Look Ma – cobwebs!

Long time, no post. Time to review and reorder all of this.

To reflect on what has been learned in the interim, courtesy of sabre classes – which have reached a point where all that needed to be taught has been taught, now all that needs to be learned, as in, integrated.

Being taught and having learned or having the lessons properly internalised – and being able to thereafter fight with it usefully, are the stages. And am at stage 2 of the 3.

The group is moving on to learning sword and buckler thanks to our enthusiasm in class.. and the fact that quite a few always have brought along bucklers and always there is at least one or two bouts in the freeplay session after class. The teacher has also seized the opportunity to extend and test his teaching method to sword and buckler using manciolino. Which is wonderful learning opportunity!

It has also inspired a training partner to delve into marozzo directly. I’m open to that, being the uke to the tori. A peer who has a talent for what I would otherwise have to contend with by myself is to be valued, indeed!

But the main part of my effort must nevertheless be in seizing the prime opportunity – the class itself.
The teacher’s approach (which has much merit) is different to the conventional way of hema learning (which i was working by and distilling for myself in this blog). While I still would need to fill in with the conventional, my focus is going to be on really absorb what the teacher is offering.

(WARNING! Tangents ahead!)
For this is my preferred way, to trust in the more experienced person and their take on passing on the material.
As noted elsewhere, other hema students take the path working directly with the sources themselves, and work it out for themselves. Essentially they are their own teacher. This is part of the enjoyment for them, and thats great. For me, how can I know my interpretation is better than another’s? For I have no stake in ego here, whether it is through my own insight or through another’s, whichever is the best, that is what I want to take on.

Self-directed learning is sometimes necessary in my view, but only if its a necessity. If there is a teacher (a credible one and one who can walk the talk to at least a certain extent (imo walking and talking in balance, and one who can walk the talk but not talk the walk is ipso facto no good at teaching), then benefit from their insights and ALSO your own. How can you lose? It is between the two extremes.

Anyway, as for myself and my progress. It is good. And full of frustrations. Which is good. Or, bad but in a good way.

My biggest challenge is to be disciplined with personal practise time and effort.

Solo drills. Shadow fencing.

Need to connect what I know and what I can do.
Else what I know will fade as memory fades, leaving only that which I can do.

Which right now is: getting mightily stuck at decision points and freezing under pressure… classic sign of knowing more that you have integrated into being able to do.

So either simplify options to choose from, or integrate the options to be able to do more of them without the thinking.

The latter is ideal, but the former would be better that my current state.

Facinating shit. That’s hema for you.

Sidesword? Armourclass Swepthilt Re-enactment Rapier

Swepthilt Rapier (Re-enactment) – Order Code 17C2
http://www.armourclass.com/Data/Pages/17Century_11.htm
Sword edge: 17th Century Pappenheimer Rapier Re-enactment
Blade dimensions: Re-enactment – 76cm Blade. 2.8 cm at hilt tapering to 1.9 cm at tip.
Price: £170

17th Century Swepthilt Rapier (Re-enactment): actually = a sidesword?

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http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3207

[Nikos] “..it looks really nice, they sell them as re-enactment rapiers, but as you can see, thats a sidesword, they just have to use the term rapier to sell it as thats what everyone is familiar with. They do a nice pappenheimer as well, and you have to remember that the pappenhemier started out as a sidesword anyway, the fashion just caught on to rapier.”

[J Marwood] “My ideal would be something which could do dual duty – serve as a rapier and a sidesword, at least for now.”

[Nikos] “..last time I saw armourclass at a show they had a re-enactment rapier with a fullered 89cm blade IIRC, it was really nice because it was pretty light, not to far off a rapier and whilst being a nice sidesword, it could easily have been used for rapier technique if desired..” {AC do offer a 89cm blade option}

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PdFStretta–CLStretta: hips, not just hand change

The first day, Steve and Kara went through the basics of the bolognese system.This was not new material for many of us, but there were some very valuable things that I got out of the review, especially the relation of the hips and body in the Porto de Ferro Stretta guard. I was treating the guard as simply a change in hand position, and it is a lot more than that. Since the seminar, we have been playing with this difference, and a lot of interesting things are opening up in our practice because of this simple refinement. For me, just that piece of information was invaluable.

– Seminar report, Reliquiae Academy of Defense.
http://reliquiae.net/wordpress/?page_id=15

->
–>
==>

Sabre Class4 – to drill

Solo – cutting and thrusting drills, with particular emphasis on the lunge and recover
(making it more natural; coordination of attacks and parries and standing on guard).

Paired – approaching into distance, attacking and recovering, and then with defender parrying and reposting.

Paired – specific set plays from the engaging guard, opening with feints and drawing the defender into creating an opening.

Manciolino’s Primo Assalto Part 1

Opera Nova (1531), Book II
[from the translation by Jherek Swanger, p21ff]

“But when you will be already near your enemy the blows will no more be
committed to the wind..

You will pass forward with your right foot into large pace, throwing a mandritto to his head that goes over-arm, and return a riverso making your
sword fall into coda lunga stretta.

Then you will make your buckler a good defender of your head, immediately returning a montante that goes into guardia alta, where it will behoove you to throw your right foot along your left.

And then, passing with your right foot, you will throw a fendente that ends in guardia di faccia, and you will thereafter pass with your left foot toward your right side, in which tempo you will throw a tramazzone falling into cingiara porta di ferro. And you will oppose your buckler to your head.

Then passing with your right foot into large pace, you will make a falso traversale to your enemy’s face, so that your sword subsequently rises into guardia alta, throwing an overarm mandritto to the head or face, and retiring your right foot near your left;

and then you will pass again with your right foot into large pace, casting your sword fist high and throwing a mandritto to the face, which goes under-arm. Then redraw your right foot even with your left, making your buckler good.

And then, stepping forward similarly with your right you will do a falso that ends in guardia di faccia, followed by two tramazzoni, so that the last will have its finish in porta di ferro stretta.

And from here, throwing your right foot to the left, you will do a montante into guardia alta, and thus done, embellish the play as has been instructed above.

..”

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Sabre Class3 – to drill

Essential:- attacking on a proper lunge and recovering to guard quickly.

Solo cutting and thrusting drill
Paired cuts 1-6 against partner parrying everything with Prime and Seconde
Paired cuts 1-6 against partner parrying everything as they liked
Paired cuts 1-6 with parry and riposte
Paired cuts 1-6 with parry and riposte and parry

Rapier – on hold. Sabre – a joy!

..aaand watch out for ‘Sabre – oh boy!’

The second sabre class was entirely enjoyable, a superb blend of basic solo cutting drills as well as paired drills that built up footwork, maintainance of measure, attacks, parries in a very satisfying (and thigh-cramping!) way.

Excellent, I say! Simply excellent, not least because of – at last – an instructor that does not shy away from rigorous (to the necessary point of mind-numbing repetition, literally) drilling of the basics!

As an aside, I do find it unfortunate if sometimes HEMA instructors shy away from rigorous and repetitive drilling. (I strongly believe this is essentially why freeplay looks NOTHING like closeplay in its sloppiness and loss of all technique – no, it’s not adrenaline nor adapting: it’s sloppy technique, because technique has not been drilled enough.)

Lest we dilettantes get bored, I suppose.

Or it’s as if it evokes JMA (and oh we simply must avoid that at all costs axiomatically mustn’t we) and its seemingly endless pacing up and down the halls throwing attacks into air… um, as if that’s a bad thing?!
Do we forget the rigour of the classical-era masters in ensuring a rock-solid lunge before the fancy stuff?

Anyway, rant over – I heartily commit myself to following every bit of drill enthusiastically and joyfully, trusting in the instructor, trusting in the process and not jumping ahead.

Why, it may very possibly teach me a thing or two about not haring about and instead, proceeding in a disciplined fashion… when it comes to learning Bolognese!

Assalto! Primo! Marozzo!

The first part of Marozzo’s Primo Assalto.
Of all the sequences to cut one’s teeth on and practise, this seems to be just what I’m looking for.

A sequence of just three steps, that covers (in order):

Guardia Alta
Mandritto sgualembrato
Roverso sgualembrato

Guardia Coda Lunga e Stretta
Imbroccata
Stramazzone

Guardia di Testa
Montante

I am lost in admiration of how beautifully and succinctly the above are strung together, directing the internalisation of how the cuts cut and of what actions flow from what guards and of the proper dynamic of the attack and movement.

I love that it’s a straightforward set of actions to understand and perform, as solo or duo, and that I can see the practice of it itself teaches further, more than what was learned in the first instance.

Forearm Regime 25 Oct

Progress reasonable, particularly grip, and to probing the ligament.
Radial flexion from prima/terza (i.e. cuts fendente and montante) slow progress.

1. Wrist stretches
Particularly: arm up, fingers stretched back (or flexed forward), laterally rotated and stretched.

2. Yellow ball squeeze repetitions
3×10

3. Gentle wrist dowel flexions
1×10 fendente from the wrist
1×10 montante from the wrist

Good, but then hubris and did against some resistance.. not good.
Made grip painful again.

-> Do more sets, do not increase resistance.

Forearm Progress 21 Oct

Better. But slow progress.

Fibromyalgia type pain around bulk of forearm near elbow when make a fist or close grip. Grip tightening intensifies. But also curiously lessens for the second and third repetition.

Improvement of pain upon probing.
– Now limited to a specific line on a ligament near lateral point of elbow. But intense pain response to probe.

Improvement of flexing/lifting a dowel in different directions – apart from one:
‘radial flexion’..?
The rebat / falso cut line. Initiating a falso or rebat feels as if it would be not effective on impact and would reverbate pain feedback strongly.
Weakness too in the same line in opposing the opposite direction, ie. slowing down a mandritto squalembrato.

Switched to a softer squidgier ball.
Less force means more repetitions possible and less maximal exertion.

Keep doing (and make a monitored regime)
-wrist stretches
-yellow ball squeeze repetitions
-gentle wrist dowel flexions

Also explore the above in different arm/shoulder configurations and arm inversions about its axis.

Start
-mild therapeutic elbow probes
-massaging fascia deeply

Rapier – on hold. Sabre – ahoy!

Cleverer a title were it cutlass, but hey.

Left hand rapier preparations notwithstanding, have now opted for 19c Military Sabre due to the availability of lessons with a very good teacher – since for me, as opined previously, the guidance of an experienced teacher trumps all other methods of learning in the Science and Arte of Defense; even to the point of being more important than the choice of the particular Art itself.

Certainly insofar as the process of becoming skillful at it.

As I already had a Hanwei Hutton Sabre, went along and found it indeed to be my alternative system of choice to the er.. alternative system this blog is for the study of, in matters HEMA (Fiore longsword being my original focus).

There is also a bonus in that though I intend to learn it for the left hand due to resting my right, Hanwei’s version of the Hutton Sabre is light enough to be used by my recuperating right arm, should the need for drilling with a right handed partner so require.

Now the stances have similarities with notable differences – the rapier being a more refused back-weighted position to the sabre’s more centered although still somewhat back-weighted position. The rear leg in sabre also seems to me somewhat more turned in, with the knee more forward-pointing, and forward of the foot and ankle (ie toward the front foot) rather than over the back foot and ankle and the thigh a bit more perpendicular to the ground.

However, the back foot, perpendicular to the front, is still pretty anchored with similar footwork; the steps are simple gathering steps, advancing front foot first and retreating back foot first, while keeping torso upright, stable and vigilant.
Linear movement, although scans of a Swedish manual does offline movement clearly, have yet to learn of any such concept in British manuals.
Mostly attacking on the lunge (albeit less extensive a lunge with more emphasis on swifter recovery than maximal extension) with the cut or the thrust.

Thus the rapier stance preparations are not entirely without benefit, since the stances and legwork use the same musculature and muscular tensions and comparable movement mechanics.

Happy days.

Marozzo’s Primo Assalto Part 1

Agente and Patiente both start in Guardia Alta.
Following actions all by Agente
– except a fendente against which Agente uses Guardia di Testa.
Patiente to just stand passively other than that.
– (later iterations practise buckler / actively defend; Agente actions will make more sense in context of Patiente’s responses: but for simplicity of learning, initially start by patiente being inactive.)

_______________tabulate________________
Guardia Alta
Mandritto sgualembrato
Roverso sgualembrato
(?both above both bucklers)
Guardia Coda Lunga e Stretta
Imbroccata
Stramazzone (to head?)

Patiente: Fendente
Guardia di Testa
Mandritto (to leg) + step right foot left and front of left foot
Riverso (to arm) + ?reestablish the stance, thus obliquely to original
Montante into Guardia Alta
_________________________________________

Marozzo’s Primo Assalto __ wmawiki raw excerpts

http://www.wmawiki.org/index.php?title=First_assalto_of_Marozzo

excerpts:

Translation

The first assault of the wide play of sword and buckler.
Now here begins the first assault of the sword and small buckler, that is beautiful and useful in sparring and teaching. Note: First the need in the play is to find your partner. I want you to place yourself in a corner of the hall with your buckler at your lower left side, that is on the thigh, and your right foot close to your left, withdrawn neatly, and with the sword in Coda Lunga et Larga, your arm extended, and your body right and galant as much as possible. Here I want you to throw your right leg forward, and in this step I want you to strike the falso of your sword to the dome of your buckler, and in this striking, move the said dome toward your face, and there you throw your left leg in a grand-pass in front of your right, and in this step make a touch (beat) of the buckler and place your sword into Guarda di Testa with the arm well extended. Then you turn the point of the sword towards the ground with the false-edge towards your buckler and there you throw a falso of the buckler in this way; cut from low to high with your right hand, and in the cut make a molinello while passing forward with your left foot. You will end above the buckler arm and you will touch (beat) the buckler with your pommel to the inside of the rim and there throw your sword fist ahead of your buckler, turning the point towards the ground, and in this turn cut a rising falso of the buckler. In this cut throw your right leg forward and make a rising montante, immediately withdrawing your right leg close to your left, the sword ending in Guardia Alta with your buckler well extended. And then you cut a fendente along the rim of the buckler with the right foot behind and that being done you pull the left to the otherside of the right, and put your sword in Coda Lunga et Distesa, and then you make a grand pass with the left foot ahead of the right, and in this stepping you make a touch (beat) to the buckler and the sword comes to Guardia di Testa, cutting again from below a falso to the dome of the buckler, and in this cut you make a grand pass with the right foot ahead of the left, and make a rising montante along the buckler, immediately withdrawing the right foot close to the left and your sword will go to Guardia Alta with your arms well extended, and your left thigh away from the opponent, and your right foot well extended, and withdrawn galantly. You, the agente, are now close to your opponent, as is the need whether you are the agente or the patiente.

Interpretation

In this part, the students start facing one another at opposite ends of the room, approximately ten meters apart. Their steps should bring them just within one range of another. They should perform the same attacks, simultaneously (i.e. agente and patiente have not been differentiated yet). Essentially, the introduction is one large embellishment; later embellishments take pieces of the introduction and repeat them.

Begin in coda lunga e larga with the feet together, standing upright, and the buckler at the side.
Pass the right foot a short distance forward, raising the buckler, and tapping the buckler with the false edge.
Beat the false edge with the buckler and pass the left foot ahead of the right, ending in guardia di testa.
Point the sword at the ground and beat the false edge with the buckler, cutting a montante followed by a horizontal molinello (passing through guardia sopra di braccio) while passing with the right foot forward.
Cut a second molinello while stepping with the left foot, ending in guardia sopra di braccio.
Pass the left foot forward and strike the corner of the buckler with the pommel.
Bring the sword in front of the buckler, pointing downward. Beat the false edge with the buckler and cut a montante, ending in guardia alta, and passing the right foot forward.
Cut a fendente along the rim of the buckler, ending in coda lunga e distesa, stepping forward with the left.
Cut a rising cut from the right, beat the shield with the false edge of the sword and cut a montante into guardia alta.
At this point, the two players are within combat distance of one another. Subsequent parts focus on the actions of the agente, with patiente defending.

First part

In this part, agente draws his opponent’s guard from high to low and back, until an opening presents itself below the shield.

Begin in guardia alta with the right foot slightly ahead of the left. Agente throws two cuts in a large X over the buckler: a mandritto (to the opening above the opponent’s shield) followed by a riverso. With each of these cuts, step (first with the right foot, then with the left). End in coda lunga e stretta.
Thrust beneath the opponent’s buckler. In the tempo of his defense (lowering his shield), throw a stramazzone to the head.
Patiente throws a fendente to agente’s head, which the latter defends in guardia di testa. Agente now steps across his left foot with his right, throwing a mandritto to his opponent’s leg, flowing immediately into a riverso to the arm, finishing with a montante ending in guardia alta. It is essential that these last three attacks flow smoothly from one another without pause: with each defense, patiente is creating a new opening for the subsequent attack.
Embellish.
Second part

Whereas the first part drew the opponent’s guard from high to low and back, this part opens up the opponent’s guard by persistently attacking from side to side.

Begin in guardia alta. Agente feints a diagonal step forward and to the right. When patiente throws an attack to agente’s head, the latter withdraws that foot and parries with guardia di faccia or guardia sopra di braccio.
Agente makes a diagonal step to the left and throws a riverso to the opponent’s temple.
Agente makes a triangle step to the right, moving around his opponent, throwing two mandritto cuts: one outside the opponent’s buckler, the other, a stramazzone, to the head, ending in porta di ferro stretta.
Patiente attacks agente’s head, and the latter parries with guardia di testa, and throws the final three cuts as in the first part.
Embellishment.

Strained appendages: good news, bad news

Good news: Right elbow tendon and forearm are indeed responding well to cautious exercise, viz. gently squeezing a small rubber ball + assorted wrist stretches.

Bad news: My left thigh is feeling the strain within 2 days of the Duellist’s Companion’s first preparatory exercise… >:)
(..and there was me, more worried about the dodgy right knee taking the weight of the left-handed stance, ha!)

All I can say is – I better be ultra cautious once rapier in hand, lest too the left arm rather predictably suffers. ;P

To do:
– Continue wrist stretches and gently squeezing small rubber ball
– Cautiously add mild powerball work for right arm.
– Stay cautious on the left-hand rapier stance preparatory exercises:
a) stay with exercise 1 for another week
b) go from exercise 1 to the next in strict order
c) RESIST the temptation to
i. add the weapon
ii. extend exercise 1 into lunge practice
etc.

Strained forearm progress

Strained right arm elbow ligaments not healing fast. Direct pressure on the anterior ligament bundle causes pain.
Forearm muscles are also overtaxed: squeezing a ball causes aching; ordinary grip is fine.

I feel I need to gently exercise these as they heal; gentle squeezing of a soft small ball, perhaps use the gyroscopic powerball at low revs.

Hope that’s not the exact wrong thing to do.
I have, after all, been resting the arm for 2-3 weeks: no longword, no single-hander. So I think starting some gentle exercise is indeed in order.

To do:
If it doesn’t improve by mid-Oct, go see a physio.
Would be sensible to go see a GP now and get referred..

..

Aside: Left-handed rapier, Capoferro

Well, just because my right arm is being rested, doesn’t mean I don’t have another arm to bugger up as well.. er.. to use. ;)

Now – I could train my left up with what I know so far; but no – I’m going to take up Capoferro rapier with my left hand, literally.

Two reasons.
One, I could be doing bolognese completely wrong and I’d just be training both sides to be completely wrong.
TwoCould be double frustration because of the extra ungainliness: I’m ungainly enough with my right at this stage, certainly, but that’s to be expected and I don’t need to add to the feeling. On the other hand (pun unintended but quite satisfactory) I’m so, so very ungainly with my right with rapier, that right might as well be the left so to speak.
And er.. three, I think there is some perverse logic to training different sides (different brain hemispheres?) with completely different movement paradigms. More chance of it being easier to keep the necessary separation between these arts, keeping the distinctive stances and mechanics um.. distinct.

And of course I can’t deny that the Princess-Bride-factor of it is entirely irresistible >;)
Must dig up a good clip on youtube. :)

I’ve flirted with rapier before, experimenting with training partners – but more significantly, was fortunate to be in the park for the capsule 1hr class on Capoferro from the excellent Nick Thomas of the AHF.

At the time, I confess I found the stances awkward and the rapier wobbly and awkward to use, ungainly with a funny balance and extremely taxing on the wrist to boot.
Less so with Nick’s no-nonsense Darkwood and his beautiful Cervenka (couldn’t tell any difference with the work-horse Armourclass, to give you an idea of how non-expert my judgement is at this stage) than with the Hanwei Practical 43″ (can’t recall if it was pommel-adjusted, but) .. yet still not enough to hook me instantly at the time.

Nonetheless I hadn’t entirely abandoned the notion, partly because of Nick and partly because steel is steel. Not because flouncy shirts are flouncy shirts. Ok, maybe just a little.

I mean, I did get myself a Hanwei Practical 43″, I did get myself a PBT coaches jacket and I did get myself a Darkwood pommel and a Hanwei Practical Sidesword pommel so as to improve the balance of the rapier.
And I did get myself a copy of The Duellist’s Companion (Capoferro) by the excellent Guy Windsor and also of Venetian Rapier (Giganti) by the erudite Tomasso Leoni.

So no matter how much I feel challenged by the movement mechanics, given this subconscious and non-insubstantial investment, clearly in my heart of hearts I’d really like to take a stab at this.
(And to make satisfyingly bad puns, apparently.)

And you know what, not a million miles away is someone teaching Thibault and someone teaching Alfieri and even someone, closer to home, working on Swetnam – so really, it’d be a veritable injustice to not at least try harder to get into it!

So there we have it, and that’s that.

Since the good Mr. Windsor has written his book not as a straight translation-plus-interpretation but as an explanatory text replete with pictures, drills and preparatory exercises explicitly designed to train the 21st century body to move with these movement dynamics so alien to it, that there then shall be my starting point.

I’ve started.
The Duellist’s Companion, preparatory exercises.

Strains, aches and nylon

Good news – the strained elbow and wrist ligaments no longer hurt more than the muscle. But that’s because the whole arm is now somewhat strained.. >:)

Oh well – strains are not so bad, seems I’ve been overtraining without spraining.

Just need to keep an eye on how well it heals and whether it heals stronger.

To do:
– Keep doing wrist stretches, perhaps against light resistance.
– Try light D’A solo form work with the dowel.

Plays: Analysing and practicing

[draft]

0. Isolate a sequence of actions (if not solo then each part separately) from a form, play or assalto.
=> ‘drill’, ‘sequence’ ?

Tabulate

Practice

Repeat and constant practice, follow training methodology.

Kit: My sword simulator simulator

a.k.a  a stick, a rod; dowel even.

So – predictably, even though I reined my enthusiasm in, using the nylon singlehander has strained wrist and elbow ligaments.

However I was not about to abandon what I was studying (Dall’Agocchie’s form for spada solo)… so continued with a light but solid wooden dowel.

In doing so I’ve had a lightbulb moment..
..training need not be held up by the limiting factor of the strength of limb to hold a sword.

It’s one thing to train the musculature to adapt to moving the weight of the sword, but also there is the repetition of the movements of a technique until it is learned… and the latter need not be tied to, or stop because of, the former!

I anticipate that even though the learned movements may have to adjust with the weight once added back, the process of internalising a technique should be faster overall.

I would even advocate training with a lightweight rod from the outset along with the heavier simulator.

I’d love to know what the philosophy of various Masters were on whether to use for beginners a light training tool or a standard-weight training tool (or even a heavy training tool for the experienced, like the suburi in JSA).

Freeplay vs longsword I

..probably not (edit: absolutely not) a good idea this early on, but hey – I’m human >:-D

Held my own relatively well against an 18m tactically adept Fiore longsworder.
That said, I wonder how much of that was due to timing/measure stuff common to all fencing, RATHER THAN good use of proper Bolognese technique (which is what I want to be developing).

So what I actually need rather than free-play (risk of unconsciously acquiring poor habits early on for sake of short term gains/wins) if my goal is to practise the feel of using the actions is: testing against tight-play (zombie) or loose-play (semi-zombie) attacks.

(Perhaps I’d better even go a step back, to 2-step drills – formulate some?)

So the first point is:
I -really- need to fight the insidious tendency of getting competitive and worst of all – dropping all but techniques that get through and scored a point.
(.. the very epitome of where free-play is detrimental to technique (- that’s the cost, the payoff being pressure testing technique and um.. fun).)

Back to the point:
Realise that some things worked less ‘well’ for any number of reasons apart from inherent unworkability.
And that indeed, given the object of the exercise, those are the very ones that should be deployed MORE often (to find when to use them and when not to) ..not less.

Not to say there aren’t learnings to be had from my unstructured freeplay:
Total of about 3 bouts so far,
3 a month past (Scleb)
2 on saturday (Ibut, Scleb)

Liked:
– Flowing, steady movement with combining cuts.
– Sticking to a consistent tempo-based pace.. despite whatever opponent was doing
– Not cheating tempo to take advantage of openings by sudden speeding or abrupt changes in direction.. despite opponent tendency.

NOTE: both these things were less in evidence recently!!!!
I think in the first bout, I accepted from the outset that I would be shit.
In the latter, am I subconsciously trying to show improvement?
An improvement that canNOT be there so soon, why try, sort out your ego mate.
(Edit: also cos got narked at Ibut pontificating when he knows even less than I. (But like I said, sort out your own ego mate.) Sure enough my performance canned it and spectated.. (how shamefully crass of me) ..so obviously the ego problem is with mine, not his.
Blast it.
(Wow. That JSA guff about the swordsman’s first enemy to kill is his own ego.. seems actually too bloody true)

Ok enough of the navel-gazing tangents, back to the original navel-gazing – observations about standard of technique and flaws to recognise and improve therein.

Footwork
– Frequently OoM
– Often taking two steps then overextending
– Very stilted, not very congruent with my blade actions

Buckler – how to use it??
– Obscuring my own vision half the time as much as theirs
– Drifting apart from center and/or sword.. unaware that big gaps to center are the openings being successfully attacked.
– Very hit and miss
– Even intercepted hits bounce/slide off onto arm } ?issue of not
– Very very weak in using to close high and low lines } comfortable with correctly angling the face of the buckler in response

(blimey, what a depressing roll-call of flaws. But tis good, reality check. The very PURPOSE of this blog. Hope to look back on this and see improvement.)

To sum up.

Must bear in mind:
– that too much too soon is detrimental
– that ‘winning’ or performing well is the wrong goal.
– Squash your ego and use techniques experimentally, particularly the ones I ‘fail’ with.

Specific observations
Buckler
– bounce vs deflection, control
– turning to face sword, exposing self ok
– ?how mobile needs to be in tracking their sword (before they close)

Footwork
– keep going, not 2 steps then overextend/OoM

To do:
– Less free play, instead do loose / tight play.
(ie standard attack patterns that I can practice defenses against)
– Partner more with Cdu or Mjac cf Scleb, to get the right level of agency.

Beginning to use the nylon arming sword

I’m finding it rather strenuous on the wrist and elbow compared to using the nylon longsword with two hands for Fiore techniques.

Some of it no doubt is simply getting used to the simulator itself and to using it with one hand.

It seems very different to generate power compared to the push-pull leverage kinesthetics that I am used to.

To do:
Practice wrist flexion, extension, supination
– with arm extended forward
– Repeat with arm 45′ from horizontal
– Repeat with arm down by side
– Repeat with arm comfortably raised and extended backwards, about 45′
– Repeat with arm raised straight up overhead

Kit: the sword simulator

Eventually I mean to get a steel training blunt typical of a sword of the era, preferably of a type depicted in the illustrations of the manuals of the period.

For now I’m using the Rawlings Synthetic Sparring Single Hand Sword from the KnightShop.

As _Dave Rawlings is himself a very accomplished and respected sword & buckler man (albeit _I.33) I trust this should suffice.

It’s in the form of an arming sword, and while it may not be expressly designed for the Bolognese style, I gather the style itself is fairly _weapon-agnostic – although it is tempting to feel that something closer to the _debated ‘sidesword’ or spada da lato XIX.

So while it’s lacking the archetypal _finger rings / _side-rings / _two-port cross it should not compromise technique much especially at this early stage.

One thing I will say is, I’m finding it rather strenuous on the wrist and elbow compared to using two hands for Fiore techniques.

Will have to monitor progress with that.

Why Bolognese sword and buckler?

After about 1.5 years focussing on the longsword of Fiore dei Liberi it is perhaps not unreasonable to select an additional style.

The question being of course, how to so select?

Style – Complementary or Contrasting?
Lineage – Related or Distinct?

And what to select?

Stay with the longsword but explore another lineage i.e. <spittoon>Liechtenauer?</spittoon> ;-)

Contrastingly try a single-handed weapon, perhaps a sword and buckler system?

Take up a weapon from a distant era within the same locale, perhaps the rapier?

Take up a dramatically different weapon and tradition, perhaps the backsword? Military sabre?

I’m tempted by all, and so dabbled to a greater or lesser extent in all the above options – it didn’t make the decision much easier.
From each I know I would benefit, whether by way of contrast or complementarity to that with which I am familiar (though far from expert it must be said).

And all this weighing up is all very well – but surely what of availability, ease of access to the learning of it..?

Now generally I prefer learning via expert hands-on instruction, over tackling the primary texts directly oneself.
I also believe that a style that one is merely indifferent to but learns under guidance from a good teacher is to be preferred over a style that one is keenly desirous of yet finds a lack of accessible quality instruction.

Hence my attempts with the rapier – Capoferro to be precise, and staying with an Italianate tradition (although a noted instructor observed its similarities complement german longsword concepts almost more than Fiore longsword..)
Now overwhelmingly in its favour is the added benefit of perforce learning to handle steel.  And there is nothing quite like the feel of steel.  As with so many things in life, simulators compare poorly with the real thing.

Yet alas, much as I might wish otherwise and persevere, right now it just.. isn’t right for me.

I realised this only when I picked up an arming sword in one hand and a buckler in another and tried out some of the guards and cuts of the Dardi tradition…

So here are my reasons why it’s a good fit for what I need.

• It’s also from the Italian region – so in keeping with a continuum of evolution or progression.
• Inbetween Medieval Longsword and Baroque or Renaissance Rapier – so it’s a nice transition.
• Separation of two hands, or single handed – so physically different enough to develop and train (or, indeed, strain) the body differently.
• A different strategic philosophy without being absolutely apposite.

Oh, who am I kidding – that’s all just ex post facto justification.. my real reason?

It just feels so damn good…  >;-D

And that, I can’t explain.