The fight starts before the armor, before you pick up your stick, and before you step onto the field. It begins with an individual that is devoted to himself and understands the gravity of taking up arms against his fellow man.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

On 10:36 AM by Unknown in     No comments
Aannnnd like a stick shift being driven by a teen....stalled out. However getting back on track begins tonight with a little help from my knight:

Objectives repeated:
I'd like to switch gears a bit starting next week.

We have now gone through several iterations of drills
and have a set of folks who should understand the
goals and details of each one. These "old-hands"
can guide newer attendees if necessary.

So, next week as soon as you arrive and suit up and
have an available partner I want you to run through
a standard set of "warm-ups". During warm-ups let
us stay focused on action, keeping discussion of
action to a minimum (and save unrelated discussion
for afters at the pub).

Warm-up set
1) 5 passes of the retreat-side step
2) 5 Passes advancing on-side head
3) 5 passes advancing on-side leg
4) 5 passes advancing off-side head
5) 5 passes flow drill - focus on maintaining quality in
execution.

Note: One pass of a drill is a round-trip - one partner
exercising down the length of the training floor and the
other partner exercising coming back. For flow drill
one pass is an exchange of at least 20 blows between
partners.

After warm-ups, take a break. We'll give the last folks
to finish a chance to doff their helm and get some water.

Then we are going to work on three shot sets. This
is where the rest of the time is going to be spent.
I'll define a three shot action and we will set new
pairs to work through the initial understanding and
then hopefully finish with repetitions as time allows.
Each shot in a three shot set involves understanding
details of the foot placement, weight shifts, upper
body motion, hand placement, timing and flow into
the next shot.
Disclaimer: The three shot set is not something I
designed for you to use in competition, but something
I intend to teach your mind/body. It is possible a
set could morph into a standard offensive tool,
but that would be through your own efforts to
adapt one into your repertoire.