Structured training session IV focused on techniques for using the sword to block and the shield to attack as well as integrating footwork, attack, and defense into a cohesive entity. 

The first subject we went over was about integrating the basics. I tried running a few drills but they weren't really that good at illustrating the topic. That's definitely something I'll be working on doing better.

The next topic was about using the sword to block. The main points I covered were:

-Using the forte of weapon, i.e., the lower third of the weapon

-Using fist to intercept, i.e. punch blocking

-Arm pump

-Don't anvil

-Turning hand slightly out to block attacks to that side.

We then did a few sword blocking drills. Those went pretty well.

The last topic, and one near and dear to my heart, is about using the shield as an offensive weapon. We first covered how to shield bash. Then we went over how safely shield check someone on a knee as well as how to fall properly--tucking your chin in to prevent your head from banging into the ground-- if you happen to be on the receiving end of that. We then showed how you can use a football technique--hit the shield and then push up--to knock the opponent over with little effort. We then went over shield hooking-using the edge of the shield to hook the inside edge of your opponent's shield, thus creating an opening. You can then follow up with a cross shot to the arm, armpit, or body.

 

The next shield attack was what I call the "drive by". Basically, you step in and simultaneously use the edge of your shield to punch the inside edge of your opponent's shield. This causes the shield arm to pivot towards the body and making the back vulnerable. As you're executing this, you follow with a wrap shot to the back and then continue out of your opponent's range. We stressed how you have to not hesitate when doing this or your opponent may compensate by shifting his feet and continuing to face you. We did a few drills of this and that that was the end of the session.

 

Afterwards Cyric and I talked about how the integration topic should really have been the capstone for this session since it was about taking everything the learned up until this point and applying it. I still need to give further thought as to the kind of drills that are good for this subject.

 

Session V was the introduction to small unit (2-4 people) tactics and formations.

 

The first topic was on 2-person teams and teamwork. I first discussed the main points:

-Communicate with your partner

-Maintain awareness of the other person

-Figure out your zones of coverage

-Avoid bumping each other

-Stay within reach of each other.

-Don't get drawn out.

-Hammer and anvil-One person occupies the single fighter while the other moves to the side or back.

 

We then split the students into groups of three. Each person took turns being the single fighter while the other two worked together to try and quickly take out the single fighter.

 

The next topic was about formations and roles. I talked first about the line formation and had everyone form the line. I talked about how this presented your combat power towards the enemy but can be difficult to control and move in. The next formation was the column which was useful for moving-as long as the person in the front knows where to go, then you should be OK-and in woods battles but not useful in an open field. Your combat power is mainly to your flanks with only a single fighter directly to the front and to the back. The next one we talked about was the wedge which was useful for punching through a shield wall. I pointed out that the point person should go for a gap between shields instead of directly shield bashing a shield. I also talked about how you can set up another wedge directly behind the first one to take advantage of the opening created by the first. After talking about the wedge, we covered the vee formation which is pretty much the inverse of the wedge. The vee is useful primarily in bridge battles for forming what is called a "kill pocket". In a kill pocket, any fighter who steps into it gets hit the front and sides as he attempts to punch through. We also showed how having spears and reds can increase the effectiveness of a kill pocket. After that we talked about two shield formations, one with a spear and two shields and one with an archer and two shields. With a spear and two shields, the spear can engage the enemy outside of melee range or force opponent shields to move creating openings for the shieldmen. With an archer, the shield fighters protect archer from melee fighters as well as enemy missiles while the archer shifts position and fires between gaps. After that, I briefly covered the basic roles on the battlefield: line (front line defense), support (archer, red sword, spear, glaive), and skirmisher (using mobility for engaging the enemy from the flanks or rear).

 

We then covered how to take on a veteran. Since many of the trainees had been to Octoberfest, they had had an opportunity to see this firsthand. The main points I went over were:

-Again emphasizing communication and working together

-Hit high and low but watch the head shots

-Throw shots from unexpected angles

-Don't get separated. That's exactly what the veteran would want you to do.

 

The drills we did were very similar to the ones for the two-person teams only we were using teams of at least three.

 

The last topic of the day was on how to deal with multiple opponents. The main points were:

-Using positioning and not letting all of them be able to engage you at once.

-Singling, i.e., shifting your position so that you're only facing one opponent and the others have to take some time to catch up.

-Using positioning and singling to make them get in the way of each other.

-Gimping and going-engage one and gimp. Move on to the next one and hopefully gimp him. Move on to the next.

-Using your sword to block attacks coming from that side.

-Avoiding the kill pocket

 

The drills we did were similar to the last ones with more focus on the single fighter dealing with multiple opponents.

 

[...]

The day was both exhausting and utterly exhilarating since I came to the realization of how much I enjoy teaching especially Belegarth-related subjects.

 It started first with our third training  session. My thanks to Squire Cyric for helping with the class since Sir Fox just started a second shift job and has to work on Sundays 8(. We started with everyone stretching and then reviewing the subjects from the previous training  session.

The first topic we went over was about how to mesh defense and attacks. You can't kill your opponent if you just block all of his shots but you won't survive if you don't defend yourself. We did a drill in pairs where a person would block a shot and then immediately lead into a two-hit combo. Then the two fighters would switch roles.

After that, we discussed range using the terms "close", "medium", "far", and "outside". "Close" is when you're close enough to touch your opponent while "medium" is where your weapon can hit your opponent. "Far" is where you can hit your opponent once you take one step while "outside" is where it takes more than one step to reach your opponent. We had the pairs work at visualizing their ranges.

The next topic we introduced was footwork. After we covered the major points about trying to avoid crossing your feet--(if your opponent bashes you when your feet are crossed, you're probably going to fall over)--trying to move your feet in concentric circles to face your opponent, and stepping in at an angle to your opponent, we went into the drills. We had the fighters form two parallel lines facing each other. We had one line move forward while the other line moved backward to maintain the same distance. Once it looked like people got a feel for this, we had them do the same thing going left and right. We split the fighters back into their pairs and then had them practicing shifting around their opponent in a circle. One fighter would basically be in the middle shifting only slightly to face his opponent while the other was shifting around him while being careful not to cross their feet.

After footwork, we moved into the basics of wraps. We told the new fighters that you can do wraps at essentially three heights: high (also known as the scorpion since it goes over the opponent's shoulder like a scorpion's tail), medium targeting the lower back, and the low wrap which either hits the back of the leg or the buttocks. We focused mainly on the medium and low angles since it's very easy to hit someone in the head with a high wrap shot unless you have good control. We talked about good form-rotating the wrist the full 180 degrees to prevent flatting and adding that additional wrist snap at the end-and trying to hit with the top third of the weapon instead of closer to the hand. We referenced the range exercise to emphasize how this is a type of attack that tends to be most effective at close range as well as stepping in as a means for generating power for the wrap. After the instruction, we had the pairs stepping to close the distance while executing a wrap and then switching roles.

The last subject of the day was grappling. We talked about what you could do, how armor affects grappling, as well as some of the things you can't do, i.e., strikes, joint locks, etc. when grappling. Then we did two drills. In hindsight, the first drill was pretty useless since it assumed that a person has no weapons with which to attack. We will most likely not repeat it in future training sessions. In the drill, one person wielding a sword attempted the number one attack to their opponent's left shoulder. The defender would step in and grasp the attacker's sword hand with both of his hands. After that, we discussed options such as attempting to disarm the attacker or holding him in place until help could arrive. The second drill had both fighters armed with a single sword. The attacker would attempt the number one strike while the defender would block with his sword, check or grapple the attacker's hand, possibly pulling the attacker off balance, and then the defender would follow up with a couple of strikes. After the drill we released the fighters to go do regular practice.

The session ran very long and we'll probably have to shift a couple of topics to other sessions to shorten this one. At the very least, we'll shift the grappling section over to Session IV.

A little while later, I helped one of our brand new fighters learn archery. We had started the previous week and picked up where we had left off. I had her learning using two basic techniques. One is the "group of five" while the other is individual feedback/replaying the shot. In doing the "group of five" a person has to complete five perfect iterations of whatever he's learning before he can move onto the next milestone. In starting out, I first had her just focus on bringing up the bow and drawing the bow with no arrow. After she completed that group of five, I introduced the arrow in and had her release it, not concentrating on trying to hit a specific target. After that, she had to hit a large shield. Once she was able to hit the shield five times in a row, I had her tighten it to a specific section of the shield. When she wasn't able to do something properly or if she missed the target, I'd ask her what went wrong and to try and visualize the events leading up to the shot. The iteration count would be reset back to zero and she would again start working on doing five in a row. It can be a tedious process that requires a lot of patience but I think she's making solid progress.

Towards the end of the day, I helped one of our fighters on Florentine. At several times during the training, I could see the light bulb go on and the look of realization after showing him a particular approach or technique. I went over some of the blocking techniques-pivoting from the elbow, swinging down, dropping the pommel-as well as using the bounciness of our weapons and shields for redirecting attacks. I showed him how to do the concurrent block and counter swing to the sword arm as well as a technique for dealing with a spear: Sweep the spear up with the right sword, check the spear with the left sword, and then immediately follow up with attacks with the right sword. I explained that I preferred to send the spear up since if you hit it down, the spear fighter can bounce the spear off the ground and into your legs or groin. He had mentioned that he was having some issues with footwork and I showed him some drills he could do with his swords. I had him lay his swords at his feet in a vee pattern while standing at the point. I then had him step at an angle to one end of the vee, back to the point, and then on to the other end. Then we flipped the vee over so that we were standing at the point of an upside down vee. Again, we stepped not directly back but at an angle to the side, returned to the starting point, and then to the other end. With regards to the spear technique, I illustrated how this same technique could be applied to both single sword (use the open hand as the check) as well as when using a sword and shield. One of the last things we did was a variation of a Sinawali ("weaving" in Tagalog) drill.  Here's a video showing some sinawali drills: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jFuwLhXNgmA.

While I didn't get to fight all that much, it was a very busy and fulfilling day.

[...]

Inner dialogue of the day:   "Oh shit, I hope that didn't kill somebody! 

...... Ok, good!  Let's try it again."