I've been training four months now with an excellent partner and i wanted to post a bouting and controlled freeplay vid for your comments and criticisms. My biggest problem right now is footwork, due to a knee injury so i'm not controlling the zufechten at all.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKHmBlR8-Ro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59nlzk24mlY

By the way, Carlo is the big guy (red in the first video, grey in the second).

Hello,

Thanks for sharing. Posting your sparring videos to get others to check is a good tool and important for the community and requires some bravery. (And reminds me that I need a camera).

First of all: it looks pretty good for four months!

Good: Your control is good. You also fence conservatively that is you fight not to get hit; which is good technique. Good parries i.e. not wide, point off line parries.

Bad (needs improvement): The footwork is pretty linear. I assume that your practicing Lichtenauer, it looks like it, so your footwork should include more stepping off line. Vom Tag with the hands forward instead of in tight or over the head; this is a sure way to get your hands hit and reduces your power.

Ugly: The "Scared Peasant" stance, pflug but with the hands forward. This position offers you almost nothing and is not shown in any manual.

All the problems are fairly easy to solve and normal for new students. Definitely quite good for four months :D

Cheers,
Steven

Hi Steven,

I agree with probably all of your criticism. I'm just curious what you meant by this point:

Steven H wrote:

Ugly: The "Scared Peasant" stance, pflug but with the hands forward. This position offers you almost nothing and is not shown in any manual.

Just so we are on the same page, can you pinpoint a time in one of the videos where Carlo or I am exhibiting this 'stance'?

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

Dustin

Hello,

It's been a busy weekend.

Dustin, you did it at 1:06 and 2:20 in the first video. You also let your hands briefly, drift forwards from a proper pflug on a few other occasions.

Carlos, since you were at a different angle to the camera I'm not sure. There were a few times where I suspected it but the camera angle left it unclear.

It was fewer times than I remembered. I suspect that because it is a pet peeve of mine it sticks in my head :-9

Again, very good for a first time.

I had a few thoughts about making videos for this kind of purpose:
Keep the camera in mind when resetting after an exchange, so that the fight will usually be clearly visible (instead of just seeing a persons back).
Tap the spot where you were hit, so that the camera can see it. I think this is good practice for any freeplay.

Cheers,
Steven

Hmmm,

I'd forgotten that it was in Meyer. I'm still not a huge fan of it. Mostly because of the need to break new students of the habit.

But if you can make it for you than good.

Cheers,
Steven