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Training with the Student, Dummy, Trainer method

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Student, Dummy, Trainer

For better structure at fighter practice: A good thing is to have an assigned teacher for your local practice. There can also be a team of teachers who share the responsibility. Every fighter practice should be well planned ahead. Of course it is easier for the teacher to make plans if he knows who will actually show up (different story...)

After warm-ups, Trainer will introduce todays drills. Sometimes you will work with, say, defense for a couple of weeks. For several reasons I would recommend doing the same drills at least 2-3 weeks in a row. When possible fighters will pair up to work with drills. One of them will be the Student, ie the one who is practising. The other fighter will be the Dummy. The one who helps Student to work. The third person involved would be the Teacher. Even if you don’t have a Teacher around, you can still work as Student and Dummy and take turns playing these roles.

Ideally Trainer instructs and corrects both Student and Dummy. The latter will have the important job of making it easy enough for Student to make things work, but also hard enough to make it worth practising. Actually the Dummy will learn a lot about fighting. To practise and learn stuff you will need to be able to switch off the winning instinct. Trainer will often lead the fighters throught the drills and them let them go from strictly clinical training to more and more of a sparring feel. It is very important that all fighters listens to Trainer and follow his instructions. A good way to ruin the whole thing is to argue about techniques or even to leave class and start having your own fighting session next to class.

Talks about practice should be sorted out before or after practice. First step would be to suggest the S/D/T system and then decide who will be the Trainer. If you are more than one who can apply for the Trainer assignment I suggest you take turns. Let Trainer no 1 plan for a few weeks or months and have his series of excersizes, before changing to Trainer no 2

On a big practice you may easily assign Trainers for beginning, imtermediate and advanced class respectively. Train hard, fight easy!

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Training - Bodyweight Challenge

Looking for some kind of exercise for strenght and cardio? Good! To last longer as a fighter you need good physics. Endurance is great in a tournament, and if you stay in good shape you will hopfefully be able to stay around in this games for a couple of decades longer. Now to keep this short... Bodyweight Challenge is a way of exercise using more or less only your own body weight. To start with BC 100 you will make a few pushups, a few squats, lunges etc until you reach the total amount of 100 repetitions. If you can do this within 30 minutes, you have to go on to BC 200 If you do the 200 repetitions you go on to BC 350 and then 500 etc You will probably notice that this will give you a great interval cardio training as well. The reason you will have to take small pauses is not always becuase your muscles are burning, but becuase you need air! AND you don’t have to go to the gym! This only takes 30 minutes and then some stretching and a warm shower. Just search for Bodyweight Challenge in Google to find a few instructions.

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Range - Tactics

You should always be aware of what range you are in. In the fight you would want to manipulate your opponent to think he is safe outside range when he isn’t, and try not to be fooled.  For example, you may stand in guard just outside range (range 4) and make sure your opponent knows you cannot reach him. Then deliver a vertical snap towards his head while you take a step in. He would be surprised that you actually reached him from range 4, only you didn’t. You were in range 3 or 2 when the sword lands.

You could also try this, which is maybe a little more advanced: stand in guard just outside range and lean slightly backwards while holding your guard out from your body, towards your opponent. Make small movements with your sword to get his attention up there, while you take very small steps forward. You will sneak in with your feet but keep your head in the same position (be careful not to lose too much balance!). From here you deliver a vertical blow to the top of his helm, while you go from leaning backwards to leaning forward. You might even take a step forward. If you do this right your opponent will start talking about magic and teleportation! You also need to know which kinds of blows are suitable for different ranges. For instance, a rotique (below) to onside head would actually be dangerous to deliver from range 3 and maybe range 2 because there is a great chance of missing the target, thus twisting your wrist really bad. If you are in range 1 and can make your opponent think you are still there when you are actually in range 2, he could make several mistakes to your advantage. One way to manipulate here would be to put your shield up in front of your face and/or your opponents face, so that he cannot really see you (this is in range 1). While you move out, taking a step backwards, keep holding your shield in the same position. If he tries to hit you where he think you are, he will miss and you may counter.

An intermediate fighter should start seeing the fight as a battle for range. Knowing different shots and parries is great, but a good fighter will not let you throw a series of shot at him. He will try to destroy your attacks by moving out and still be able to hit you. The line of engagement is not to be considered a narrow line, but rather a triangle. One point of the triangle is the center of your body, the other points are on each side of your opponent (when you are standing in front of each other). This triangle is your piece of pie. Your foe also has a piece of pie. You both can reach each other from here. If you move to the right and turn towards your opponent, while he stays in starting position, things have changed. You will be able to reach him thus he is in your pie. You are not entirely in his pie, though. If he throws a forehand he will have to make a big follow through to hit you, and a backhand would be hard because both his and your shield will be pretty much in the way. At “the edge of measure” there should be a fight within the fight. Usually when marshals call “Lay on!” fighters are definitely out of reach. From there you will want to close in to just about where the edge of measure is. If you just walk into range chances are good that you will be killed. Your opponent may deliver a series of very fast blows, and your parrying will hardly be as fast as his blows. Why? Because you will always first realize which blow he delivers before you can react. “But I can hit him first”, you might think. Well, maybe you can. But he may also counterstrike if you just go in there, straight way in without bothering about the edge of measure. So you will need to find a good way to break the invisible edge of measure, to where you can hit him without being hit. And then move out of his line of engagement. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will have to “back out”. You could also take steps to the sides, pivot or move diagonally. You often see this: Fighter A breaks the edge of measure and delivers a forehand onside and moves to the right. Fighter B has to parry and when he tries to hit he will not be able to reach, since a forehand onside wouldn’t reach. And a backhand isn’t the best shot from range 3. Also many fighters would back out to the right while delivering a forehand onside legshot. Same reason.

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Practice Defense

To practice parrying/dodging you will need a companion. The best would be to have a Dummy and a Trainer. The Trainer would then instruct you and Dummy, telling him to use this or the other blow against you and then tell you how to block. Trainer should match your level of fighting with the level of the drills. If you don’t have a Trainer you and a friend may take turns attacking/parrying, and decide which blows to use.

If you are a novice you should parry one shot at a time and try to perfect the moves by minimizing them. Then challenge yourself by letting your companion use different shots. All practicing should start out slow, and should not be accelerated until you are in total control of all parrying. More experienced fighters may practice parrying while moving around. Look for ways to counterstrike and practice counterstriking at a very slow speed at first, and then accelerate. A really good fighter should not be possible to kill by just standing in front of him and throw all kinds of shots. You will need to try and “set him up” for a killing blow by threatening against a gap and see how he reacts. Does he leave another gap while overcompensation? Likewise, if you are being in defense you should try not to be “set up” for blows. “How did I react to that threat or feint? How shall I react next time if he has come up with an idea?” This can be practiced with a companion by fighting without hitting each other. The offensive fighter threatens different spots on the defensive fighters body. The defensive fighter acknowledges the threat by saying “right arm, onside head, left leg etc”. This also develops the ability for the offensive fighter to make credible threats. Range is also a serious matter.  This goes for both offense and defense: every once in a while you need to remind yourself on how far you can be from your opponent and still be able to hit him, or rather fitting for this section, how far you have to stay away to not being reached by your foe. If someone stands out of range and makes a simultaneous strike and move forward, he may reach you. He may reach you by just leaning forward, if he doesn’t actually take a step. Use a companion to check this now and then. If you haven’t read the section about “Range”, please do. As we go on talking about different aspects of fighting things start to blend together. Defense is a matter of both movement, range and being able to parry. The more you get to know about fighting the harder it gets to just consider one single aspect of the art. Anyway, you may actually practice parrying without a companion as soon as you get the hang of it. What you do is you remind your body of the parrying moves. You don’t even have to have a sword or shield to do this… Practice shield hooks and presses with a companion or with a Trainer and Dummy. Make a shield hook and pause there to see what opportunities you have. Same thing with shield presses. Dummy may just stand there at first, and then be instructed to try and deliver certain kinds of blows while you try these offensive shield moves. By doing this you will know what to look out for.

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Movement - Tactics

The fight is very much about footwork and movement. This has been underestimated in the SCA for all too long, I think. This may have to do with the fact that SCA fighting is very fun and direct. You can get in armour and learn a few rules and give it your best shot. In other martial arts there can be hours after hours of footwork and other form-exercises before you can actually put up a fight.

When the fight starts you will probably be out of range. If your opponent moves towards you, either choose to back out of trouble, stay in position, move in closer or step to the sides in any angle. See what happens if you move backwards and invite him to hunt you down. He might get frustrated after a few attempts, and if you are lucky he will “over-commit” and loose balance. This means he almost falls forward, trying to reach you. He may even throw a shot that misses you and he almost falls! Now you can take a diagonal step front-left and hit him with any offside shot in your vocabulary, or go front-right and deliver a wrap. Let him fall right into your thrusting tip etc. If you start backing out and he follows, you can make just a tiny little pause before continuing backwards. This should do something to him and his balance. Such a little thing can give you just enough initiative to hit him in an open spot. I often make a body feint to the left and try to make my opponent thing I will go and hit there. Meanwhile I start making a pretty big move with my feet, diagonally front-right. If I can place my right foot beside his left foot while throwing a pretty big wrap to either his leg, body or head, there is a good chance I will hit him. If someone does this to me I will probably get ready to make a move to my right (or a pivotal step to the right), but then I will need to have such good balance as to be able to change my move into a pivotal turn to the left. From there we are in starting position, only he has made a huge step to the right and is probably out of balance. He shouldn’t be able to move further right (my left) so I could even try to make an offside shot to him. Otherwise a wrap to his leg would do fine (since it might be stretched out. Try these moves with a friend. Start out slow and talk about what happens from both fighters point of view. By moving around during the fight you will get to know your opponent and see how he moves, how he reacts to your moves etc. Look for weaknesses in his behavior. Is he keeping his guard when he move this or that direction, or does he leave gaps for you to aim for? Example: I move front-right and see that my opponent places his left foot behind his right foot, ending up in a right foot lead. Also his shield bounces when he lifts his left foot, exposing his left leg. Next time I move right, and I am in range, I will try with good timing to hit his left leg when his shield bounces. If I can’t hit his left leg, because he moves it back, I might be able to follow through and hit the inside of his right leg. Good footwork doesn’t mean you have to run around all the time. A fighter with bad footwork can run around too, only he will be in bad balance and go in wrong directions. A fighter who knows good footwork can chose to be static, and take advantage of the other fighter’s moves.

In further sections of this manual there will be talks on how to manipulate range and line of engagement. To do these kinds of things you must first know how to move with balance without having to think about it all the time.

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Pivot, Diagonal, Pendulum and Passing Steps

Other than the step-and-slide tecnhique, there are other kinds of footwork. Here is a short list of the more common moves.

PIVOT

This is how to turn yourself 90 degrees to the left without really going anywhere. Keep your left foot in the same position. Push your right foot off from the ground and move it straight forward so that it passes beside the left foot. Let your body twist and your left foot to turn while on the ground (stand on the balls of your feet, always!) Put down your right foot and you should now have ended up in your starting stance. Only you have now turned your entire self 45 degrees to the left. Turning 45 degrees to the right: Keep your left foot in the same position (sic!). Push your right foot off from the ground and move it straight backwards so that it passes behind the left foot. Let your body twist and your left foot to turn while on the ground. Put down your right foot and you should now have ended up in your starting stance. Only you have now turned your entire self 45 degrees to the right.  

DIAGONAL

To move 45 degrees to the left use pretty much the same technique as above. Push with your right foot/leg and move your left foot 45 degrees left-forward. Let your right foot follow immediately. To learn how to move 45 degrees to the right, you should maybe first read about the “Passing step” below. In stance. Push your right foot off from the ground, make it pass beside your left foot and place it 30cm in front of your left foot and more to the right. This will make you have to slide your left foot 45 degrees right-forward a bit, ending up in a perfect right foot lead stance. You should let your right foot move in a circular movement, almost touching your left foot when it passes. Moving diagonally 45 degrees right-back equals pushing with your left foot, lifting your right foot and moving it right-back and putting it down there. Immediately slide your left foot in the same direction, ending up in a perfect stance. Moving diagonally 45 degrees left-back equals pushing your left foot off the ground, making it pass besides your right foot and putting it down there. Immediately slide your right foot 45 degrees left-back a bit, ending up in perfect right foot lead stance.

ALTERNATIVE DIAGONAL

Instead of making the above passing step to move forward-right, you may do like this: (Assuming a left foot lead stance for a start) Push with your left foot Lift your right (rear) foot and move it 45 degrees forward-right. Slide your left foot 45 degrees forward-right. You should now end up in a perfect balanced stance leading with your left foot. To move diagonally back-left you would just reverse the above technique: Push with your right (rear) foot Lift your left fott and move it 45 degrees back-left. Slide your right foot 45 degree back-left. You should now end up in a perfect balanced stance leading with your left foot.

For some reason this technique is often tought as a more advanced way of movement (in other martial arts i.e.), but to me it seems as easy as any other step-and-slide. And the great benefit of not having to end up in a right foot lead is well worth the practice.

PENDULUM

To make your feet move like a pendulum, instead of making a “step and slide” you will want to make a “slide and step”. This means you start (in stance) by sliding your back foot forward and make it collide with your left foot. To exaggerate this movement you could try to kick your left foot away (with your right foot), and then let your left foot move forward until you put it down in the right position (ending up in a perfect stance). Pendulum backwards would make you slide your left (front) foot backwards kicking your right foot backwards.

This way you can move further and faster. I would say a pendulum equals about 1 ½ step and slide. I don’t use this very much though, since I don’t feel that I am in total control/balance doing this. It also seems to me like I will have to put my entire body weight on my left foot to lift my right foot which makes it very hard for me to change direction, if needed. Play with it and see what you can do with it.

PASSING

To make a passing step means that you will let your hindmost foot pass beside your front foot and end up being your front foot. Very much like your everyday walking. You need to keep balance and end up in perfect position, still.

Moving forward: In stance. Push your right foot off the ground and make it pass beside your left foot. Keep going for about 30cm and put it down. Let your left foot turn from pointing 30 degrees right to end up pointing 45 degrees to the left. Make sure you end up where you want to.

Moving backward: In stance. Push your left foot off the ground and make it pass beside your right foot. Keep going for about 30cm and put it down. Let your right foot turn and end up pointing 25-30 degrees to the left. Your left foot should point 45 degrees outwards. *VID ALL KINDS OF STEPS, IN ORDER*

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Step and Slide

The first basic step has many names. Again, this is because it is beloved. Take your stance (Feet together, point right toes 90 degrees right, move heel 90 degrees back, point toes 45 degrees out, unlock your knees, stand on the balls of your feet). Wherever you want to go you will now use one leg to push off the ground and take a step with the other foot.

Forward/backward

Starting in stance (above), push your right foot into the ground and extend your leg slightly. Lift your left foot and use the force generated from your right leg to move your left foot about 30cm straight forward. 30cm is just an example (one foot forward i.e.) immediately move your right foot forward (30cm) and put it down. You are now back into starting position. Raising the your right heel when you push off really helps. You will take a step with your left foot, and your right will more or less slide into position. Make sure your knee is always “pointing” in the same direction as your foot (to prevent knee injuries in the future). Practice this slowly and aim for an even flow of power, exact positioning of your feet after the move, make your body float over the center of your body. You want to have an equal amount of weight distribution on right and left foot after the move (or 75-25% or whatever you like). To move backwards, just do this the other way around. Push your left foot into the ground, and extend the leg slightly. Lift your right foot and put it down 30cm back. Immediately move your left foot 30cm back and put it down. Practice with the above named intentions. If you lead with your right foot instead, everything would be opposite. Depending on how experienced you are you could either wait until you do this right with left foot lead, or go ahead and practice alternating between left and right foot lead.

Side to side

Moving left and right works like this. Left: Start in stance. Push your right foot into the ground and extend slightly. Lift your left foot move it 90 degrees to the left and put it down 30cm to the left (from starting position i.e.). Immediately move your right foot 30cm 90 degrees to the left and put it down.

Right: Start in stance. Push your left foot into the ground and extend slightly. Lift your right foot and move it 90 degrees to the right and put it down 30cm to the right (from starting position i.e.). Immediately move your left foot 30cm 90 degrees to the right and put it down. Do this slowly over and over. Correct your stance, if needed, so that you are in perfect balance after every move. Practice with the same intentions as mentioned above.

Again, we are assuming a left foot lead stance here.  Practice a right foot lead whenever you feel ready for it.

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Parrying Tactics

There are ways of taking advantage from the fact that you have to parry. For instance, if someone strikes at the right side of your helmet (using a backhand shot), you may choose to parry with your shield by moving it to the right and turning your body to the left. When you do this you can use the power generated from your body movement (the hip etc) to throw a backhand shot at your opponent. Your shield will be in the way for his sword, so it will be hard for him to block with his sword. And his own arm is in the way for his shield if he tries to parry with it. Another example is when you use a high guard parry with your sword, to stop an incoming forehand. If your opponent is using a high guard there is a chance he will leave a gap over his left eye (your right side). When his sword hits your sword you can make a half-moulinet forehand, which can be a very fast shot, hitting him right in that gap. This assumes you have found out that he leaves this kind of gap before. If you feel safe enough to take a few shots in a fight (you should really know you will parry and not get killed!), you may learn a lot about your opponent by paying attention to what he does. Does he leave gaps? Is he in bad balance? And then make use of this information. Doing this while sparring against different fighters you will also get a lot of information about common fighting behavior. After a series of attacks, par example, many fighters will misjudge range on their way out.

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Practice Striking

Practice all the above types of shots in all thinkable combinations. Make up systems like the Jade 1-6 drill including all types of shots to all possible target areas. I would try to focus on possible scenarios in a fight where different openings in the opponents guard will eventually occur, either from the shots you deliver, the moves you make, the moves he makes or the shots he delivers.

For instance a forehand onside helm (range 3 or 2) while taking a diagonal passing step right-forward (ending up in right foot lead) followed by an offside backhand with the left hip (range 2 or 1) and then a rotique onside helm (range 1) could be executed very, very fast against a fighter in High guard. If you are fast enough he will not be able to parry fast enough with his sword.

When your shots are executed correctly you should of course combine them with footwork and parrying. If you have a companion or Dummy you can practice slow-work together. Dummy parries and moves in different directions while Student fires off his whole vocabulary of shots (slowly) towards him. Take turns and let both fighters work on both offense and defense while moving around. Stop when you find something interesting. A certain kind of movement may create new possibilities or turn out really bad. Remember these things for further reference.

With correct footwork you should always be able to throw any kind of shot. That’s why you should not move by leaning over, but to move your feet while your body stays in prefect balance.

You should never get tired of practicing strikes. Slow-work against a pell could be like contemplation, or like tai-chi, if you like. Be present, feel the power build up through your body. Make everything smooth and perfect over and over. I keep saying this, I know: You will want to have your striking techniques made automatic and printed deep in your muscular memory, but the fight is not all about striking. If you are good at all the other aspects of fighting and only know how to make two or three shots, you will still have a great chance of winning!

Next level of practicing strikes would be to go through all kinds of blows put together with all kinds of moves mentioned above. Remember: 1) Step-and-slide, punch 2) Step, punch, and-slide 3) Punch-step-and-slide (almost at the same time) Check your balance, placement of feet, great power generation and build up speed starting out extremely slow.

You think this sounds like a lot of practice? Well, think of how much a medieval knight would practice. Practice is period!

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Thrusts

If you have a thrusting tip you can thrust. My experience is that thrust are hard to deliver with enough force, and I wouldn’t risk damaging my wrists trying to thrust so hard. On the other hand, according to the rules of SCA fighting the helm is considered to be of an open-face kind (with nasal actually), so you may not have to thrust so hard to the face. In my way of fighting I only do face-thrusts.

A thrust could be done either with the sword tip hitting from below or from above. It would be very hard to thrust in an exact horizontal direction, I think. If you try that you should make sure you are not hurting your wrist, which will probably take a lot of the impact. Thrusts are good for feints. Many fighters who aren’t very experienced can over-react when you threaten to thrust them in the face. See what they do  and notice if there are any gaps showing when the try to parry the thrust. Threaten again and strike where you saw the opening. For some reason fighters tend to focus very hard on their thrust. Try not to loose your guard or make other mistakes when you thrust.

Practice

Practice going from your normal guards to a face thrust without being to obvious. Start really slow and try to perfect the movement as you also try to actually hit where you aim. Be careful not to first place the tip on target and then push. Make it hit with some impact. Practice mixing in your thrusts in combination with other shots. Always start out slow minding balance, footwork, power generation and the ability to develop good speed.

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Punches

A punch is exactly what it sounds like. Except you will actually intentionally miss your boxing punch.

Punches should hit with the blade close to the hilt. Your opponent will most likely feel a big impact and his helm may move around a bit, but the shot isn’t necessarily very hard. If you would hit with a punch to his leg or body he may actually call it “light”. Punches may feel a little “pushy”.

A punch is a range 1 shot, I’d say. If you are in range 1 and drop your sword in front of your opponent’s shield (say, after returning from a backhand), he may think you are not going to (or cannot) shoot from there. And it doesn’t look like you’re going to wrap. A punch from here going diagonally up just above his shield should do it, especially if he has lowered his shield to see what you’re doing. You may of course start further away and walk the punch in.

Practice

A punch is actually a rather easy blow to execute. Practice slowly and make your body lean into the shot to transmit more power. Try to hit near your swords hilt and on the middle of the blade and mind the difference.  Follow through is the key here. Aim for a spot behind your target. Notice how close you need to be. Make combinations where you blend in the punch among other kinds of blows. In combinations of three shots you should sometimes have the punch as the first shot, sometimes as the second and sometimes as third shot. Mind your footwork and exercise walking in for the punch and then out for a long range shot.

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Rotiques

The rotique may only be fired off in range 1 and even if you would be able to hit in range 2 your opponent may dogde or move out. And if you miss this shot you will most likely hurt your wrist, and it can be really bad. Other than that you will end up without almost any defence after having missed.

FOREHAND ROTIQUE

In range 1 start off as with a forehand snap. The easiest way would be to go from the High guard position where your fist is held to the right and slightly above your head. Generate power through foot, leg, right hip, abs, shoulder and then make your elbow go from pointing to the right to pointing downwards. Allow it to pass the center of your body further left. Your palm should go from facing your opponent to facing your own forehead. The tip of your thumb should point upwards as you hit with the back edge of your sword coming in diagonally Thus your sword will rotate around your fist and gain momentum, while your fist does not move much forward.

The great thing about the rotique is that it comes in from a different angle than a forehand snap, which makes it pass just behind the corner of your opponents shield. If you are lucky he will parry as for an incoming snap, which will leave a gap between the corner of the shield and his top-right side helmet. That’s what you aim for.

VERTICAL ROTIQUE

If you take a step forward (moving your right foot) simultaneously, your body will turn enough to let you hit your opponent vertically right on top of his helm instead.  

OFFSIDE ROTIQUE (OFFSIDE WRAP)

For some reason I have not been very successful in teaching this shot. In Normark some people call it the “Wlfric wrap”, but I would rather categorize it as a rotique. One way of learning it would be to go from forehand rotique to vertical rotique and then go on and hit offside helmet. You will then start moving your fist more and more, letting your arm extend. Going from top-left helmet to left side helmet and then when you go lower your palm will start facing up at impact. For some reason your arm may extend further the lower you hit, and you can actually make a offside legshot from range 2 and even range 3. I would suggest fighters to wait with this shot until intermediate or maybe expert level. You can also use your left hip to generate power, especially if you have coiled up by pushing your right hip forward to start with. You will change from right hip to left hip somewhere at the moment your hand turns palm up. This would need a lot of slow work to get down.

Practice

Start out really slow and make sure you are in range 1 when you do it. Once get the moves down you should have a companion (or Trainer and Dummy if possible) to try on. Start with a forehand snap and have him parry. Then let him parry exactly the same way while you execut the rotique. This way you will find out how it works.

Practice alternating between snaps and rotiques and then create combinations. A useful pattern would be a forehand snap onside head, backhand offside head and then forehand rotique (stepping in), as described about. Practice slowly and you will become very fast. High level fighters may practice forehand snap onside head, backhand offside head and then combine a diagonal backward-right step with an offside rotique to lower body or leg while moving out and back into guard.

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Wraps

To break it down into details: A wrap (as in “wrap around”) starts out exactly like a snap. Foot, leg, hip, abs, shoulder as above, and then make a little wider move with your fist. Instead of going straight forward it should move in a slight circular movement (only it will move just about a quarter of a circle). Make sure your palm is facing upwards when you start off, and you should hit the target after the hand has been turned upside down. The wrist should be turned by itself, or rather by the momentum of the sword. You do not need to use your wrist. When the sword lands it hits with the back side edge, and it comes in from a different angle than a regular snap. Notice you can actually hit around stuff that would normally be in the way. Your elbow will move in to the left and then out to the right again during this shot. The crucial part of this shot is when things happen in your wrist. This is when you need to maintain momentum and make the sword move more or less by itself. Try and start off like if you were playing tennis, which would equal moving towards target with the flat side of the sword (not the edge) and see if it helps you get it right. When you come to the point where the sword “turns” or “rolls” in your hand you should make sure you aim for the target with the edge.

A LEGSHOT is executed the same way but with more crouching involved, plus you use your arm to aim at the leg (you more or less just drop your arm). SCORPION

If you start with a wrap to the leg and then a wrap to the body and then to the head you could just go on and hit even higher. What will happen is that your sword will end up pointing more and more downwards to hit the high back of your opponents head. This is called a Scorpion, referring to the sting of a scorpion’s tail. If you make a wrap shot straight up in the air above a fighters helm your blade will more or less create a scorpion by itself. OFFSIDE SCORPION

If you keep going on beyond the point where the blade hits vertically you will start hitting more and more to the left side of his helmet. To gain enough power you need to come in to range 1 and from there you would want to use your left hip for power generation. Otherwise the sword will more or less stop in the upside down position without much follow through into the target. See the left hip backhand technique above for details. With this shot you can hit behind your opponents sword, when he think he is blocking a backhand. If he tries to parry a scorpion by lifting his shield  and putting his sword in the way back there, you may still be able to hit the side of his helmet. In the fight this could be combined with good footwork. I have had great success taking a diagonal step right-forward and then a diagonal step left-forward, while setting up for this blow. The opponent seems to think I am doing a forehand and when he raises his shield my fist goes on above it and that’s exactly when I start pushing with my left foot and lean to the left. Then hip, abs and a hit with the back edge of my sword to the offhand side of his helm. I may then move out by moving my right foot back to starting position (pivoting around my left foot). A wrap may start off as a low shot (towards the leg) and then, when the twisting motion occurs you can raise your arm in a circular movement and hit higher. Anywhere from side, back, shoulder, neck or head depending on the situation. These kinds of shots are referred to as “rising” shots.

Practice

Do a lot of slow-work on this to make sure you do not hurt yourself. The move should be very smooth.

With a companion, let him hold his sword vertically with its tip pointing up as to parry a forehand snap with it. Execute a snap really slow to make sure he will parry it. Then make a wrap and see if you can hit him. Make sure he parries in the exact same way. Play around with this to find different angles. Go on and let him parry a forehand with his shield, and then make the same move while you shoot a wrap. See what happens. Also go for a legshot. From certain positions you will go around the back edge of his shield and hit him behind it. Especially if you take a step to the side or diagonally forward-right you will see the openings. So you need to be able to deliver wraps to all places from above the knee of your opponent to high on his onside helm, and to the back of his helm using the scorpion, plus the offside of the helm using the offside scorpion. Now you can do drill like the Jade 1-6 above, only targets may only be 1,2,3 and 6 (1-1,1-2,1-3,1-6 etc etc) Only when you can do this really slow with maintained power, momentum and even flow you can go on and try a little faster.

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Moulinets

To execute a moulinet (or actually a half-moulinet) start in high guard (above). Build up power as usual and when it comes to your arm and hand do like this: Move your elbow down and inwards towards your chest. This will make your hand rotate and end with your palm facing up. Your hand will not move much from starting position, but the tip of your blade will move all the way from the top of your shield to the side of your opponents helmet, very fast. If you start from the A-frame guard you will have to make a full moulinet. This is done by more or less going from A-frame to High Guard and then make the half moulinet, only this is done as a single motion. The tip of the sword will move from pointing upwards to almost pointing downwards and then make a half-circle movement to hit the target. While going from A-frame to High Guard you may choose to push your left hip forward. This will make your right hip movement stronger. The most natural movement would make the sword hit with a 45 degree angle, but you can come in more from the side or hit vertically by adjusting with your hand. I really find it hard to put this down in words, so I hope the video will help.

Practice

As with snaps you should do a lot of slow-work, and make sure you deliver the blow with smoothness. Mind your power generation. If anything is strained or hurts you should stop immediately.

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Snaps

The snap is the most basic kind of shot in the SCA. The above mentioned technique will make you do a snap. If you have a stance where your right fist is held like in a boxer’s guard, build up the power from your right foot, right leg, right hip, abdomen and right shoulder you finish off with a boxers punch straight forward.

The following examples assume that you start off in a-frame guard, or at least hold your sword at shoulder level with its tip pointing upwards and slightly back-tilted.

VERTICAL

If you keep your thumb up you will hit your opponent’s helm from a vertical angle. You do not have to do anything with your wrist (or even arm). Your sword will gain momentum as its tip will fly in a circular motion. While your fist moves 50 or 60 cm the tip of the blade will move much further at the same amount of time. FOREHAND

If you do the exact same thing and finish off with your palm facing up you will hit your opponent’s helm onside (the right side of his helm, from your point of view). The classic analogy is “serving a bowl of soup”, here. Imagine that you hold a bowl of soup in your right hand, and move it forward horizontally. You will need to rid yourself of the idea of “swinging” your sword. You do not have to make any circular movement with your hand. The tip of the blade will do that anyway, and gain momentum all the way.

LEGSHOT (ONSIDE)

With the exact same technique you can hit your opponents leg. The only adjustments would be: Bend your knees more and let your fist move forward-down in, say, 45 degrees angle. You palm will end up facing upwards and the tip of the blade will snap into the target as ususal. Now you have the possibility to hit your opponents knee, hip, torso, shoulder and helm (if not his shield is in your way).

BACKHAND

If you do the exact same thing and finish off with your palm facing down you will hit your opponents helm offside (the left side of his helm from your point of view). It can be challenging to really do the exact same thing here, since you probably will think you have to do something different to hit with a backhand. You should allow yourself to lean a little to the left, though, and actually have your fist move a little bit to the left. Moving your fist straight forward will end up as a “punch” (see below). To make sure you do a snap you could move your fist further left. Even if you move your fist passed your own face the sword tip will still snap into target. Relax your wrist and let it happen (make sure you hit something, though!) BODYSHOT (OFFSIDE)

By leaning or moving left you will be able to hit offside body, arm or armpit (depending on how your opponent is positioned). As opposed to the regular backhand, where the blade comes in horizontally (as in 9 o’clock), you will want to make the blade hit diagonally. Your fist can still end up pretty high, letting the blade come in like 7 or 8 o’clock. Your wrist just gently guides the sword by hanging loose. LEGSHOT (OFFSIDE)

With the exact same technique you can hit your opponents leg, offside. The only adjustments would be: Bend your knees more and let move more to the side by either leaning deep or taking a step. If you chose to lean you should maintain good balance and not feel like you are falling forward.

I usually take a small step with my left foot using the same energy from the right foot as I use for the shot. Directly after the hit I will correct my stance by sliding my right foot into position – i.e. a diagonal step-and-slide being done simultaneously as the shot.

It would be a good thing to let your fist pass further to the left to make the snap more exaggerated. Legshots can end up more like a cut, and your foe will considerate it “glansing” Your hand will not have to “finish off” the shot. The sword will do that for you. I would recommend you not to actually use your wrist for a final push or anything. As long as you actually hit something the sword will “snap” into place. So these are the vertical, forehand and backhand snaps.

CLOSE-RANGE BACKHAND

At range 1 and 2 you will be able to execute a backhand using your left hip instead of your right hip. You will not reach if you do this in range 3. From a High guard you will have to start by moving your sword tip back as to gain power. The sword will not gain enough momentum otherwise. From there or from an A-frame kind of guard do like this: Push a little with your right foot to make your body weight move to your left foot. When your right hip moves a little forward your left hip moves back. Simultaneously move your fist across your face. Push with your left foot and extend your left leg Push your left hip forward, tighten your abs Extend your arm and make the sword land horizontally at the left side of opponents helm. I don’t think I actually use my shoulder in this shot, maybe I should. Easiest way to get this is to first deliver and onside forehand. If you freeze at the moment of impact you should have your right hip pushed forward and, thus, your left hip pulled back. Now your left hip is coiled up, so to speak, and it should be very easy to push it forward and generate power for your backhand shot.

These backhands can hit anywhere on your opponents offside.

Practice

Using either a pell or a companion to aim at start executing these blows one at the time in an extremely slow pace. We are talking ultra slow. The time it should take from pushing with your right foot until the impact of the sword is about 5 seconds! Maybe even more. Your goal is to make the flow of power-generation perfect. You should be able to feel the power build up as a chain-reaction. Foot, leg, hip, abds, shoulder, fist, blade, impact. Even with slow-work you should be able to feel the sword follow through. Your shot does not stop at your target, but should have momentum to move through it. Practice each end every blow going through every inch of an opponent’s target area and make the moves perfect. In a fight your shots will almost never be perfect. A skilled opponent will move around and try to parry, so slow-work at the pell or with a friend is your chance for programming your muscular memory to execute perfect shots at all time. A classic exercise is Duke Jade’s 1-6 drill: Your opponents body is divided into 6 target areas. 1-onside leg, 2-onside body, 3-onside head, 4-offside leg, 5-offside body, 6-offside helm. In this drill you will hit your target with a series of blows to these areas following this system: 1-1,1-2,1-3,1-4,1-5,1-6 Then move on to 2-1,2-2,2-3,2-4,2-5,2-6 and then 3-1,3,-2 etc 4-1 etc, 5-1 etc, 6-1 etc

I haven’t actually ever done this drill, but if I did I would probably add a vertical head shot to the list. The good thing about this drill is that you will be able to go from any shot to any other shot. In a fight you will maybe find an opening at the onside helm when you have executed an onside leg shot. With your body programmed by the drill, it will hit target more or less my reflex. This should be done with focus on programming your muscular memory to go the fastest way and still generate good power. Smaller movements will make the shots faster, bigger movements will make the shots harder. Pay attention to your body. If there is any strain or even pain you should stop immediately and find out what you did wrong! SCA fighting is very fun, and you will want to be able to stay around for decades. Even a slight error can become bad injuries through in a few years, and once your damaged your body will suffer for a very long time if it will ever recover. Now make plans for your fights. If your foe is in High guard he will block a vertical blow with his sword, right? If you hit him vertically his raised sword hand will offer an opening for a backhand to his helm, armpit or sword-arm. So you could practice going from vertical blow to backhand for instance. Use your imagination and come up with combinations of 2,3 or 4 shots. You might not end up using these combos all the time, but your body will know how to go from shot A to B, so to speak. Also practice good aiming. When you get a hang of the basic techniques you could mark your pell or aim for armour-parts on your companion. Start as slow as to be sure to hit where you aim and then go faster as you make progress. You should be able to hit a rivet!

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Offensive Shieldwork