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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 4:27:32 GMT
I find that i have an advantage against right and left handers by being left handed, now i just have to learn not to hesitate when i hit someone. My biggest problem is i have spent so many years doing lethal martial arts that as i strike my brain is thinking that if i land the blow i am going to kill my opponent. I don't know about you but that is frowned on in my group So i just need to learn to actually hit my opponent solidly.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 4:45:31 GMT
I agree that left hander will have an advantage against new and intermediate people. Historically that would have been the majority of an opposing army. By the time people have gotten to advanced levels they know how to fight off-handed fights. That is partly the reason I fight left-handed too. I want to build that experience as soon as possible. The other reason to fight with your off-hand is that if prepares you to begin training as a two-weapon man at a later date.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 14:27:05 GMT
It is hard to tell what you are doing without seeing your combinations. I think you may need to relax more when swinging. Once the shot is thrown let the sword do the work and float in your hand (don't try to power it through with your muscles). I am guilty of that too because you and I both lift weights and are physically stronger than 90% of the guys on the field we want to power a blow all the way to the target.
I am sure you are already aware to use your hips and let your arm act like a whip with the hand snap to provide the last crack of that whip. When practicing throwing multiple shots slow down at first and crack that whip each time and use the "bounce" off the pell to start the next hip/whip action.
I hope I was able to explain that well enough.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2007 19:11:02 GMT
So just to be clear, you actualy use the hand-snap in every one of your combinations.
That will take some time for me to develop. I probably am overpowering my shots, just like you said.
Thanks Jason
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2007 3:40:13 GMT
Usually I manage on anything thrown with the palm facing up, but do try to do it on every shot.
Why do you think the knights can fight people one after another and still kick ass? They just stay relaxed the whole time and use their body core (hips).
If you keep your grip relaxed it will help keep your arm relaxed. I don't manage to do it every time (old habits die hard) but I try.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2007 3:58:12 GMT
Why do you think the knights can fight people one after another and still kick ass? They just stay relaxed the whole time and use their body core (hips). I agree. This is a fairly new discovery for me over the past few weeks. I use to be so exhausted after every fight. Now with the hand-snaps and working off the POB of the sword I find I get much less tired. Its just an issue of efficiency and doing more with less effort.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 2:21:27 GMT
The things I worked on most were the snap grip and using my hips.
As I was warming up I threw shots from the right and left putting a lot of hip and of course nice hand snaps. I was warming up with a guy holding is sword up as a target and nearly knocking it out of his hand with each shot.
Once I started fighting (bear pit) I managed to stay in through three fighters in a row. During the fights I was using fakes and some close in fighting to land the shots, but by the fourth fight I was exhausted. My arm was tired and my power was lacking. I died in the fourth fight and gladly went to the sideline for a rest. I spoke with my Squire and he said I was throwing mostly arm and holding my breath.
Ok, time to fix the problems. My next turn my arm still felt tired and I was still sucking wind when it started. I did take my time and worked very hard on throwing the shots with a loose arm and with the snap at the end. After the next few rounds in the bear pit I spoke with my squire again. I was still holding my breath but fighting more relaxed.
We all took a long water break and then started again. This time my arm had recovered more and my shots were more effective with better speed and power. Still holding my breath, however, I am going to have to keep working on that one.
Overall it was a good practice and reading the posts here have given me more pre-fighting study to help me concentrate on specific areas. I wish I had videos for you, but many of the people in my Shire are still in the Darkages (some still live without computers) and I need to concentrate on fighting and not trying to get the camera set up. Though I know watching myself would help a ton in finding my flaws.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 16:22:50 GMT
That as a good self analysis Trueswordsman.
Yeah, a vid camera would help you a lot. It did wonders for me. The day after practice, I send a You Tube link to my knight and we go through the vids one at a time. You can get a cheap one like I have on ecost.com for about $40. I gave details on that in another thread. The cool thing about it is that you don't need anyone to run it. You set it on a table, chair or some shelf and hit the start button. Go fight and then come and hit the stop button. Later you edit out inactivity with Windows Moviemaker.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 23:25:24 GMT
I will have to get some videos soon!
By the way, my forearm is still sore from practice, so I think I must have been working the hand snap more than usual.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2007 2:22:37 GMT
I was at training last night (forgot the camera!) and one of our regulars was using a pole ax, i was amazed at how light, fast and powerful it was. Every time he struck a helmet, the axe would ring like a gong for minutes at a time. Also he showed how dangerous a blunt steel weapon can be, he managed to punch through another guys shield, quite light damage but his swing was not a hard one which was quite amazing, the amount of leverage you get with a two handed axe is quite incredible. The shield he managed to penetrate was one of the old round viking shields with the slatted construction and it has four layers of padding on the front and eight layers of paint, pretty amazing what you can do with a little training and leverage.
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Post by rammstein on Nov 8, 2007 2:32:25 GMT
There's a reason why many consider the poleaxe one of the most formidable hand-to-hand weapons ever created to fight on the medieval battlefield
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2007 18:22:09 GMT
As far as Blunt weapons go, I had the misfortune of being accidentally punched with a gauntlet while fighting a few weeks ago. The rattan absorbs some of the impact but in this case the polearm-man made a mistake and instead of hitting me with the polearm he hit me with the gauntlet on my faceplate. The guy was about my size and strong, the impact through my head back and almost knocked me out. If the weapons we are using were made of steel I imagine every blow would be landing at least that hard. 9 lb helmet and all, a head shot is enough so that a few successive blows would knockout even the most heavily armed warrior. If the weapon is weighed at the end, like an axe or hammer, then I think the blow would cause an instant concussion dispite the helmet. In the SCA, mass-weapons have rubber heads to absorb the impact. I know one squire that still got a concussion from a rubber axe.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2007 9:09:45 GMT
I posted some training videos on You Tube. Up until now I have been posting full-speed fights. I have been contacted by a number of people through You Tube who like the vids and wanted some detail about what I was doing. Up until now I assumed that the people watching the vids were only SBG and SCA people. I have been informed that a good number of interested viewers do not belong to either, know little about fighting but are interested in some basic information. I have prepared the following videos and uploaded them to You Tube. None of the information will be new to SBG people who have been following this thread. I am sort of using you guys as a test audience in this case to see what you think. ...and don't make fun of my Voice This is about using the Point of Balance of a sword. This is about Generating Power in the sword. This is about using a Heater Shield.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2007 16:50:42 GMT
Good videos. Nothing wrong with your voice at all, it always sounds weird when you hear yourself recorded.
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Post by Brian of DBK on Nov 14, 2007 4:19:49 GMT
Those were very informative and helpful, thank you tsafa.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2007 21:24:42 GMT
I put up a vid demonstrating edge alignment. If you want to achieve maximum power and speed you need to put you wrist behind each shot. If you do so, the edge will naturally line up. For this demo I used a single handed axe so the alignment is more visible. I was considering slowing down so that it is even more visible, but then it looks like I am placing the shots rather then throwing them naturally.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2007 6:26:06 GMT
Something different this time... Rapier Fighting. I had not fought rapier in a few weeks so I was a little off and not as smooth as I can be. I am the guy with the red shirt sticking out.
The first is Rapier Dagger, same forms.
The second is Rapier Case, same forms.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2007 11:57:51 GMT
, but then it looks like I am placing the shots rather then throwing them naturally. No I wouldn't say placing them tsafa, but maybe you were compensating for space. When I am outdoors, I don't know why but my movements are more fluid. You are doing a bit of a demo as well mate so you have too expect it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2008 21:29:26 GMT
I got some new rapier video. This one looks a lot smoother. I was working on something last time and was preoccupied with that rather then the fighting so much.
Here is some case vs dagger:
Here is some case vs case:
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2008 0:47:21 GMT
You make me want to get back into fencing. When am I going to find the time.
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