Fighter Practice 11-7

Cold night. Drills with Cillian, Sirona, Tom, William, Catalin, and Rowena, Then fighting with Tom and Cillian. The drills were good. We've all been getting sloppy. With Castle Wars coming up, we want to make a good showing for the last tournaments of the season. And I am seiously eyeing that practical basket hilt cut&thrust sword.

Tuesday Night Practice Oct 30

I have been neglecting my blogging duties and have missed recording at least 2 practices I can no longer fully recall. Last night I sparred with Charles, Cillian, Sirona, and Tom. A good hard intense session that ended by 9. Went through all my styles. Had some ood moves, a lot of bad moves. Mostly just had fun playing with the swords. Cillian showed the new toys. Hanwei practical cut and thrust cruciform swords. Says there is a basket hilt style available. More sword envy. Dang but I want one.

Fencing at Pillage on the Plains

A Good weekend for fencing. Perfect weather, warm, but not hot, with steady breezes to cool things down a bit.

Randalin in Kyrra was fighting her prize for her Companionate in the Argent Rapier. She fought all comers single blade, sword and dagger, and sword and cloak. She defeated me sword and dagger, but I was successful with sword and cloak and single blade. We double killed on sword and cloak and I had o do push ups. Then we re fought the point.

In the Round Robin tournament, I lost to Cillian, Sirona, and Tom, but defeated Stefan de Gascon, Garrick, and Enrique. I fought all styles I'm authorized with.

I later fought pick up fights with Enrique, Stefan, and Randalin for a full afternoon of swordplay.

Practice Tuesday 10-2

Not a very intense session. Cillian and Sirona were there, but they were working on her prize fight and I never got to fight either of them. Charles and Tom and I bear-pitted for a while, and I fought Tom with case. Then Cillian had us both try capes. The style is very exhausting, and I have a tendency to foul my own blade with the damn thing.

Tuesday Night Practice.

Most everyone was still fragged from Red Tower. Tom and I were the only ones to suit up and play. I probably wouldn't have wanted to play much if Tom hadn't come dressed for it. I was still mentally tired from Red Tower, even if I didn't fight much. We fought sword and dagger, and case. Tom has surpassed me. Well, no surprise there. But I can still get some good moves on him when I can open him up with my off hand weapon.

Rapier at Red Tower

My fighting at Red Tower was somewhat limited. First, I spent the first part of the morning heralding the heavy tournament, and thus missed the Cut-and-thrust demo and class. Then, the day got very warm and very humid. I fought some in a pick up bout with Sigurd, before the actual tournament, and probably should have sought out some other opponents as well, but it was too darn hot. I didn't do all that well in the tournament, either, drawing Tom for an opponent. I would rather have had someone I don't fight every week, but them's the breaks. Tom and I are fairly evenly matched, but he has the edge in physical strength, and he got the win here.

The melee tourney did not go much better. Red Sword was hampered by William armoring down early due to the heat, and we did not have much coordination to our fight. I managed to take Thomas O'Toole's hand in our second bout, but did not otherwise distinguish myself. As a fencer, I remain a pretty good Bard.

Tuesday, Sptember 18

Great Fighting Tonight

Attending were Charles, Cillian, Sirona, William, Tom, and myself. I fought everyone at least once. Charles observed that I forget to move my dagger when fighting with it in my off hand. I need to work on that. I worked on my buckler technique a little. Sean and Oswin came over from the heavies and talked to us about melee tactics. The weather was pleasantly cool in the evening. Good fighting weather. Tom and I double killed twice and did the requisite pushups. All in all an excellent warm up before Red tower.

Tuesday Practice 9-11

Practice was shortened last night by both the business meating, and then by threatening weather, but I did get in some good bouts with Sirona, and with Tom. Charles and William were also present, but not fighting. Cillian fought Sirona, but no one else. Tom got an exceptionally good move on me with his dagger after I had taken his sword arm. He got inside my blade for the kill and all I could do was watch in amazement. We had a short drill on melee tactics, Tom, William, and I before the weather turned, learning to stay in formation, to wheel together, to advance together. I enjoy the rough and tumble of melee more than a regular tourney. It will be interesting to see how we do as teams.

Tuesday September 4 Practice

Cooler, but still humid. Attending were Charles, Cillian, William, Tom, Sirona, and myself. Fought only with Charles, Tom, and Cillian. I have too great a tendency to get into patterns and do the same thing over and over. My fight is too predictable. I did have one particularly interesting fight with Cillian, my sword and dagger against his sword and cloak. I also experimented with Cillian's heavier pommel on my hanwei, and I want to get a pair of those pommels for my blades. They would offset the length of my long 43's and make them more controllable at the point.

Tuesday practice 8-28

Temperatures were down but the humidity was way up. Good attendance with Cillian, Sirona, Mikolaj, Charles, William, Tom and myself. Everyone was suited up for fighting, which hasn't happened all summer. Aside from managing to get my feet crossed and throwing myself arse over teakettle, I had a good night. Mikolaj killed me many times, but I got a good strike on him with sword and dagger. Had some good fights with Charles, some great fights with Tom. Fought everyone present, at least once. Later Tom asked Cillian about soft parry and we had a short lesson on fighting with cape. We all appear to agree that cape is our least favorite style.

Tuesday Practice 8-21

After weeks of inactivity due to heat, we finally got to fight again.

Cillian wasn't fighting because he irritated his knee again.
Sirona was busy looking pretty in Persian,
William fought some, but left before I could get a piece of him.
But Charles was back in action. I fought him single blade, sword and dagger, and case, and authorized in case. Cillian included my buckler authorization since he's seen me fight with buckler enough to be sure of me.
Tom was there as well, and we also fought in the three above styles.
I need to watch myself, from becoming too much a creature of habit. He said once he killed me because I did the same thing three times in a row. It felt great to be back in action, and my new fillip shirt probably saved my life tonight, fighting in the heat. I did make a point to drink plenty of water, and to keep my hood wetted down so my brain wouldn't bake
I'm feeling the inactivity today in my shoulders and sides. Of course, I've also been resetting the department at work so that also undoubtably is contributing to my soreness. Nevertheless, I'm raiding the aspirin bottle when I get to work.

Tuesday Practice 7/31

Practice started with Sirona presenting me a fillip shirt for fighting, that I can wear without the doublet. Black with red stitching for trim, and much more freedom of movement than my ebay special doublet. Although since I sweated off the pounds fencing, the doublet fits better than it used to. It would be nice to see if the doublet could maybe be rebuilt without the velcro to make it more period, because I've always liked that color But I also want to try the new fillip with my tartan, see how that looks.

Fighting went well tonight even though attendance was small. Cillian didn't suit up, but I fought William, Tom and Sirona, and we all did some German longsword drills. Fights were mostly single longsword, with a little bit of work on case. With half the shire off at Pennsic, a very relaxed evening.

Saturday Practice 7/28

Evening at Sirona's House

Hot and muggy, threatening rain.
Cillian attending, but not fighting, Sirona, Ben, Tom and Paul, and myself


Bearpitting in the back yard. Got some good strikes on Ben, and even one or two on Paul. That doesn't happen often. Fighting single blade and blade and dagger. Lightning called it off early, and we retired to the patio for bench fencing. Mikolaj and Val thn showed up with a bottle of mead o complete the evening.

Fighter Practice Tuesday 7/24

Sparcely attended but the fighting was good. Cillian and Sirona, Tom and William, and myself.
Also Rob and Tracy.

Did some buckler work for the first time in a good while.
I prefer dagger or case. Definietley want to get my authorization in case before Red tower.

Cillian brought up joining a national fencing society to receive their materials. Tattersall, I believe the name is. 35 a year sounds worth it.

RUM

Attended Royal University of Meridies.

Took Jean-Michel's class on Meyer's German rapier. Very similar to the longsword techniques he tought at his boot camp.

Some sparring with Sirona and Cillian or the Baroness'es pleasure,

Also sat in on Cillian's class on stringere, tempo and measure.

Tuesday Practice July 19

Abbreviated due to inclement weather.

Some class time still covering stringere and guardinari, measure and tempo. Taking the mechanical advantage, how to take it away, and how to get it back. No fight time once the rain started.

Tuesday Practice July 10

Rain cut down on attendance. We drilled under the pavillion on constraining the blade, and had a discussion of the differences in measure, tempo, and counter-tempo.

Attending class were Cillian, teaching, Sirona, William, Myself, and Rob.
Later, Tom arrived for some fight time.

Fought with Tom, both single blade and Case, and we both received individual coaching from Cillian. I now know what it is that Tom usually does to me to get past my guard, and what I need to work on to counter it. Tom is using his old foil training against me. I have to break his pattern and constrain him first. If I fight him a few dozen more times, I may get the hang of it.

Fighting case remains the most fun I have out there. Cillian coached Tom on how to defend with the blades and make your opponent forget you have one of them. Also covered staying out of the same plane, keeping the blades moving, not getting into a pattern. I so want my case authorization before Red Tower.

South Downs Practice Sunday 7/8/07

Very humid once in armor.

Attending were
Cillian and Sirona, Tormad, Yves, and myself.

Heat and humidity caused me to fatigue very quickly, which showed in my lack of defence. Fought all present at least once, mostly single blade. Went sword and dagger later. Worked on trying to gain constraint of the blade. Not as successful as in drill.

I'm disappointed that I still leave myself so open to easy attacks. I know that I'm fighting more experienced fencers. Still, I expect better of myself by this point.

Tuesday Fighter Practice July 3

Weather was warm, but a nice breeze kept it from being too hot.

Fighters attending were Cillian, sirona, William and Myself.

Other students attending were Rob and Z.

Cillian covered the guards, Prima, Secunda, terza and quatre, including the offensive and defensive variations.

Fight time: sparring with William. I was not satisfied with my performance, especially single rapier. I'm not applying what I have been learning. Did have one successful bout fighting sword and dagger against his sword and rigid parry. got his blade blocked out and got inside with my dagger for the kill.

Sirona fought William and I together, and reminded me my greatest weakness is defence. I let her get to me way too fast.

Then fought Sirona case and caught her with both her blades down and in the same plane. blocked her and got the kill. But i still have much work to do on defence.

I did not get to fight Cillian. He spent most of his fight time sparring with Rob since he's the only one Rob can fight with. Hopefully we'll have a Saturday practice soon.

It's good to see Z sticking with us. He's past the hump where we might have lost him to waning interest. He still has a lot of puppy enthusiasm, but I believe he is going to stick around to authorize.

Tuesday Practice June 26

Weather very hot and muggy

Attending fighters, Cillian, Sirona, Tom , Paul, Myself

Additional students, Rob, Tracey, Z.

Cillian had us work on the punch and avoidance drill we learned down at Jean Michel's. I worked with Sirona, Tom, Rob, and Z.

Fought with Paul. He is still incrdibly fast, very strong. Not very many touches on him. Fought both rapier, and rapier and dagger. His left-handedness is also a factor.

Fought Tom, both styles. He still does more with his upper body strength to muscle through my defence. Hard to get stringere on him.

Fought Cillian. He is much looser than at J-M's and I didn't have as much success this time.

We then worked on some 2 on 2 scenarios, Cillian and I vs Tom and Paul, then switched Paul and I against Cillian and Tom. I fought case and was not satisfied with my defensive work. I scored some touches in the melee, but went out much too quickly. Trying to work mor on my cross-diagonal attacks, but still have to watch the man in front of me.

Fencing Bootcamp June 22-23

Extremely hot, extremely humid.

Attending were Cillian, Sirona, Wendy, Jen-Michel, (teaching).

J-M started the day with conditioning exersizes. We walked, walked sideways, backwards, and skipped to get the heart-rate up and th blood pumping. Then he conducted some falling exersizes, having us flop backwards using our arms to absorb the impact. We did this from a sitting position, then a squatting position, then a little higher up, but never got to falling from a stand. More conditioning exersizes involving forms of leapfrog ate up most of the early morning.

After break, J-M did some drills with german longsword, using wooden wasters. He demonstrated some basic cuts and defensive moves and a few counters. Again, I don't think he covered as much as he intended to do.

After lunch we got in some fight time. I don't think I've fought J-M since I authorized ith him at Castle Wars last fall. We fought sword and dagger, and I got some good touches on him. He advised me to not become less agressive if I lose the dagger mid-fight. Apparently my style becomes more apprehensive if I'm down a weapon. But having fought Mikolaj, and seen what he can do with a dagger close in, I think my caution is appropriate. I think, my caution was due more to not having fought J-M enough to know his style and hat I can and can't do against him. I'm sure he wasn't bringing his A-game against me, but I think I did well against him.

It was too hot to armor up completely, but on looking back, I should have gotten my gorget on at least. I know I placed one touch on the bib of J-M's mask that could have been bad if I had used more force. Speaking of force, J-M got me in the right arm just below the shoulder, and I now have a large bruise running some 4 inches down the bicep. Being in full armor wouldn't have prevented this, however.

Sunday morning was more fight time before it got too bloody hot to think about. I fought J-M single blade and made an effort to be more aggreassive, catching him flat-footed once, sweeping his blade with my off hand, and lungeing in for the kill. I asked, and he said I did better than yesterday in being more aggressive against him. But having fought him, now I have a better grasp of his style, and can fight accordingly.

It was good to square off with Cillian again for the first time since Midinter A&S. The inaction has hurt his fight and he was obviously rusty. Also, I suspect the heat was affecting his performance, as he was in doublet and I wasn't. Plus he is not 100% due to his knee, and therefore not as mobile as what I am used to from him. Therefore I will assume an asterisk on the 2 touches in succession I scored on him.

After returning to Sirona's house we 3 did some bench fencing, discussing how to keep the new student's interest up and what speed to bring them along at. Cillian sees the need to differentiate between those who would do better to learn the general Italianate fencing style while he works more on the pure Capo Ferro with those who want something more intense. We agreed with him that new students need more conditioning before they are ready for the more strenuous Capo Ferro. I am trying to stress to him the need to build the dream of fencing in the students to carry them through the long period before they are ready to fight. Handling the blade, even if they are not going to use them in a fight, helps them to visualize themselves as swordsmen. Then again, maybe the task of building a dream falls more under the duties of a bard.

Tuesday Practice June 12

Weather threatening and overcast. Fighters in attendance: Cillian teaching, Sirona, Tom, Mikolaj, Chris.

Student, also attending, Tracey.

Despite earlier weather, We had class time. Cillian covered avoiding the lunge by stepping back with the right foot. One day I'll learn the italian for that...maybe. Sparring was just getting under way when the thunder started. I played some with Mikolaj, sword and dagger, but hadn't gotten any touches on him when practice was called.

Afterward, went over to Sirona's with Cillian and tried some blindfold drills. Interesting.

Tuesday, June 5, Fighter Practice

Weather, very warm, humid.

In attendance, Cillian, (teaching), Charles, Sirona, Mikolaj Tom, William, Yves, Myself.
students, Rob, Tracey, Kevin, Aesa.

I forgot my shirt and hood so had to borrow a fillip and loaner hood from Cillian. Takes some getting used to, but much less restraining than my doublet, and definitely breathes better. I need one that fits me better than this one though. But I like the length. It would look good with my tartan.

Class covered advances, retreats, slope paces, and lunges.

Sparred with Yves, and worked more on melee tactics with the group. Did ok fighting Yves, case against his sword and buckler, but I doubt he was at full speed against me.

I really need to get my authorization in case and with buckler. To a lesser extent with soft parry.

Tuesday, May 29, Fighter Practice

Temperature, warm and humid

In attendance, Cillian (teaching) Sirona, William, Tom, Brendan, Mikolaj, Myself,
Students, Rob, Tracy, Justin, Z. Raven

Cillian worked on more stretches, the wide stance, and advances. He previewed the Capo Ferro Lunge.

Sparred with Willam and Tom. Then Oswin came over from the heavy field to do some melee experiments. Some of his ideas don't translate well from the heavy field to rapier, But he did point out how we are too linear in our thinking, concentrating on what's in front of us, and forgetting the periferals.

Charles expressed concern that the blunts on my Hanweis are wearing out too quickly from sun damage in my truck.

Mikolaj pointed out that I have good offence when fighting case, but I need to develop more defence.

The buckler I have on semi-permanent loan from Chris needed some smoothing on its honor marks.

Saturday, May 26

Red Sword WMA practice

Weather: warm, upper 70's, humid

In attendance:Cillian, Sirona, Brendan, Raven, Yves, myself.

Class: Cillian covered the new wider Capo Ferra stance, 24 inches between the feet. Forward guard, backward guard, advance and retreat.

Fighting: Half-speed sparring with Yves, trying new stance. More speed with Brendan, doing the same. Final fights with Sirona at full speed. Used shorter blade against her so as to not rely so much on my 43's.

Observations: The new stance will take some getting used to. Muscle memory and all that.