Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Mar 24, 2019 21:20:49 GMT
So far I been moving away from heavy weight training towards agility training. Been doing running, biking and side stepping. What do you guys do to increase your agility?
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Mar 24, 2019 21:29:01 GMT
Coffee!
(Light weight training, multible & many fast moves, first without, then with 5 kg dumbbells (started with 2,5 kg years ago), then without again)
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Mar 24, 2019 21:32:31 GMT
Coffee! (Light weight training, fast moves, first without, then with 5 kg dumbbells (started with 2,5 kg years ago)) What do you usually do for feet speed? I been finding a lot of value in being able to evade attacks these days
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Mar 24, 2019 21:35:25 GMT
I'm too heavy to be fast on my feet, try to speed up my long arms. Ok, spinning and walking to the train/sub stations most days. No one attacks me.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Mar 24, 2019 21:42:25 GMT
I'll link it in a bit, after the gym, but I found these guys who practice with weapons who focus on evasion rather than blocking. A. C. T I think they were called. Was gonna see what you guys thought of it.
I wouldn't consider them the be all martial artists, but it seems like an interesting concept to supplement other forms of training
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 24, 2019 23:40:17 GMT
I go running in the mornings before work- about 3-5 miles depending on how I feel. I also do formal martial arts training 3 days a week plus at least 1/2 hour of practice every day. I find that I am not motivated to do physical fitness activities unless there is a purpose to them because I get bored doing just push-ups and such for no reason except to be doing them. If I can do something productive while getting in a workout at the same time, then that's what I do. Now that summer is approaching, I will be adding 1 to 2 hours of swim time every day when I get my pool up and running for the season.
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Post by markus313 on Mar 24, 2019 23:54:26 GMT
Nowadays bodyweight squats are the only thing I do as "agility" training. General health and mobility is important, of course. Sparring with different opponents usually makes for a good practice of agility.
…Big fan of the guys from A.C.T. Agility/speed etc. is a bit overrated regarding the use of impact weapons, imo. Much more important is mastering the four governors, and the head guys at A.C.T. are true masters, as it seems to me…
"The 4 governors are those that follow 1. The first governor is judgment which is to know when your adversary can reach you, and when not, and when you can do the like to him, and to know by the goodness or badness of his lying, what he can do, and when and how he can perform it. 2. The second governor is measure. Measure is the better to know how to make your space true to defend yourself, or to offend your enemy. 3. 4. The third and forth governors are a twofold mind when you press in on your enemy, for as you have a mind to go forward, so must you have at that instant a mind to fly backward upon any action that shall be offered or done by your adversary."
From George Silver, BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS UPON MY PARADOXES OF DEFENCE
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Mar 26, 2019 8:59:57 GMT
Nowadays bodyweight squats are the only thing I do as "agility" training. General health and mobility is important, of course. Sparring with different opponents usually makes for a good practice of agility.
…Big fan of the guys from A.C.T. Agility/speed etc. is a bit overrated regarding the use of impact weapons, imo. Much more important is mastering the four governors, and the head guys at A.C.T. are true masters, as it seems to me…
"The 4 governors are those that follow 1. The first governor is judgment which is to know when your adversary can reach you, and when not, and when you can do the like to him, and to know by the goodness or badness of his lying, what he can do, and when and how he can perform it. 2. The second governor is measure. Measure is the better to know how to make your space true to defend yourself, or to offend your enemy. 3. 4. The third and forth governors are a twofold mind when you press in on your enemy, for as you have a mind to go forward, so must you have at that instant a mind to fly backward upon any action that shall be offered or done by your adversary."
From George Silver, BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS UPON MY PARADOXES OF DEFENCE Sorry for anyone else that I didn't reply. I'm drunk But how would you practice measure? If you couldnt spar. Even the lamest method for a guy without partners. I had my old boxing and karate. I was a blocking man. Not a dodging guy.
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Post by markus313 on Mar 26, 2019 11:22:53 GMT
To your health! Avoiding and parrying are both important aspects of defense. There really is no substitute for sparring and/or drilling with a partner. Supplementary exercises can consist of striking at a very light hanging bag on a long string or working with a wooden dummy, for example (the dummy serves to practice several blade actions from the variable fight with the tip pointing towards the opponent).
Also consider exercising in front of a mirror. How would you position yourself when the opponent takes a certain guard, how would you react when he lies spend in a certain position? And dancing – I believe many older dancing styles are based on/derived from sword fighting/fencing.
Take a sword of a certain length and dance around a fixed object. How close/far have you to be to land a strike? With what portion of the blade will your strike land from a certain distance? How large of a step do you need to take to cover a certain distance? How much does your reach differ by just twisting/bending at the hips? How does each movement feel to you? ...There are guys who can tell a distance of yards by an inch in an instant.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Mar 27, 2019 1:48:24 GMT
To your health! Avoiding and parrying are both important aspects of defense. There really is no substitute for sparring and/or drilling with a partner. Supplementary exercises can consist of striking at a very light hanging bag on a long string or working with a wooden dummy, for example (the dummy serves to practice several blade actions from the variable fight with the tip pointing towards the opponent).
Also consider exercising in front of a mirror. How would you position yourself when the opponent takes a certain guard, how would you react when he lies spend in a certain position? And dancing – I believe many older dancing styles are based on/derived from sword fighting/fencing.
Take a sword of a certain length and dance around a fixed object. How close/far have you to be to land a strike? With what portion of the blade will your strike land from a certain distance? How large of a step do you need to take to cover a certain distance? How much does your reach differ by just twisting/bending at the hips? How does each movement feel to you? ...There are guys who can tell a distance of yards by an inch in an instant. This advice is golden. Thank you But in case I wanted to supplement it with agility, what would you do to train for it
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Post by markus313 on Mar 27, 2019 5:46:44 GMT
Here are some drills I can approve of. One advantage is that many of them can be done in confined spaces. I`d start with the “arm action wall run”... Of course modern fencers train for agility as well…
I`d say side stepping with a light band around the legs is a great exercise. Just mind your core engagement, otherwise you can develop problems with the knees, hips etc. Uphill / stair sprints are great as well, but need some space and can be a bit dangerous.
Conditioning the psoas will help your agility, too. The gentle approach is to be preferred.
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Zen_Hydra
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Mar 27, 2019 16:15:52 GMT
Ifrit, what exactly do you mean by "agility?" Can you narrow down exactly what you want to enhance and refine? Generally speaking, it's my experience that the best way to achieve generally good agility is through a combination of general athleticism, and a generous helping of different activities which involve movement and spatial relations. I think the ultimate achievable goal is a strong, healthy body, and a keen awareness of one's body with its relationship to its current environment. Proprioception, or kinesthesia. Fluidity, and assuredness are both rooted in the physical and psychological aspects of ourselves. We can't move with effective certainty if our heads are full of doubt, or anxiety. I know that sounds kind of guru-esque, but it has neuroscientific and behavioral psychological support. A high level competitor has no room for self-doubt in the moment, and they train to push out distracting thoughts when performance matters. If you want to train the physical and psychological aspects at the same time, take a dance class, or start a fitness class and make sure to get a place near the front (or with the most visibility). Cross training in physical activities which aren't directly related to combat training increase your comfort with your body, while also learning to move in ways you don't typically move. Doing these things in a social situation will help you to be mentally at ease, and lessen performance anxieties.
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Post by RufusScorpius on Mar 27, 2019 22:39:25 GMT
What zenhydra said. Exercise in such a way as to get a full body workout, preferably doing activities that are not directly related to sword fighting so as to ensure that every muscle is worked and not just specific groups. Agility comes partly from physical fitness and partly from, as zen said, confidently knowing where your body is when it's in motion. The only way to achieve that is through daily training.
Obstacle courses are great for agility, but few of us have access to one. I know that at my local public parks they have fitness paths with stations you can use to perform a certain exercise, then you run to the next station and so forth. It's not exactly an obstacle course, but it does force you to change up frequently and that's a good thing.
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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Mar 28, 2019 2:26:21 GMT
Your agility is made up of your explosive muscular strength, flexibility, and the anaerobic fitness that keeps you from getting winded.
Plyometrics, drills like the ones football players do, stretching, breakdancing (no joke), hill sprints, or just playing soccer will improve your agility.
Obviously the less you weigh in proportion to your strength, the better.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Mar 29, 2019 22:02:16 GMT
Thanks for the advice guys. This will help greatly with the construction of a training program I intend to make for myself. I want to be able to rely on dodging, both in sword sparring and bar fights. Everyone I know seems to be getting crazy big with weight lifting, so I wanna go in another direction than them
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on May 26, 2019 20:52:30 GMT
This thread doesn't really need to exist anymore, but I did wanna comment that everyone was right. I been working myself hard, without even specializing it to martial application and I already have a ton more agility. Can kick almost like I used to be able to before the muscle atrophy, and I don't even really practice kicking. All I'm doing is weight lifting
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
Posts: 3,284
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Post by Ifrit on Sept 6, 2019 0:14:54 GMT
I use to be into boxing and MMA a bit, I always found jump rope, ladder drills, Heavy bag sprints and double-end bag drills really help. Man, I knew I would regret not getting the skip rope lol. I was looking at one to help me with agility and cardio
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