Class roundup.

So going through today's class in my head is leading me in some interesting thoughts.  This month we've had a couple of newbies all with different kinds of experience.  I'm still, basically, teaching rapier for longsworders because I honestly think that is what Swetnam was trying to do-  there's reasons, part of it is because of the differences in attitude between Silver and Swetnam,, Then there is the casual mention of halfswording when caught on the back foot. (oh crap... well, that could still be a surprise when it turns up in competition)

Because of the nature of my class and the limitations of equipment and.. you know, all that stuff. I don't teach someone completely new to fighting. Today's newbies were a couple, him with some sport fencing experience and her with some years of Thibault's single rapier. Well, I think it's Thibault, she understood the pose, my complaints/comparisons about how light the Spanish swords are and so-on... I should give her the light rapier, and ask more questions. I think I know how it will go, and  the worst case scenario ends with me running back to the books, cross referencing and... well, it ends up with a new valuable, knowledgeable, member with a new set of assumptions and a shitload of work for me. (Or sending her to the best instructor within walking distance from my class and demanding regular reports)

He's a sport fencer and the way he uses the sword suggests he's more comfortable with sabre than anything else. (the point keeps on sneaking upwards and ready for a cut- if he insists on doing that, we'll just have to give him a proper sabre) There's the usual "one hand tied behind the back" thing going on. And another thing- he doesn't understand afterblows. He's really good at getting them, a tip of the point, a weak false edge, an insignificant push cut. He does them at something close to sport fencing speed, so I'm going to have to watch him carefully to find out why the cuts and stabs aren't proper.


There is no such thing as the "best system", the "best weapon" or "true length" and no number of nested triangles can present a science for your internal monologue... After all who thinks "holy fuck, that's a... what sword is that? Yes, he's stabbing me in the eye with a rapier" or cares to argue about how a longsword is blunt when they've just had their arm broken by a walking stick.

Thinking out Loud again.

The looke ward the iron ward the hanging ward the cross ward, three high guards, the low guard, the broad ward.

So Broad Ward is probably something like Thibault's rapier at shoulder height, blade extended with matching position for the dagger.  It's that or something similar to prime.  TBH, it's just given a line in the rapier and dagger section so it's obviously less important than the other guards.

Cross Ward- that's covered in rapier and dagger.

Castle Guard and True Guard are basically the same thing. (slight adjustments for the sword being more of a cutting weapon),

The Low Guard- Possibly lazy guard?

Three High Guards? His "improved" Stoccata, Normal Stoccata and....? 

So that's the look ward, the iron ward, the hanging ward. and one high guard left.  Possibly.

These were mentioned in such a casual way, I have to assume that they were "common knowledge" at the time. Which means that it's probably covered in a different manual by a different author....  Bugger.

Wheelchair fencing.

With the paralympics in town, I feel that it is time to admit to something that could be considered shameful in any other context.

I like watching people in wheelchairs beating each other up.

If you want to put a politically correct spin on it, it's "empowering". Contact sports are hard enough work when everything is working correctly, so seeing that level of athleticism when your body is being... disobedient... is brilliant.

The wheelchair fencing starts on Tuesday and I'm pretty sure that we can learn a lot about fighting from this event. The basic idea is that there are two chairs bolted together and just within distance. Competitors are split into 2 categories, and if I remember correctly those categories can be simplified to "good trunk control" and "Fencing arm/trunk impaired."- Those in the higher mobility class have enough movement to enable inch-perfect voids and something akin to a sitting fleche that can bring the wheelchair up with them.

So, how can this apply to fighters with working legs? Fighting from a fixed distance forces you to use time of the hand or hand/body- which makes for a "faster" fight that is a lot harder to defend from. Relying on body movement rather than footwork would enable tighter voids while keeping you in a  good place to attack.

As people may have guessed by now, I'm not one to indulge in patronising "oooh, don't they do well" kind of rhetoric.  Wheelchair fencing is bloody impressive, looks like a hell of a lot of fun and if I can find a safe, cheap way of simulating the restrictions and conditions necessary, I will use it as a training technique.