Skill Persistence

Russ Mitchell · Post by **Russ Mitchell** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:22 am

I've noticed something interesting.

Archery skills are not persistent: they seem to degrade if not constantly maintained. I went from "not too shabby" to "embarrassingly awful" due to lack of my old daily practice, and I've talked to some guys doing traditional Korean who see the same thing.

Fencing with the sabre, however, seems to be persistent. If I'm busy and don't practice, all I need in order to be able to pick it up and teach it to folks is a couple of good practice sessions to do my basic drills, and it snaps right back into place.

On the other hand, to be any good with the fokos, I've got to practice it. It takes me much longer to "come back" with axes than it does with the sabre.

SCA heavy involves strength issues (handling the armor, and especially the weight of the shield), so I don't know which of the two it would fall into.

Anton · Post by **Anton** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:29 am

You lose quite a bit if you don't consistently train w/SCA heavy.

The shots are still there but the execution is not. IMO a lot of it is muscle memory and your body working with your mind to get a result.

After a long layoff it took me 3-6 months to regain what I had lost.

Anton

Gunthar · Post by **Gunthar** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:50 am

I can attest to this. A year ago I fought really well in Crown but I had to lay off practice a lot because of travelling, events and such. Then I was injured so that took off more time. I've also started using a much smaller heater and I have to figure out how to fight with that.

So, basically I look like a some kid in a pillowfight now.

I figure it will take about six months of good practice before I figure out my new style and get back to what I consider fighting trim.

Milan H · Post by **Milan H** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:01 pm

yeah i have had to take a lot of time off for various reasons... Almost a year because of work, though i did drag my armor all over the country with me hoping i could get away to a practice. never happened.

Coming back sucked. I could still throw shots, but defense completely sucked. Blocking happened about a second after i got hit. I knew what i needed to do, but it wasnt easy to get my body to react fast enough. Several times i would watch a shot come flying in, almost in slow motion and would think "huh, hes gonna hit me there" But it never clicked to BLOCK!

Now its better, and im about where i was before.

Cheers!

Baron Alejandro · Post by **Baron Alejandro** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:41 pm

Crap! I have got to finish those arrows! I haven't shot all summer.

I believe once you attain a level of mastery, then you retain a base level of skill with something, even if you don't practice it for a while.

Russ Mitchell · Post by **Russ Mitchell** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:02 pm

That's what I would have thought concerning archery, but the last two times I picked up a bow, my shooting was seriously awful. As in, "has this guy ever shot a bow before" bad.

Oddly, I didn't have that problem with your crossbow. Granted, the range was tight, but I put the bolt precisely where I'd intended to, and I hadn't shot a crossbow for... (homina homina) 30 months, and that very casually?

Edward MacTavish · Post by **Edward MacTavish** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:09 pm

Get deployed every couple of years and see how it affects your fighting. My only saving grace is that I tend to drag a waster and set up a pell. The shots do not degrade as much but the blocking sure does.

Archery does a lot, though you will never forget the skill completely.

Edward

Kilkenny · Post by **Kilkenny** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:16 pm

Crossbows are very much point and shoot. They're flat out easy to do well with, although doing exceptionally well is another matter.

Handbows are relatively much harder all the way around. Lots of things to coordinate and execute precisely, and messing up any of them throws everything off.

I suspect that you've worked much more with the sabre than with the fokos and it is the relative amount of practice that makes the difference there, as there's not (imo) anything really inherently different about one hand to hand weapon versus another.

I've found, with regard to SCA fighting, that taking some time away from the game can be beneficial. It is possible to return from a break and actually be better than when you stepped away. I think it generally relates to having dropped bad habits and returned to fundamentals that really are hardwired from long, long practice.

Mostly, I suspect that apparent persistence really reflects the relative practice level. Do anything enough and you'll find persistence in it.