How to approach..

[Vilhelm550]

BIG +1 fopr the Armored Rose book. My wife read that, and I trained her as I would any other new fighter, male or female. I definately encouraged her to fight others. Of course, my wife's a rough-and-tumble gal who's not afraid to work for what she wantsarmor bites, bruises and all. She authorized without a problem. We too found it difficult to get enough training time in with our little ones, but we took turns watching kids and fighting bigger kids, and it all worked out. Now her darned weekend shift work schedule prevents us from doing much of anything...sigh.

[Jofthepeace]

I would not get her a copy of the Armored Rose and have her and him read it early in her training. It has been the subject of much debate and there is a lot of baggage attached to that book. If she or her husband want advice on training women or woman-centric fighting issues, she should talk to other female fighters or men with success in training women.

BIG +1 fopr the Armored Rose book. My wife read that, and I trained her as I would any other new fighter, male or female. I definately encouraged her to fight others. Of course, my wife's a rough-and-tumble gal who's not afraid to work for what she wantsarmor bites, bruises and all. She authorized without a problem. We too found it difficult to get enough training time in with our little ones, but we took turns watching kids and fighting bigger kids, and it all worked out. Now her darned weekend shift work schedule prevents us from doing much of anything...sigh.

Obviously opinions may differ. Hell, even the Amazon.com reviews differ from "it's great" to "it's junk". I don't want to change the topic to is this a good book or not, we can start a new thread for this if people wish to talk of it. I personally don't know, havn't read it (yet, might just now to see what MY opinion of it is). I just know in my area female fighters highly recommend it. To each their own.

But Isabella did nail it on the head with talking to other female fighters and/or men who train them.

[Vikw2mnykids]

If she wants to fight she needs to understand on the field sex doesn't matter.

Whoa, wait a minute... have you ever had on the field sex? It matters!

(so do strategic commas...)

Does the fort at Gulf Wars count?

Uric

You know its funny you mention that Uric! I babysat the night of the knowne world party while the wifey went. She said she heard a lot of "Ooohh face" noises off in the woods around the fort and from there in the fort. At first I just chalked it up to her being drunk as hell off green dragon mead, but yo7 my friend have confirmed it for me! LOL

Inge Bjornson
Barony of Seleone
Gleann Abhann

[Amanda M]

I would not get her a copy of the Armored Rose and have her and him read it early in her training. It has been the subject of much debate and there is a lot of baggage attached to that book. If she or her husband want advice on training women or woman-centric fighting issues, she should talk to other female fighters or men with success in training women.

BIG +1 fopr the Armored Rose book. My wife read that, and I trained her as I would any other new fighter, male or female. I definately encouraged her to fight others. Of course, my wife's a rough-and-tumble gal who's not afraid to work for what she wantsarmor bites, bruises and all. She authorized without a problem. We too found it difficult to get enough training time in with our little ones, but we took turns watching kids and fighting bigger kids, and it all worked out. Now her darned weekend shift work schedule prevents us from doing much of anything...sigh.

Obviously opinions may differ. Hell, even the Amazon.com reviews differ from "it's great" to "it's junk". I don't want to change the topic to is this a good book or not, we can start a new thread for this if people wish to talk of it. I personally don't know, havn't read it (yet, might just now to see what MY opinion of it is). I just know in my area female fighters highly recommend it. To each their own.

But Isabella did nail it on the head with talking to other female fighters and/or men who train them.

I think it has some good information in it, but because it is the only book of it's type and for a while one of the only sources of information female fighters had access to in terms of other women fighting, people get it then take it as gospel, often to the detriment of the new fighter. We are lucky now to have the internet and women have more access to each other to compare notes. I think it is a very relevant point to bring up in this discussion.

[Jofthepeace]

I think it has some good information in it, but because it is the only book of it's type and for a while one of the only sources of information female fighters had access to in terms of other women fighting, people get it then take it as gospel, often to the detriment of the new fighter. We are lucky now to have the internet and women have more access to each other to compare notes. I think it is a very relevant point to bring up in this discussion.

I'll agree that it probably shouldn't be taken as gospel, good lady, your correct.

Speaking of the internet and women having more access to each other to compare notes (minds out of the gutters fellas)...isn't there a female fighter message board? I thought I've seen it advertised here once in a while?

[Saritor]

Speaking of the internet and women having more access to each other to compare notes (minds out of the gutters fellas)...isn't there a female fighter message board? I thought I've seen it advertised here once in a while?

Look to Isabella's sig line.

[Vilhelm550]

When my wife decided she was serious about fighting, I decided I should get serious about training her. I read the Armored Rose and perused http://www.createforum.com/thegirlsclub/
as well another site I cannot find at the moment, of similar information. It helped me prepare to train her in ways that accomodate her body mechanics and build. Did I mention she's a lefty? I had to figure that part out, too....

[Jofthepeace]

Look to Isabella's sig line.

My bad, sarcasm doesn't translate well online

Just trying to say she, Vikw's wife, should probably check that out.

[Amanda M]

You can still access parts of Swordmaiden.com through the internet archive. The articles between the author of the Armored Rose and the Swordmaiden contributors are still up.

http://web.archive.org/web/200801011258 ... aiden.com/

Sir Corby also has a good rebuttal of the Armored Rose on his site.

And lastly, you can also join the House Ironrose group on Yahoo groups, but it's not super active. Unfortunately the Girls's Club is pretty much the number one place online at the moment for specific SCA fighter stuff for women.

[AngusGordon]

Find a knight or preaux men-at-arms that is actually in love with his wife, and tell her to go ask him for pointers.

I'm too old fashioned. If My Love was a fighter I couldn't hit her. I get teary just thinking about it.

***before the nuke rounds start impacting, it's NOT because I think her weak, it's because I cannot imagine the possibility of hurting her, even accidently***

[Vitus von Atzinger]

The biggest problem all females fighters face is upper-body strength and explosive power.

[Amanda M]

The biggest problem all females fighters face is upper-body strength and explosive power.

We have been talking a lot about strength training being really important for women a lot on the Girl's Club lately.

[Malek]

I have trained some women fighters, including my own wife. I have found these tips the most useful no matter who I am training.

1) Be Honest - I can't emphasize this enough. If it feels weird, hurts or is uncomfortable, the student HAS to tell the trainer. The trainer is then obligated to find out what's wrong and make the needed adjustments.

2) Heavy fighting can hurt - When I first started coming out, my wife would play "Count the bruises" the next morning. I am better at blocking and better armoured than my first couple of years on the field. Warn the student that bruises and injuries can and do happen. None of it is intentional, just a fact of life.

3) Be observant - students are generally "eager to please" and don't always say if they are having trouble or if something is bothering them.

4) Always make sure to tell them when they do well - I find that this gets the best responses. Praise and encouragement seem to sink in far better than constant criticism. Flip side - when correcting, avoid critical commentary and encourage them toward proper technique.

5) Encourage them to learn from others - My usual joke is: "I may be a know-it-all, but I don't know everything!"

RE: Armoured Rose - Both my wife and I read through it. Where it talks about anatomical differences and how it affects power generation in women works well. The psychological stuff - not so much.

[dukelogan]

true, sort of. the problem ive seen with most sca training is the lack of focus on the "striking" muscles in the arm. the triceps. hell it works in boxing (western and thai) and there are a number of women doing the former and whole ton doing the latter. bigger muscles do help, sure, but technique can overcome a lot of that. if a woman doesnt want to increase her upper body strength you can focus more on technique (like my 1" punch training video) to deliver power.

explosive power is something that a lot of trainers (real world sports) debate as to whether it can be taught/developed. i am firmly in the corner that thinks it can. low weight, explosively fast reps, huge sets. force a muscle to do what you want it to do and it will get better at doing that.

regards
logan

The biggest problem all females fighters face is upper-body strength and explosive power.

[Thomas MacFinn]

As I understand it, the biggest problem you two have is that both of you can't go to fighter practice at the same time. What night is her night?

Relationship issues aside, if you train with just one person, you will never be better than that person. Any flaws that the student has with get ingrained, if the teacher doesn't correct them. Any flaws the teacher has could also become the student's flaws in addition to the one the student started with.

[Corby de la Flamme]

1) Get her a copy of "The Armored Rose" Armored Rose on Amazon (none new, but used) (edit: you may want to read this also to help understand training her)

Never do that.

Well, never do that if you plan to look to that book for technique. This is why.