Further Teaching...

The Beast's suggestion that I may be interested in getting coaching qualifications has piqued my interest. I am probably a year away from being ready to take the assessment. Primarily because I still have a lot to learn, after all, I've only been doing this for 9 months or so. There are other reasons, for example, I am still to discover what 'my' weapon/system is.

Still it looks like a good qualification to have. The BFHS (British Federation for Historical Swordplay) are trying to produce an equivalent to the UK coaching certificate and the syllabus looks pretty comprehensive. Between turning 15 and discovering what women are for, I spent a lot of time freezing my nuts off in a Topper (the boat, not the hat), or a Wayfarer. During this time I gained enough qualifications to prove I was competent, did some first aid training (focusing on drowning, shock and hypothermia rather than anything I'm likely to see when fighting) and spent time teaching Scouts the difference between close haul and long reach. A morning of this resulted in an afternoon of free sailing. I found it all rather enjoyable and rewarding. Anyway.. that was two summers of teaching.

The BFHS certification covers first aid, child protection (may be useful, after all, Scouting is one of the reasons I got here), Teaching ability (group and 1 to 1), and a range of other sensible and practical things.

I'm expecting quite a few differences between this and what I had to go through to instruct on water, and I would expect (even demand) that sailing criteria are far more rigorous than the BFHS.

As sports go, sailing is open to more serious accidents than HEMA. It may sound silly- after all how could sitting in a boat be more 'dangerous' than getting hit with swords? The simple answer is this- if something goes wrong in a boat there is only you and lethal amounts of water and the wind continues to blow. If something goes wrong with HEMA, you may get a broken bone but at the first sign of something serious- everything stops and those who can will step in and help.

As knowledge goes- to teach the basic principles you do not need to be an astounding swordsman. Theoretically you will become a good swordsman by drumming these in and developing perfect measure/true time/whatever the Italian version of BraveStaar calls it. The principles are easy to understand, perfecting them and using them under pressure is a different matter altogether. Sailing, you need to be able to deal with a lot more, mostly because there's no guarantee of conditions. You can play the odds, but even then you've still got to be able to bring people safely back during the uncommon but likely scenarios.

From what I've read so far the accreditation is good, and has a lot of use away from the salle. It is certainly something to keep in mind.

Teaching.

It's the New Year, and this means one thing- people with Resolutions.We're a small group and although I have the experience and skill to fight safely, there's not really enough room in the salle to hold two classes/one class and some freeplay. This means that we cater for the newcomer, and all of us take part in the beginner's lesson.

I bet you can already imagine my groans and sighs.. Well, you're wrong. Basics are basics for a reason. Of course, I would like to go on to some hideously complex stuff or just get back to a bit of freeplay/sparring/pressure testing but the basics are important. You can't spend too much time on judging distance, building up muscle memory and learning how not to get hit.

Besides, this is the umpteenth time I've done the introductory class and so I am confident (and knowledgable) enough to explain principles and correct the beginner. This low-level instruction helps me one hell of a lot, I can see and feel the mistakes that I make. It also slows me down
and forces me to really think about what I am doing. The more thought that goes into it now, the less thought is needed when I don't have time to think.

It's also showing me that I understand things I thought I hadn't. We're still on a rapier phase and we were doing the basic thrust parry drill. (A thrusts slowly, B parries.) Even working at slow speed I was automatically disengaging the blade, circling under and taking advantage of the opening. Slowing down to explain why I did it helped me realise that I, too, take the blade wide during my parries.

I have only just 'got' the void of the right foot, again when I paused and explained it to one of the newcomers. Under pressure, I suspect I'll still use the void of the body- it just feels safer. Still, it's good to have another technique to use.

Teaching is a very good way to lock the basics into your mind. Maybe I should get Swetnam's manual and see what happens if I start trying to explain that to people.

Drill, Drill and Drill again.

It's been a while. We've had Christmas and the usual inactivity that happens. But now it's time to get back into the habit of writing. My apologies if this is tedious, but I am forcing myself to write- otherwise I'll just take my sword in hand, wander into the sunset and not talk about how fun everything is.

What has happened in the world of HemaGoth? To be honest, not much. I've had my first freeplay using Longsword. I like it. That's about as much as I can say right now.

I'm starting to feel the need to push myself. My second intentions are poor, my identification and forcing of openings is poor. The basic body mechanics are there, but I'm more of a reactive than a pro-active fighter.

Prove yourself.

I forgot I had a pile of notes made when I had something to say... The life thing's been a bit full recently, so here's a recycled one.

Being a longhaired, pastyfaced, makeup wearing freak I have had people demand that I justify my existence. Why do I make myself look this way? Why don't I follow their fashions? Why do you listen to such depressing music? and so-on. Really hard questions to answer seriously. It isn't because of some dark hole in my heart or anything like that. Even my usual, unassailable reason (when I go clubbing, I get to be surrounded by beautiful women in corsets), isn't actually the real one.

I have no real reason beyond I like it, and this makes me a 'better' Goth. I no longer have anything to prove. I can just shrug my shoulders, stride onto the dancefloor and dance like a man covered in bees with his feet nailed to the floor.

Now, American Goths tend to take themselves FAR too seriously. They pull the vampire schtick (even psychic vampires now, obviously for the ones who aren't hardcore enough for blood). They just simply don't get the whole point of goth. For them it's all depression, shit poetry, worse makeup and the Crow. They've corrupted it to a point that they take offence at me titling a photo "I'm more goth than you are".

I could see how it may cause offence, but then again. It was a photo of me drinking absinthe out of a coffin shaped hipflask in the graveyard by the ruins of Whitby Abbey the morning after seeing the Damned (or was it All About Eve.. Or the Wayne Hussey). Anyway, you get my point.

I am noticing something similar with HEMA/HES. The Yanks seem to be trying to prove themselves all the time. Maybe it's part of a disconnection with history- the fact that as children they weren't, as a matter of course, shipped over to the nearest castle. That they will never understand why it was immensly amusing to see Marilyn Manson (not a goth, I hasten to add) shouting "Milton Keynes!" to get an audience warmed up. Maybe it's one of those cultural things that I'll never understand, like their obsession with guns (I know, a bizarre claim from someone newly developing a thing for swords, but I've always found guns a little loud and impersonal)

But that is it- it's probably from a lack of cultural understanding. I can see it being difficult to show that what you are doing is culturally valid when you can't stand somewhere and say "I am learning how to fight like people did on this spot 700 years ago" or "This is probably the methods used when our 'Lord Protector' was accusing the King of treason".

I can see the irreverence we treat this as being a touch irksome to those who can't do this. Things like the romanticism of living in a castle wear off once you see there's nowhere to put the central heating, double glazing would look stupid and the roof costs a fortune to maintain.

And don't get me started on the subject of why American comedies tend to have a laugh track...