As I suited up on Thursday, Sior Murchad, walked in. I don't think he has been out to anything since about Ursulmas last year. Making it a just about 1 year hiatus.
He suited up and the two of us opened practice with a sparring session for ~15 minutes before Amish started the drills.
The man at arms showed up after we had finished the sparring and came over and said in a somewhat surprised voice, oh you have been fighting already? To which another fighter said, yeah they were going at it hard for about 15 minutes. I jockingly showed Donnan the color of Murchad's and my belts.
Somewhat jockingly anyhow. The point is really if you like this game we play, come and do it. Get as much out of practice as you can. Stick with it and work at it. Something he needs to remeber is how much time and effort both Murchad and myself have but into fighting, just how long we have been doing it.
In the end I won't bust his chops too much for not getting as much out of practice as he could. He shows up consistently and works on his game. Lots of guys show up hap hazardly. The only thing he could really use is more stamina. He has the desire to fight and definetely wants to get better, but he simply lacks the conditioning to fight more than a couple of fights in a row.
My practice was pretty good. Had some short sparring sessions with Donnan and another long session with Murchad, both of us being too stubborn to quit when we are tired or sore and then had a decent session with Amish.
Skill sessions this week were picked up by the baronial champion, Amish. After he had watched some of what Raoukinn had posted he decided he wanted to work on some shield strengths and weaknesses as discussed by Count Gemini.
In total we had: Myself, Amish, Donnan, Murchad, and McDuff in armor fighting and a couple of others: Angus and Darien doing slow work due to injuries or broken armor.
I actually managed to video some of the practice as well, but the weekend was far too busy to really get anytime to watch it.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
January 19, 2012
After some discussion with some of the members at practice, we have decided to redouble our efforts at having a skills segment at practice.
After adopting the ideas of a neighboring shire to some success, we again moved back into a sparring type practice. I personally like to spar, but I feel we can improve our game by adding in some skill based exercises/drills.
To that end several of us think it is still feasible. We looked at what happened last time and are taking steps to try and fix it.
Main issues:
Tonight is our first night back with a format such as this. I am taking the first go around.
Drills to look at tonight: Basic Snap and recovery while walking and Frozen Man.
Snap with recovery.
A) Start in defensive stance, sword leg back.
B) Step forward with sword leg and fire Snap. Snap should land with your foot.
C) Step forward with shield leg, tear drop return sword.
D) Go to A
Typically done down the length of a hall. Generally a drill to teach getting your footwork in time with your blows as well as teaching how the movement feels. Done fairly slow to start.
Frozen Man: Slow work.
Designate one as Warm man and one as Frozen man.
A) Warm man starts throwing a shot
B) Frozen man man react to blow for one second, ie may defend based on the initial moments of the warm mans shot.
C) Frozen man now FREEZES.
D) Warm man observes angles and opening and continues to select and throw a slow shot.
E) Repeat several times and then switch roles.
After adopting the ideas of a neighboring shire to some success, we again moved back into a sparring type practice. I personally like to spar, but I feel we can improve our game by adding in some skill based exercises/drills.
To that end several of us think it is still feasible. We looked at what happened last time and are taking steps to try and fix it.
Main issues:
- Lack of volunteering
Tonight is our first night back with a format such as this. I am taking the first go around.
Drills to look at tonight: Basic Snap and recovery while walking and Frozen Man.
Snap with recovery.
A) Start in defensive stance, sword leg back.
B) Step forward with sword leg and fire Snap. Snap should land with your foot.
C) Step forward with shield leg, tear drop return sword.
D) Go to A
Typically done down the length of a hall. Generally a drill to teach getting your footwork in time with your blows as well as teaching how the movement feels. Done fairly slow to start.
Frozen Man: Slow work.
Designate one as Warm man and one as Frozen man.
A) Warm man starts throwing a shot
B) Frozen man man react to blow for one second, ie may defend based on the initial moments of the warm mans shot.
C) Frozen man now FREEZES.
D) Warm man observes angles and opening and continues to select and throw a slow shot.
E) Repeat several times and then switch roles.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
2012
Our last practice was before Christmas. Our hall closes over the holidays. Next practice is on the 5th. I have people coming in that night in prep for heading to 12th night, so I can't make that one. I strongly suspect I will have no time to do any fighting at 12th night. Hopefully we are back Sunday night so I can make practice on Monday the 9th.
The holidays were spent sewing. I got the step-up del mostly completed, although I know what I have left to do will still take some time: Final assembly, Finishing, cuffs and ties. I finished a new hat as well. I have a couple other A&S projects on the go as well, which I will detail later.
Still to do before the step-up in 2 months.
2011 has a pretty epic year when I look back on it: Knight, Tanist, Jambe. Looking through the order of precedence I noted that I had recieved over half of my awards over the last year (back to Nov 2010). Sure it had a few hard spots, but really in the end they were for the best.
However the end of 2011 saw my diet and fitness take a back seat, so I will need to re-focus on that somewhat. First thoughts are to join the school gym as alumni. ~$150 a year includes a full weight room as well as a pool. Should be able to get in in the morning most days, and it is on the way to work.
SCA wise I would like to continue fighting and work on my skills as a teacher and working on being a leader in our Barony.
More Pell work.
Fighting A&S projects: Armor, helmet, gambeson
Non Fighting A&S Projects: General metal work, bone carving, wood work (primarily chests)
I am also going to get a simple wedge tent this year. I believe them to be a good combination of period and portable. Not a ger by any stretch of the imagination, but way better than a crappy dome.
The holidays were spent sewing. I got the step-up del mostly completed, although I know what I have left to do will still take some time: Final assembly, Finishing, cuffs and ties. I finished a new hat as well. I have a couple other A&S projects on the go as well, which I will detail later.
Still to do before the step-up in 2 months.
- New coat
- New boots
- New bow case
- Spears
2011 has a pretty epic year when I look back on it: Knight, Tanist, Jambe. Looking through the order of precedence I noted that I had recieved over half of my awards over the last year (back to Nov 2010). Sure it had a few hard spots, but really in the end they were for the best.
However the end of 2011 saw my diet and fitness take a back seat, so I will need to re-focus on that somewhat. First thoughts are to join the school gym as alumni. ~$150 a year includes a full weight room as well as a pool. Should be able to get in in the morning most days, and it is on the way to work.
SCA wise I would like to continue fighting and work on my skills as a teacher and working on being a leader in our Barony.
More Pell work.
Fighting A&S projects: Armor, helmet, gambeson
Non Fighting A&S Projects: General metal work, bone carving, wood work (primarily chests)
I am also going to get a simple wedge tent this year. I believe them to be a good combination of period and portable. Not a ger by any stretch of the imagination, but way better than a crappy dome.
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