The Armour Archive

If you could so just one drill to make someone a better fighter, what would it be?

Mark a pell into 6 parts roughly corresponding to knee-to-hip, hip-to-shoulder, and head levels, right and left. Number them. Throw 1-1, 1-2, 1-3…, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3…, and so on. If you want to build on it add in wrap shots at the 3 levels and a vertical shot to the center line. Throw in thrusts if you’re into that. The idea is to simultaneously be practicing the individual shots and the transitions from any shot to any other.

Martial arts dudes I have read say it takes a minimum of 10,000 reps to “ownâ€

Dance.

Baguazhang's "First palm change" against a variety of incoming punches, starting with a straight left, going to a straight right, and then taking jabs, hooks, and swings into account. And, per Blaine, I'd have the student do just stupid amounts of repetition, with a minimum of a thousand per session.

Frozen man.

16 fl.oz. curl

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:Frozen man.

Can you provide more information Sir Knight?

Take care and be well,

Brogan.

Turn off the TV, go to practice.

If you do that, the 1.1 1.2 1.3 drill is a goodin.

From the William Wilson translation of Achille Marozzo:

"What is mandritto tondo, mandritto fendente, mandritto sgualembrato, mandritto redoppio, and falso dritto and montante and you know that from this begins all these attacks. And from the left demonstrate roverso tondo
and roverso sgualembrato, roverso fendente, and roverso redoppio, and false manco, and falso, and dritto, and falso roverso; which in principle you will give them meaning."

Great drill, especially with his variations...

Dante della Luna wrote:16 fl.oz. curl

That only works as maintenance if you're already a Duke

I wrote an article long ago on Frozen Man drills. I can't find it. It's simple. Get a partner. Both of you pick up swords, shields or whatever weapon you want to train with.
You can wear armour or not. I don't. However, I do wear my gauntlets or half-gauntlet if I'm using a single-handed sword.
Square off like you are going to fight. Approach each other. Then, just as you are in range, one of you freezes in position. It is helpful to try to replicate all types of common positions.
The guy who is frozen must stay perfectly still and not react. The guy who isn't frozen practices reaching all available targets with his weapon very, very slowly.
Take turns being frozen. This is the best way to train single-time target recognition, and the frozen man can study what body movements preceed certain blows. Everyone wins.

To deviate from the topic a bit, I'd say a combination of the 1-2, 1-2, 1-3 pell work, frozen man, and Duke Paul's rhythmic slow work would make a pretty good damn near complete training regime.

BdeB wrote:If you could so just one drill to make someone a better fighter, what would it be?

(get) Drill(ed) with(by) a better fighter???

Of course the problem is that one drill does not make a good fighter. And fighting the pell does not make a good fighter. You must fight people who push your skills to make you a better fighter.

I did like the comment by Leo Medii. Dancing is a simple thing for a white man because it is so discombobulated. Until you have to have your feet in the right place at the right time. This is the most overlooked part of fighting effectively in my opinion.

Fight.

Odo

BdeB wrote:If you could so just one drill to make someone a better fighter, what would it be?

Train with Mike... hahaha.

I love slow work, but it only works well if both people are using proper technique and can recognize when they or the other fighter are not.

g-

Structured, rhythmic slow work, of varying speeds.

Regards,

Ye oldee hitting a pell with your arm tied in with a bungie cord.
For beginners to learn power generation from hips/torso/legs rather than arm.

Drill, baby, drill.


sorry, it had to be said.

5 kill drill.

Pair off, one person does nothing but offense targeting above the waist. The other person does nothing but defense. This forces the offender to get real creative especially when he gets tired. The defender can concentrate on correct blocks and shot recognition. Switch off after 5 'good' blows.

Anton

Tascius wrote:Ye oldee hitting a pell with your arm tied in with a bungie cord.
For beginners to learn power generation from hips/torso/legs rather than arm.

Could you explain this one in a bit more detail? Specifically, how you tie the arm up. Sounds like something I'd like to try, so if I try it I'd like to be sure I do it correctly.

Louis de Leon wrote:

Tascius wrote:Ye oldee hitting a pell with your arm tied in with a bungie cord.
For beginners to learn power generation from hips/torso/legs rather than arm.

Could you explain this one in a bit more detail? Specifically, how you tie the arm up. Sounds like something I'd like to try, so if I try it I'd like to be sure I do it correctly.

Check Duke Paul's site, it's a technique he recommends and explains.

Kilkenny wrote:

Louis de Leon wrote:

Tascius wrote:Ye oldee hitting a pell with your arm tied in with a bungie cord.
For beginners to learn power generation from hips/torso/legs rather than arm.

Could you explain this one in a bit more detail? Specifically, how you tie the arm up. Sounds like something I'd like to try, so if I try it I'd like to be sure I do it correctly.

Check Duke Paul's site, it's a technique he recommends and explains.

Excellent! Thanks.

B, I know you mean armored combat, but I just can't resist.

For fencing (sport or Society)
Lunges at a hanging target, hung at chest height. Preferably a milk cap. AT LEAST a hundred times a night, on both left and right sides. After a week, you will be able to pin flies to the wall with your eyes closed.

For spear - more target work. Same thing - thrusts at a moving, hanging target. A tennis ball on a bungee cord works well.

The 15 part Asgard Kata

Thor.

50 "X" patterns on the pell twice a day. Work your way up to 100 twice a day.

1 "X" pattern consists of 6 shots: offside head, flat snap head, offside leg, flat snap head, offside head, onside leg.

Or you can reverse it and start with the flat snap, or either leg shot.

The key is to start slower and work accuracy and then speed up until it is rapid fire.

I put tape lines on my pell with electrical tape, and those are my targets.

To keep things even, switch hands, but be careful, I have seen more than one guy bash himself in the head trying to go to fast swinging lefty.

Behold my mad Google skillz!

http://www.midrealm.org/redco/frozen.html

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:I wrote an article long ago on Frozen Man drills. I can't find it. It's simple. Get a partner. Both of you pick up swords, shields or whatever weapon you want to train with.
You can wear armour or not. I don't. However, I do wear my gauntlets or half-gauntlet if I'm using a single-handed sword.
Square off like you are going to fight. Approach each other. Then, just as you are in range, one of you freezes in position. It is helpful to try to replicate all types of common positions.
The guy who is frozen must stay perfectly still and not react. The guy who isn't frozen practices reaching all available targets with his weapon very, very slowly.
Take turns being frozen. This is the best way to train single-time target recognition, and the frozen man can study what body movements preceed certain blows. Everyone wins.

the drill that helped me progress the most is the following.
I hung a heavy bagfrom a big tree limb about 20ft up from 12 ftr length of rope.
I would mark the targets with Tape like Phelan suggested.I would get the thing swinging in an 8ft circle .Then challenge my self,today I am going to hit it with the last two inches of my stick no matter where it goes or I will keep my sheild within six inches of it at all times and fight it like that.

This taught me to hit a moving target,attack form all ranges,and how to distance myslef fform or close the distance to my opponent.

I am currently designing a steel arm so I can set one up in the back yard.

Kind of OT but this drill might work, ping pong with a stick rather than a paddle. Click on the BruceLee playing pingpong image.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTQyNDE5MjA=.html

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:I wrote an article long ago on Frozen Man drills. I can't find it.

http://www.midrealm.org/redco/

Go to articles.

Click on Frozen Man Targetting

EDIT - doh - Sir Bryce beat me to it...

Tascius wrote:Kind of OT but this drill might work, ping pong with a stick rather than a paddle. Click on the BruceLee playing pingpong image.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTQyNDE5MjA=.html

Loren Christensen has a drill he calls "karate ball". Go in a handball/raquetball/squash court, and use the red "playground" balls in the smallest size you can handle. I've often thought this could be adapted to "swordball," but I haven't had access to a court that would let me try it.

Vitus von Atzinger wrote:I wrote an article long ago on Frozen Man drills. I can't find it. It's simple. Get a partner. Both of you pick up swords, shields or whatever weapon you want to train with.
You can wear armour or not. I don't. However, I do wear my gauntlets or half-gauntlet if I'm using a single-handed sword.
Square off like you are going to fight. Approach each other. Then, just as you are in range, one of you freezes in position. It is helpful to try to replicate all types of common positions.
The guy who is frozen must stay perfectly still and not react. The guy who isn't frozen practices reaching all available targets with his weapon very, very slowly.
Take turns being frozen. This is the best way to train single-time target recognition, and the frozen man can study what body movements preceed certain blows. Everyone wins.

Thank you Sir Vitus for taking the time to post a reply as well as for the information.

Take care and be well,

Brogan.

Tascius wrote:Kind of OT but this drill might work, ping pong with a stick rather than a paddle. Click on the BruceLee playing pingpong image.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTQyNDE5MjA=.html

That is nucking futz.

I use a variant of the Frozen Man drill mixed with "stop-action" slow work. In my version:

1. Both fighters start while standing still within range, or just out if it.

2. I choose one as the attacker, and have him/her enumerate the available targets, and how he/she would attack them.

3. Then I have the defender choose which attack is most likely, explain why, and enumerate the options for defense and counter.

4. Then I have the attacker tell me his/her choice, and explain why. I also have him/her choose which defensive technique would be the best to employ, and why.

5. Then I have the defender tell me his/her chosen response and explain why

6. The attacker then executes the attack slowly, and the defender responds slowly to the point where the defender is ready to begin his/her counter-attack.

7. The roles then reverse, and things continue in an iterative fashion.

At any point, we can stop for discussion.

Regards,

Paul

Blaine de Navarre wrote:Mark a pell into 6 parts roughly corresponding to knee-to-hip, hip-to-shoulder, and head levels, right and left. Number them. Throw 1-1, 1-2, 1-3…, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3…, and so on. If you want to build on it add in wrap shots at the 3 levels and a vertical shot to the center line. Throw in thrusts if you’re into that. The idea is to simultaneously be practicing the individual shots and the transitions from any shot to any other.

I completely agree with this drill. It is one of the major drills I teach those that train with me and I do every time I stand in front of the pel (which is 5-6 days a week)

Kilkenny wrote:

Louis de Leon wrote:

Tascius wrote:Ye oldee hitting a pell with your arm tied in with a bungie cord.
For beginners to learn power generation from hips/torso/legs rather than arm.

Could you explain this one in a bit more detail? Specifically, how you tie the arm up. Sounds like something I'd like to try, so if I try it I'd like to be sure I do it correctly.

Check Duke Paul's site, it's a technique he recommends and explains.

I've searched the site, downloaded the combat manual pdf and searched it, and I am having no luck finding this exercise.

Does anyone have a link to this?

Chicago Swordplay Guilds Fiore longsword Dance.