The Armour Archive

What does 'Practice' mean to you?

What components make up a good practice?

Should practice just be about having fun? Should fun even be a consideration? Is it a formal training session with teachers and students?

Practice can be fun, but by definition doesn't have to be. No formal trainer/student required. What it SHOULD do is make you better at whatever you are practicing. For a good practice, you need a warm-up, basic drills, some more advanced drills/drills that focus on something other than the basics you already practiced, and a cool-down.

That's how every good practice I've been to for any sport went. For karate, we had stretching and warm-ups, kata practice, sparring/movement drills, then stretching and cool-downs. For hockey, stretching and warm-ups, basic skating/shooting drills, practicing plays, then stretching and cool-down. Also in both of those, there's usually a debrief along with the cool-down, where you go over what you practiced/learned, and what to work on between that practice and the next if there's time. Most directly competitive sports work like this, assuming everyone is conditioned. Conditioning=/=Practice, they are totally different monsters.

A good trainer is a plus, but not required, as a bad trainer is worse than no trainer. YMMV

SCA fighter "practice" for the most part consists of folks showing up talking while armoring up then fighting...there may be some instruction going on during .... I think it should be fun. if it isn't fun it is more like work. I dunno, I like to do some fighting then mix in a few lessons (with new folks) on good technique all in all typical practice can last 2-3 hours (on a good day)

as far as a structured practice goes, Atenveldt used to have one on Mondays the sir Keegan was running, the one that I say was pretty structured partner drills, offense defense drills, shot throwing drills, there were probably 3-4 belted fighters there helping instruct.

Small rural household. Private property. Monthly meeting post lunch. All attending members including heavies shoot IKAC session (SCA target archery comp). Break, heavies do some slow work, teach newbs, try out new toys, speed up to full on. Break, then down to fort & woods for archer vs archer or archer+heavy vs archer+heavy war practice, depends who wants to play. Break, household biz, work on new toys, dinner, home.
Ranif

For me it means fighting not socializing. Do that when we are done fighting. Ours is a weeknight practice so time is limited.

We tend to do bear pits so that everyone fights everyone or singles with instruction with those who need it.

Should it be fun? Not necessarily, but it also shouldn't suck! By definition, though, if you enjoy fighting then fighter's practice should have an element of fun.

For me, I try to come up with what I want to work on at that particular practice and then put it into action at the practice. Some of my opponents will be able to tell me how well what I was doing was working, how I can improve it, and possibly what I should do differently. They may also be able to tell me what other parts of my game aren't working that night. For some of my opponents they are looking to me do that for them. Sometimes there is instruction involved, but many times not.

Practice is also a way to keep the body conditioned to what we do and constantly refining targeting and timing.
Then again...some nights, I just go to fight.

Man, it really depends on the practice and participants.

Btw, are you going home for TG this weekend? We are road tripping to the Tir Y Don Practice on Sunday if you want to get some fighting in before you have to go have to the Northlands.

Hmmm. I think I can be convinced to go. Im going to plan on it, but I will let you know if I cant make it.

I know me and Abran will be there, maybe Patrick too if I can snag him. Matthieu of TYD is a lock and I am going to beat the bushes out that way to get some more fighters out. Should be a good time!

Practice to me is the repetition of things taught. To me it means drills, not sparing.

Practice is one part of an over all training program.

Practice means trying to work on the things that need to be worked on to get better. Choose 2-3 goals and work on them, regardless if you win or lose the fight. For example, last night my goals were 'be aggressive' and 'control the flow' to try and break myself of trying to be a gunslinger and throw a perfect shot. I didn't care if I won the bout or not, I wanted to be aggressive in the fight and have the fight be on my terms. Other practices might be 'I will not get hit in the leg' or 'I will throw at least 3 shot combos every bout'.

Anton

My standards have dropped.

Practice means I'm in armour, I have a rattan weapon of some sort in my hand, and I am trying to hit someone while they are trying to hit me. That would be great.

Pell work is nice but my pell is in the garage, which is my wife's carpentry shop, and the ceilings are too low for pollaxe work. The ceilings in the house are also too low, even if I'm careful. I spent a morning waking up my wife by furiously scrubbing out a scuff mark on our living room ceiling.

Practice around here is plain sparring with almost no drills or actual teaching. I got bored with it years ago. I might make 6 practices a year, if that.

My best friend moved to Ansteorra and trains in the "Backyard", and that is actual training. I am very jealous and truly wish we had something like that here, but we don't.

Uric

our practice usually has a time limit due to being "rented" space inside.

So it's mostly pick up fights.

I try to fight everyone and mix up weapons.

I do my training on my own time. Weights, cardio and general PT. Try and hit the bag and pell, was doing Fiore stuff too.

Now all i'm doing is slowly getting my right arm to move again, i can almost raise it level to the ground again.

I personally like to get at least 6 good sets in. As one of the senior fighters, I try to work with the newer fighters for 2-3 sets, and then get a few good sets in with the other knights. Typically there are is at least one session where a couple of us are working with novices on basic technique. Occasionally we have the knights working with each other on technique.

Our winter practice site is kind of small, so when we have a lot of people we tend to do a bearpit of some form. If we have a number of new people we will fight the line instead of hold the field so they get more fight time.

T

The practice that we have been doing(weather and light permitting) is a mid week, afternoon practice. Everyone gears up with minimal chatting. Everybody fights(opponents are mutually chosen, but we try to make sure everyone fights everyone) until dark. All fights are filmed. After the fighting, while armoring down and packing up, we get everyone into a circle and critique each other. Even the rawest newbie will have the opportunity to share their observations and critique. Afterwards, those that can, watch film and share dinner.

To me, the after action critique is the most important aspect of the practice. It allows everyone to speak up and be heard, and it forces all of the fighters to pay attention to the fights and learn to analyze them.

We must be doing something right. In the 6 years we've been doing it, we have had 5 people elevated to the Knighthood, and 2 people win Crown(though one of them won it twice).

I wish we could find someplace lit and indoors so that we could keep doing it during the winter, but so far, no luck.

Ali

Hey Uric, if you need training down there, then start some. Somebody has to start it up.

I already have a full time job and a family. The SCA (fighter practices and events both) better be fun, or I'm going to go do something else with my free time.

Depends on the day. Tuesday night is at the pell- teaching, mechanics, & drills. Wednesday is baronial practice- Some teaching, mostly sparing. Sunday, baronial practice- depends on who shows up.

At this point in my fighting, sparing with someone that can push me is the most valuable thing. When I can’t get that I work more on teaching.

Patrick, Caid

If you are not having fun you're doing it wrong.

Seriously though generally I go to 2 a week. Thursday night is pel where we work overall skills. Sometimes we focus on something specific depending on who/how many are in attendence.

Sunday is Baronial practice and again it varies by attendance but I like to push everybody and get a series of hard and fast fights from everybody. Optimally I would like everybody to push about 10% further then they thought they could.

We are never super serious though, it should be a good time...otherwise what the hell are we doing?

Practice is some place where I go in hopes to get better and try new things (such as a new style or manner in fighting). But is it also where a person should be happy to go to and feel wanted and in a way part of the group. If your bring in new people to your kingdom then this is a time to get to know them and bring them into the fold. Not say here is your sword and here is some training now have at it. Don't forget, what you do be it fencing, archery, or full armor combat is a sport and a social thing to do. I see this in other groups that I am with and an officer in. Yes it is good to do the drills and show people what to do, but if your not doing qualls with new people, or bring them into the fold then your just going to slowly die.

I was at a meeting and I told my guys the same thing, we all see it happen all the time at the speculative level. We had a guy in our ranks that joined the local fire medic house, ok great. He when to the Practices and drills learned what he needed, but found him-self not being qualled in any thing (and he is a MD so he knows more then the medics.). When we went to the house to look into joining we saw the same thing like we see every place else. You have your core people drilling who where in the house for some time and the new people just there drilling but not really talking to the core or being tested. I saw the same thing at a kingdom Practice in NJ that I went to since there was someone there willing to teach me how to use an axe in steel combat display. You had the core people there not talking to the new people who did not know any one and when it came down to it I did not see any qualls or any thing to say hey there is practices here.

Yes practices is a physical thing but when you have people there that are new and don't know any one then you also need to talk to that new person and bring them in to the fold. Other wise why will they bother going to any practice or even holding one since they may not feel like they have someone to say will you drill with me? Sadly it was this that made the guy I know walk away from the fire medics since the core people did not really talk to him and let him feel wanted.

With the speculative level training and practice we do is a little more different from the SCA style of stuff. As an officer (talking of non SCA stuff) I take a new guy who does not know someone and talk to them and giving them the one on one training they need. If they don't make it to a practice or a drill I will call them to see what is up and bring them throw the ranks so that they can be more involved in the work we do. Practice should be fun and we do have our laughs, but we also get to know each other. At the next practices you go to find the wall flowers and talk to them while dragging them over to get to know people. If one person is not having fun and getting better then something is wrong with what is going on. This just my take as an officer with an outreach group.

2 hours of skill and drill training, 3 hours of sparring. Sometimes a short practice with 1 hour and 2 hours respectively.

Practice generally means for me exchanging pretty bruises with Patrick every Wednesday night.

Not a fan of pellwork. And clearly I don't have much need for it, high end fighters have come up to me after Crown fights and asked me "so how do you train on the pell for accuracy?"

I crosstrain (rock climbing, mountain biking), and go beat people up once a week.

Practice is an attitude. My mental focus is observing my own technique and on my partners technique with the purpose of improving. hopefully we're sharing observations.

vs

Competition, where my focus is getting into sync with my opponent and trying to manipulate the rythem of the fight to hopefully achieve victory.

Of course i get the two mixed up, which doesnt help anyone, including me.