30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 21

This morning was a repeat of last night's drills:

stance training - three minutes per stance
point control - 150 traces each side
shadow fencing - advances, retreats, side to side and angles. Alternating lead hands.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 20

Tonight was stance training, point control and shadow fencing.

Shadow fencing was done left as well as right handed leads, full speed for a full 10 minutes using advances, retreats and diagonals.

Stance training has advanced to three minutes for each stance, changing leads.

Point control has advanced to 150 pendulum traces on each side.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 19

NOTE: Shadow fencing while The Inglorious Basterds is playing in the background leads to a rather aggressive and frenetic drill. :)

That aside, shadow fencing (like shadow boxing) was done cycling through single rapier, rapier and buckler, then rapier and dagger.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 18

Tonight I worked a variation of my point control drills, where I thrust at the pendulum, "disengaged" and delivered an off line lunge.  This was done at varying speeds, both lines and using both hands.

This made up the bulk of my drills tonight, preceded by stance training.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 17

My off hand weapon tonight was my buckler. That's a small shield with a center grip for those not familiar with it.

Because mine is all steel, it has some weight to it, so stance training went back into the rotation tonight. Being able to hold guard positions with as little fatigue as possible is important.

There are varying philosophies on how to conduct a fight. Some suggest to remain aggressive and constantly be on the attack, some suggest to control the fight from defense.  Others employ a game of attrition, "mentally" fencing, waiting your opponent out, then exploiting their first move or finding the opening needed.

Personally, I feel it is depending on the situation and who you are facing.  In any event, the latter two strategies require stoic guards and being able to keep position. The former requires the stamina to keep control of your weapons during heated attacks.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 16

I decided to repeat yesterday's drills, they felt more natural today and was able to move a bit quicker. Since I decided to fight left handed tonight (See: A Sinister Night of Fencing), I favored my left hand in today's drills.

A Sinister Night of Fencing

Sinister, from the Latin "Sinistra" meaning left

Tonight at practice, I decided to fight the night left handed. This is something I want to employ regularly, perhaps splitting my practice times between left and right sides.

Overall, the experience was good! Of course, I took more losses than usual, but I got an eye opener about how body mechanics can differ when changing from right to left hands.

Also, because I had to think more about using my rapier, my grip was more relaxed and I found my opponent's blade a little easier.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 15, Half Way There!

Beginning the second had of my challenge, I decided to add in off hand weapons. Tonight, I chose my dagger.

Guards change and the posture alters a bit. The trick to using an off hand weapon is not to get it tangled with your sword and not create an open channel that your opponent can exploit.

The first 10 minutes was footwork, using various guards and changing between sword lead and dagger lead. Also, changing hands for each weapon..

This flowed into the next 10 minutes which were parry/reposte/lunge combinations with both weapons., as always, working to not fall into the "1-2"  trap.

The final ten minutes were disengages with sword and dagger, 200 times each side, rotating weapons into each hands.

For the next two weeks, I'll be changing out off hand weapons to include cloak and buckler.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 14

Tonight was all about working combinations of attack. A trap that myself, and other new fencers, fall into is a repetition of the number of strikes delivered and tempo.

So this workout was focused on breaking that: varied speeds and timing, number of attacks as well as varied placement, and coordinated footwork so the position of delivery for those attacks (and counter attacks) can change.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 13

Today was spent at the Novice Tourney.  This is an event conceived and spearheaded by Tanaka.  I did not fight in it, I was learning how to marshal and inspection.

I decided that my thirty minutes was going to be a physical review of what I've been practicing.

I fought for thirty minutes with two other fencers. I did ok, but after not having fenced all week, I was definitely not as tight. It bothers me that a week off can have such an effect.

On the plus side, disengages were smoother, as was footwork

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 12

One of the ways I celebrated my birthday today was with footwork!

All thirty minutes were dedicated to footwork: slow then quick, linear, angles and circular, moving while changing my guards and making sure my blade stayed in point.

Great cardio while mentally running through scenarios and strategies!

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 11

Such a topsy turvy week, but there's work to be done.

Today's sets centered around the teachings of Salvatore Fabris.

I was successful in increasing my stance time to 90 seconds, though I should probably remember my knee brace for now. :)

Point control is going well. My left side still requires slightly slower movement for accuracy than my right. It will get better. Tomorrow, I hope to get outside and work with some moving targets.

As always, fencing begins and ends with footwork.

No practice this week..

I had a minor medical issue taken care of Monday morning, so I had to take this week off from hitting my practices, unfortunately.

I did go to my home practice in Glen Gardner on Tuesday.  A friend came with her son. He's 16, and a good kid. He found the fencing very interesting and talked with a few of our group, plus the Youth Fencing Marshal.  Hopefully, he'll be back next week.

I'm really proud of our practice. From the stage, I got to really see how hard everyone is working and how much fun they are having; it was pretty awesome.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 10

Tonight was a repeat of last night's drills, done with more speed where applicable.

Stance training times stayed the same, will most likely go for a thirty second to one minute increase tomorrow.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 9

My first 10 minutes were spent in fighting combinations. Stepping, parry, reposte, lunge in various combinations and frequencies. 

I'm working on breaking the novice habit of creating a countable rhythm of my sword work.

The next 10 minutes were, you guessed it, point control! I was able to increase the pendulum work from 100 to 150 times, each side.

My left side is getting stronger and more coordinated.

The final 10 minutes were given to stance training. Working the same postures as yesterday (see "Day 8), I held each for 1 minute, cycling through and back to each guard.

Aside from making my stances stronger, I'm learning to breath smoothly in the different stances, especially the more compact ones.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 8

First day of week 2!

I need to work my schedule better so I can stop doing these drills at 11:30 every night..lol

This week I introduced stance training into my regiment.  When I was training in Hung Ga Gung Fu, we developed strong stances by holding them for lengths of time, and increasing that time steadily.

Starting off with one or two minutes in the beginning; it doesn't seem like a lot, but you'll be surprised. Then moving into five minutes, ten minutes and so on.

The result is that all the proper muscles, as well as the ligaments and tendons, develope.  This creates the ability to have stronger footwork and be able to hold a guarded position comfortably. It will also develope conditioning and discipline, being able to work through discomfort with focus.

Tonight was five minutes footwork and five minutes footwork with lunges.

The next ten minutes went to stance training. I have been working with the Italian School (comprised of various Masters), Fabris being one of them.

I chose the following to work with:

Guard 1- Plate 51
Guard 2- Plates 55 and 58
Guard 3- Plates 61 and 63
(Images will be added soon)

I held each guard for sixty seconds, doing each twice.

The last ten minutes was for point control.  I did the same exercises, but used guard 3- 61 and 63.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 7

My ankle was feeling better so, after 10 minutes of point control exercises (trace the pendulum, 100 times each side) I spent the next 20 minutes on footwork combined with parry/reposte and lunge combinations.

The mojority of the time was done at half speed, as to not abuse the ankle, as well as pay attention to details of technique.

On and off line patterns were practiced, as well as turns, for a highly mobile opponent or multiple attackers.

Right and left sides were practiced

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 6

My ankle was a bit stressed this morning, so I had to leave footwork out this morning.

This day was spent on point control and static thrusts and also using shallow steps.

It was interesting,  looking to do more tomorrow.

Cutting Through a Cluttered Mind

My Martial Arts have always been a tool for me to clear my mind of stress and clutter.  Tonight's 30 minutes were needed (see previous posts: 30 Minutes for 30 Days)

Tonight, my Mother In Law took my wife and I out to dinner to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  It was an enjoyable evening.

When we got home, I saw that my friends band, Ardrenaline Mob, was in a terrible accident when a tractor trailer hit their tour bus while getting attire fixed.  This was in Florida.

It was released that there was one fatality, David Z., their bass player and that six others were injured.

Not knowing if my friend and his family (if they were in that bus with him) were ok (still don't know), my mind was a whirlwind.

My drills tonight  were not a distraction. Yes, as I began them, my mind was taken from the bad news; but focusing on technique and execution brought a peacefulness and calm to my racing thoughts.

I cannot change what has happened.  I cannot get the information I want any quicker and I have no control over what the news will be.

I only have control over myself and my actions. Each thrust and movement of the blade was controlled by me. My body's motions were controlled by me.

Each motion reminding to find peace in my small circle of control.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 5

Tonight's point control work included voids.  Many a good shot have been messed up because the rapier tip left the target and/or the body was not taken off line enough.

Continuing from last night's footwork drills, offline lunges and voids were added along with parry and riposte combinations.

Also, advancing and retreating while using thrusts to move from one guard to another.  This was a practice I adopted from the Meyer's Square in the German Longsword Tradition.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 4 + Practice

Day four was all about late night footwork!  Actually, I was happy to be able to get this in under the wire.

At practice, Malcolm ran us through some very cool "zig zag " stepping while working through third and fourth guards. We drilled in both advances and retreats.

Practice then went on to some good sparring sessions and ended with a Bear Pit. Those are always fun and we all walked out of there sweaty messes.

Once home, I decided to make the final 30 minutes of the night to be all about footwork drills.  It was interesting doing them while exhausted, but the motions felt relaxed and intuitive.

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 3

Back to three ten minute drills, this time beginning with point control, slow, tight half circles around a pendulum, left and right hands.

For rapier, it's important to be able to utilize movements from the wrist instead of the arm.

Footwork was next. Five minutes slow, five minutes full speed. Today, I included pass throughs and turns; skills good to keep sharp in 360 degree combat.

Lunges were coupled with combinations, as in parry and riposte.  This moved into combining these attacks with footwork.

Performing parries and attacks while the body is in motion requires that the tip of the sword tracks the opponent.  All the angles relied upon when drilling linear, must be executed in motion.

Soon, I plan on including stance training. This is a throw back from my Gung Fu days, where fighting postures were held for increased amounts of time.

Forging ahead!

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 2 + Practice

Today (Tuesday) was an even split; 15 minutes of footwork, 15 minutes of disengages with lunges.

Like yesterday (Monday), each motion was brokent down into steps in order to keep correct posture, stance, for placement and alignment.

Disengage then moving into an attack is a staple of fencing.  My left hand will definitely need more focus.

During practice tonight, where the room was so warm, it was like breathing water, I paid attention to the details of my footwork and use of disengages.  While there was no physical epiphany, I did notice some subtle differences.

I need to keep distance and measure in mind, especially when working angles.

Tomorrow is another day!

30 Minutes for 30 Days: Day 1

Last year, a fencer I know took up this challenge: thirty minutes of sword practice for thirty days. For a half hour, every day, you must have a sword in your hand for your work outs.

I decided to take up this challenge and this was my first day.

My first 10 minutes was foot work. This, by itself, can (and should) be a 30 minute work out but, today it was the first 10.  In this, I broke the motions of advancing and retreating into parts so I could analyze my foot placements and balance.  The last two minutes were spent doing a burst of full speed motion drills.

What I learned, do not drag my feet, take care not to lean.

The second 10 minutes were spent practicing lunges. Again, breaking the motions into parts, working both right and left hands and working both on line and off line.

What I learned, let the rapier lead, keep the motions smooth.

The final 10 was point control. Tracing the edge of a pendulum using only wrist motions to train disengages.

What I learned, my left wrist needs much more work, don't be afraid to work small.

I am excited for the next 29 days!

Off Line

Wednesday saw a lot of buckler and dagger work.  One of the things I have been given to work on is the off line lunge, where you step off the center line and delivering the attack from an angled position.

It's important to both keep the sword arm extended and using the off hand to cover the lower exposed lines.  Obviously, timing matters as this works best if the opponent can't track your movements.

After remembering to disengage with smaller movements, I found success twice that night.  More work ahead.

Fireworks and Fencing

Well, this is in at the last minute.

With fireworks flashing and booming in the distance, we crossed blades and had some great visitors to test our skills against.

I started working on disengages and off line lunges.  Timing needs work as well as making the techniques cleaner.

There were good fights and got some buckler work in.

I also started putting together a home training program to work on techniques, footwork and stance training.

Busy days coming up!