The Armour Archive

Well, I did make it to practice last night, and I did fight everyone there, and Animal twice.

There were three fighters there total.

Two are Tuchux, and myself.

I have no room to complain about the lack of fighters at practice since lately real life has made my own attendance spotty, but geez...

Anyway, had a really good practice. Animal is really teaching me a lot, and he is fun to fight. We actually worked on stuff: theory, technique, subtle differences in stance, movement, etc. I'm kinda unused to that, as we mostly just spar up here, and you really have to dig to get feedback.

Need to retread my combat boots (actually, need to get period boots/shoes with good non slip soles) we were fighting inside and the floor must've recently been waxed...a lot of my movements were more like skating than stepping!

Some things I learned:

1. Andy Ward gauntlets really need to be padded on the thumb. Only a fool fights otherwise. Hello, I'm a fool.

2. Big newbies can still hit hard. Playing with a younger Tuchux, taunting him and playing on his inexperience. He's working being determined, in your face. He got in a good one on the sweet spot on his stick and me on the lower forehead right above the nose. Standing knockout. I'm ok, he just hit the button.

3. The little piece of leather that was originally glued to the back of my visor latch was there for a reason. My visor came loose in battle after getting hit in the grill. THAT was freaky!

4. Moving on the diagonals work.

5. I'm better than I think I am.

6. Gripping the sword with the bottom two fingers makes a difference.

I want to eventually switch from heater to buckler. I imagine that it will be much like boxing...light on your feet, head moving, in and out. I want to be more aggressive, butnot just for aggressions sake. I want to control the pace and tempo of the fight, on my own terms.

I'll have some pics up of Animal and I sparring, plus just me in my armour and also of Dorothy and her padding.

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Lord William Ringlancer of Locksley

<B>"War without fire is like sausages without mustard."
--Henry V </B>

Waiting for the pictures....

http://home.comcast.net/~ringlancer/wsb/html/view.cgi-photos.html-.html

pics can be seen here!

Hey William, how's your head? Golar packs a wallop, no? He's got a new nickname now, 'skullsplitter'. He was jazzed. Well, once he made sure you were ok he was.
Anyway, I like training with you. I learn a lot. Thanks
Animal

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Animal Weretiger
"Trample the weak; hurdle the dead"

Golar Skullsplitter? I like it, very Orky...I play Orks in Warhammer 40,000.

Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a standing 8 count, but then good to go.

I'm jazzed y'all are coming to BH practice, it's a blast!

Waaaugh!
Ringlancer, I'd suggest trying to grip the sword with top two fingers & thumb, tensing with bottom two fingers when you "throw a shot." The method you describe is, IMHO, better for japanese swordwork.

Mag =)

Japanese or whatever. If you're cutting wiht a sword the bottom two fingers are better. Holding it by the top locks your elbows and is a weaker grip.

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Animal Weretiger
"Trample the weak; hurdle the dead"

[This message has been edited by Animal (edited 12-14-2003).]

I find that some of my strongest shots ceom from a locked elbow and wrist- they allow the full force of my body and hip torque to be transmitted to my opponent.

Alaric

PS- in the pictures, Ringlancer, your look like you are punching way too far out with your shield for one of those blocks- setting yourself up for either death from a quick wrap, or a shot to the leg. I think you might to better keeping your shield closer to your head and body and instead of ducking away from the shot, turn your head into your shield (making good use of the glancing surface on your helmet) and bend your knees to get out of the way- this will leave your body cocked so you can throw a shot from almost anywhere and counterpunch as your oppponent's sword moves back.

Thanks, your Grace!

Well, everybody else seems to be weighing in on ringlancer's technique, so I guess I will too. Not that he asked us for any kind of a critique or anything, cause he didn't.

It's not really fair, he says he missed practice for quite a while before attending that one. He also probably fights a whole lot better than I. Nobody said that life would be fair, though.

Concerning the gripping the sword... I find that if I grip the sword with my littlest two fingers, I make my shots more "round" with a little more force at the end, but with less accelleration at the beginning of a blow. Animal is absolutely right, I think, the little two fingers are the best grip for cutting, but we aren't really cutting, are we? Using the index finger and thumb to grip the weapon seems to give you a much more "agressive" grip, and better accelleration at the start of a blow, because the fingers can be used to give you some extra "sling", or so it seems to me. You might try both grips and see what comes.

Also, my knee-jerk reaction is to tell you to deepen your stance. Don't get me wrong, I can tell that your stance is strong, but I find that deeper stances allow for more power, and with proper practice, I think that they allow for faster movement, particularly to the sides. I know that many will think I am an idiot, but that's what I think.

And I don't think you are kiting your sheild out too far on that over the top shot. I think you would have done better to directly engage Animal's weapon with your sheild (your sheild edge to his basket hilt), but since you didn't, then sliding the sheild that far up and out is one way to prevent the shot from coming over the top with impunity, given the height difference.

Good hunting!

f

Ringlancer,
Your wife does good work. Is that pad removable?. and if so can you post other pics? I might try to make one myself

thanks.

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Thorstenn,
Do or do not their is no try!

Thanks!

Yeah, she does great work. It is removable...but it is sewn in.

Some of the stitches attaching it to the helm have broken, so I guess it is time to take it out, wash it and have my wife sew it back in.

Could be worse. I haven't fought in about two years (meaning to get back in real soon, though), and just found out that there is no longer a fighter practice in this barony.

For those familiar with the problems in Winter's Gate, this is no surprise, but imagine if the nearest fighter practice was 360 miles away from you and you were in the middle of what calls itself a barony. Pretty lame, huh?

-Patrick

Hiya Freiman!
In reference to your coments about gripping the sword I have a couple of my own. As for the acceleration of a blow, to my knowledge and experience a blow should begin with the hips. If you twist your hips into a shot it gains an explosiveness that is incredible. Holding it with the bottom two fingers also allows a fluidity of grip that gives a more articulate blade. Also it doesnt interrupt that power line from the triceps on down. Makes a real whip out of your saber. Also regarding stance, we were taught that a low wide stance is stronger, but not as quick. It's more of a planted thing. We were taught to be on the balls of our feet and therefore able to move in any direction at our need. Just my experiences though. Your mileage may vary.
Regarding William's style, I gotta say he's deceptive. He's got a real pretty style, and when he lands it's with authroity. He's not afraid, and even when Golar turned the lights out he was a man about it, no harm no foul. Gotta respect that. I honestly think that if any of the Knights around here would bother to take the time to instruct him he would quickly become a deciding factor in any fight. he's right there on that threshhold, all it would take is someone giving him a bit of direction.

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Animal Weretiger
"Trample the weak; hurdle the dead"

Wow, Animal...thanks. Very cool words my friend, I'll try to live up to them.

Of course, it mught help me get noticed more by the Chiv if I got out of my living room. And when I do, perhaps I should attend more events in Atlantia! I've been here since 95 (!) and I've really only been in a few tourneys. I haven't traveled anywhere near enough...to me, Southeren Atlantia is Caer Mear!

It is hard, my knight is in Hawaii. I work evenings, so I can't really make it down to that big practice down in College Park. I might try to swap a day off if there isn't a nearby event or family plans and give the big dogs some new fodder to play with.